GAME NOTES (PDF)
This week: Augustana (15-6, 12-5 NSIC) travels to Northern State (11-10, 7-10) on Friday and U-Mary (17-4, 13-4) on Saturday for a pair of conference games. Both contests tip at 8:05 p.m.
On the tube: Both of this weekend's games will be regionally broadcast. Friday's meeting with Northern State will air live on Midco Sports Network. Tom Neiman will handle the play-by-play, while Al Bahe will provide color commentary. Midcontinent Communications subscribers can find MidcoSN on Channel 26. Saturday's tilt at U-Mary will be broadcast by NBC North Dakota Sports and will air on KFYR-TV in Bismarck, KQCD-TV in Dickinson, KUMV-TV in Williston and KMOT-TV in Minot. KFYR-TV sports director Lee Timmerman, a multiple recipient of the North Dakota Sportscaster of the Year honor, will do the play-by-play, while Scott Westerberg, the weekend sports anchor, will offer color commentary.
The series: Friday will be the 60th meeting between Augustana and Northern State and second game this season between the programs. NSU leads the series 29-30. The Vikings beat the Wolves 90-85 earlier this season in Sioux Falls; they also have won the last five games in the series. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 5-6 against NSU. Saturday will be the 10th meeting between Augustana and U-Mary. The Vikings are 5-4 against the Marauders, including a 68-55 win earlier this season in Sioux Falls. Billeter is 4-4 against U-Mary.
Last time out: For the first time in four weekends, Augustana did not sweep its series. The Vikings dropped last Friday's game with Minnesota State 98-79 and beat Southwest Minnesota State 83-70 on Saturday. The Mavericks held a 77-75 advantage with 4:22 left, but they turned that into an 11-point lead with 1:29 remaining en route to topping the Vikings.
Cameron McCaffrey scored 29 points and
Leif Nomeland hit four 3-pointers to pick up the win against SMSU. McCaffrey finished 10 of 19 from the field and connected on three 3-pointers in the win. Four Vikings reached double figures on the evening.
Cody Schilling scored 20 points, Nomeland had 15 and
Trevor Hass added 10.
Eight was great: The Vikings saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end last Friday against No. 10 Minnesota State. The span was the longest conference winning streak since 1933-34 when Augustana won 10 straight in the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference. It was also the 11th winning streak of at least eight games in the history of Viking men's basketball. The others were in the following season: 1933-34, 1939-40, 1946-47, 1948-49, 1974-75, 1985-86, 1987-88, 1989-90, 1993-94, 2009-10 and 2010-11.
This is the Leif: He's the big man with a soft touch. Sophomore
Leif Nomeland (Osakis, Minn.) has developed into one of Augustana's top deep threats. The 6-foot-7 Nomeland is shooting 43.9 percent from behind the arc and is currently eighth in the NSIC with a 45.0 percent average (conference games only). Nomeland has combined for 10 3-pointers in the last three games, including five against St. Cloud State on Jan. 29 and four against Minnesota State last Friday.
Better in 2011: The Vikings have been more productive, more efficient and more successful in the 2011 portion of the season than in the 2010 part. Augustana went 6-4 in 2010 and is 9-1 in 2011. The Vikings improved in nearly every statistical category from 2010 to 2011.
Nice to see you again: Augustana is 3-1 this season when facing teams for the second time. The Vikings defeated Concordia University, St. Paul 83-69 in the second meeting on Jan. 28; they also beat St. Cloud State 89-87 in a second meeting on Jan. 29. Both of those wins came on the road. Augustana also beat Southwest Minnesota State 83-70 last Saturday in the two teams' second meeting. The Vikings' lone loss this season in a second meeting was its 92-79 defeat at the hands of Minnesota State last Friday.
Scoring duos: Both Augustana and U-Mary sport a pair of players who are among the conference's top 10 in scoring. The Vikings own
Cody Schilling (No. 2/21.2 ppg) and
Cameron McCaffrey (No. 6/17.8 ppg), while the Marauders have Anthony Moody (No. 3/20.7 ppg) and Eric Erdmann (No. 10/16.4 ppg).
Playing on TV: The Vikings are 2-0 in regionally televised games this season. Augustana defeated U-Mary and Northern State in mid-December while Midco Sports Network carried the game live.
Regionally speaking: Augustana checked in at No. 4 the 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. Fort Lewis 15-3 15-3
2. Minnesota State 16-2 14-2
3. Metro State 14-3 14-3
4. Augustana 12-4 12-4
5. Colorado School of Mines 13-3 13-3
6. Mary 14-4 13-4
7. Adams State 10-4 10-4
8. Winona State 11-5 10-5
9. Mesa State 11-7 11-7
10. St. Cloud State 10-7 10-5
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 221-151. 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).
