GAME NOTES (PDF)
This week: No. 3-seeded Augustana (18-8, 15-7 NSIC) opens play in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament at home on Wednesday, hosting No. 6-seed St. Cloud State (13-13, 12-10 NSIC) at 7 p.m.
The series: Augustana and St. Cloud State will meet for the 80th time on Wednesday in a series that dates back to the 1947-48 season. The Huskies hold a 36-43 advantage in the series. The two teams split this season as SCSU topped Augustana 76-74 on?Jan. 3 in Sioux Falls, while the Vikings won 89-87 on Jan. 29 in St. Cloud, Minn. That win snapped a three-game losing streak to the Huskies dating back to last season. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 7-11 against SCSU.
Last time out: Augustana split its final conference weekend of the season, falling to Minnesota State Moorhead 77-72 on Friday and beating Minnesota, Crookston 90- 66 on Saturday. MSUM rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to win. Augustana got 23 points from
Cody Schilling.
Derrick De Zeeuw and
Leif Nomeland snagged 12 and 11 rebounds, respectively. Schilling's career-high 44 points keyed the Viking win against the Golden Eagles on Saturday.
Conference honors:? The NSIC announced Monday that
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) is the Player of the Week for the second time this season. The junior averaged 33.5 points per game shot 63.6 percent (21 of 33) from the field for the Vikings this past weekend against MSU Moorhead and Minnesota, Crookston.
Top-scoring efforts: Cody Schilling's 44 points against Minnesota, Crookston on Saturday is the second-best performance in Viking men's basketball history and just the second 40-point game since the 2000-01 season. John Eggers holds the school record with 49 points against South Dakota during the 1966-97 season. The last 40-point game came when Cody Levinson netted 40 points against Dakota State on Dec. 20, 2000. The following are the top-five scoring efforts on record for Augustana men's basketball:
Pts. Player Opponent Date
49 John Eggers South Dakota 1966-67
44
Cody Schilling Minnesota, Crookston Feb. 26, 2011
42 Scott Beckstrand St. Cloud State 1990-91
41 Dave McCracken Morningside 1962-63
40 Cody Levinson Dakota State Nov. 20, 2000
Movin' on up: Cody Schilling has moved into the top 10 list for all-time leading scorers at Augustana. He will likely move into the No. 9 spot on Wednesday as he is just five points away from matching Rich Chapman's (1973-77) 1,381 career points.
Rank Pts. Player Yrs.
1. 1,830 Carl Gonder 1980-84
2. 1,795 Mark Smed 1979-83
3. 1,764 Greg Nagel 1974-78
4. 1,704 Jason Garrow 1988-92
5. 1,681 Scott Beckstrand 1990-94
6. 1,642 Arvid Kramer 1975-79
7. 1,628 Bill Gross 1969-73
8. 1,510 Brett Szabo 1987-91
9. 1,381 Rich Chapman 1973-77
10. 1,376
Cody Schilling 2008-11
Conference scoring title: The 44-point effort by
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) played a big part in getting the junior the NSIC scoring title. The junior, who finished the year averaging 22.6 points per conference game, edged out U-Mary senior guard Anthony Moody, who finished at 21.9 points per game.
It's all about position: Augustana finished the NSIC regular season with a conference record of 15-7, matching its third place finish from a year ago. St. Cloud State finished in the sixth spot with a conference mark of 12-10. The two teams have already played twice this season; they split those meetings with both programs winning on the road.
Tournament format: The opening round games of this year's NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament are hosted by the top four seeds. The semifinals and championship rounds will be played at Concordia University, St. Paul's Gangelhoff Center.
A look back: Augustana was the No. 3 seed a year ago for the NSIC Tournament and faced No. 6-seeded Wayne State in the opening round. The Wildcats beat the Vikings 75-52. Despite the loss, Augustana would go on to advance to the Central Region title game where the Vikings fell to St. Cloud State.
Tournament history: The Vikings have qualified for every NSIC Tournament since joining the league in 2008. Augustana, however, has yet to win a conference-tournament game in the NSIC. The Vikings are 0-2, having been beaten by St. Cloud State in 2008 and Wayne State in 2009.
Regionally speaking: Augustana fell one spot and is ranked No. 6 in the latest Central Region rankings released last Wednesday by the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Committee. The top eight teams from each region advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Rank School DII In-Region
1. Minnesota State 21-3 19-3
2. Colorado School of Mines 17-4 17-4
3. U-Mary 20-4 19-4
4. Fort Lewis (Colo.) 18-6 18-6
5. Metro State (Colo.) 17-6 17-6
6. Augustana 15-6 15-6
7. Mesa State 16-7 16-7
8. New Mexico Highlands 16-6 15-6
9. Adams State 14-6 14-6
10. Concordia-St. Paul 14-9 13-9
According to the coaches: Augustana was selected fourth in the 2010-11 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Vikings received 138 points from the conference's 14 head coaches. Winona State received 10 first-place votes and 165 points to take the No. 1 position. St. Cloud State was second (four first-place votes, 157 points), and Minnesota State was third (143 points).
1. Winona State (10) 165
2. St. Cloud State (4) 157
3. Minnesota State 143
4. Augustana 138
5. U-Mary 119
6. Southwest Minnesota State 98
7. Concordia-St. Paul 89
8. Northern State 84
9. Wayne State 71
10. Bemidji State 64
11. MSU Moorhead 51
12. Minnesota Duluth 42
13. Upper Iowa 40
14. Minnesota, Crookston 13
NCAA Tournament time:? The Vikings advanced to the NCAA?Tournament for the third consecutive season in 2009-10 and also made it to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row. The Augustana men's basketball program has nine NCAA?Tournament appearances under its belt. As of late, the Vikings have been consistent enough to qualify for the “dance” three times every decade. Head coach
Tom Billeter has led the Vikings to three of those appearances in his eight-year tenure.
Coaches' corner: Now in his eighth season at Augustana, Billeter has steadily solidified the men's program. His Vikings have made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and advanced to the Central Region championship game in 2009 and 2010. Billeter owns a career record of 224-153. He is assisted by Jeff Trumbauer,
Collin Authier and Luke Wiersma.
Follow live: There are several ways to get up-to-the-second updates from Augustana basketball games--both home and away. Jeff Fylling calls all the games live on KIKN-FM 100.5; that broadcast can also be picked up at www.kikn.com/stream. All of the Vikings' home games are video webcasted at www.GoAugie.com/webcast. Each conference road contest is also webcast by the host institution. A link for broadcasts on the road can be found on the “schedule” page on the men's basketball home page. Live statistics for all of Augustana's home games can be viewed by logging onto www.GoAugie.com/livestats. For live stats of each road game, check out www.GoAugie.com/livecentral or go the “schedule” page on the men's basketball home page.
The Augustana Coaches' Show: Live from the Gateway Lounge in Sioux Falls, The Augustana Coaches' Show airs each Monday at 5 p.m. Join Jeff Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics.
Stay connected: Follow Augustana all season long on its official online home, www.GoAugie.com. You can also get the latest news and updates on the Vikings on Facebook (www.facebook.com/GoAugie) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/GoAugie). To view video highlights and the latest episode of the Augustana Sportscene, log onto the Vikings' official YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/GoAugie).
