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This week
Augustana (10-5, 7-4 NSIC) is back on the road this weekend, traveling to Upper Iowa (5-10, 2-9 NSIC) Friday for an 8 p.m. contest and No. 8-ranked and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference-leading Winona State (15-2, 10-1 NSIC) Saturday for a 7 p.m. meeting.
The series
Augustana and Upper Iowa will meet for the 11th time on Friday. The Vikings are 9-1 against the Peacocks in a series that began during the 1961-62 season. Augustana has won the last two contests between the two schools, including a 97-77 home win last season. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 7-1 against UIU. Saturday marks the 14th meeting between Augustana and Winona State. The Vikings lead the series, which started in 1937-38, 7-6 and have won the last four encounters--a win streak that dates back to Augustana's 88-82 victory over WSU in the Central Region Tournament in 2009. Last season, the Vikings topped the Warriors 95-90 in overtime. Billeter is 5-4 against WSC. For more on both series, turn to pages 10 and 11.
Last time out
Cody Schilling scored 15 points to help Augustana to a 63-49 victory over Wayne State Saturday evening in Sioux Falls. Schilling added six rebounds, as did
Leif Nomeland and
David Fritsch.
Cameron McCaffrey finished with 12 points. Augustana shot 43.5 percent in the relatively low-scoring affair. The Vikings warmed to 53.8 percent in the second half after shooting 30 percent in the first 20 minutes. From the free-throw line, Augustana shot a season-best 87 percent (20 of 23).
Improved defense
Augustana allowed just 49 points in its win over Wayne State last Saturday--a far cry from a string of prior games for the Vikings. Before stalling WSC's offense, Augustana had allowed at least 80 points (an average of 88.4 point per game) in the previous five games. In fact, Augustana's last game before facing the Wildcats resulted in a 101-point effort by visiting Minnesota Duluth. But Augustana held WSC to 39.2 percent from the field and forced 17 turnovers in what was the second-fewest points scored by a Viking opponent this season.
At the line
A 20 of 23 performance at the free-throw line last Saturday against?Wayne State was the most precise by Augustana this season. The Vikings connected at a 87.0-percent clip. Four players were perfect at the charity stripe;
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) and
Eric Jorgensen (Sioux City, Iowa) both drained five,
Drae Murray (Huntsville, Texas) connected on four and
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) made all three of his tries. The Vikings are shooting 73.1 percent from the foul stripe this season.
Inside edition
Viking post man
Eric Jorgensen (Sioux City, Iowa) put together a productive first half against Wayne State on?Saturday, scoring all his seven points in the opening 20 minutes. A bulk of that offense came from Jorgensen's ability to draw whistles. He made five trips to the free-throw line, not missing a single attempt. He also finished with two rebounds and a block.
Bench production
Junior guard
David Fritsch (Stewartville, Minn.) made the most of his 11 minutes of action against Wayne State on Saturday. He grabbed six rebounds, including an offensive board, off the bench. He also made one steal and connected on his lone field-goal attempt of the game. A junior-college transfer from Rochester Community and Technical College in Minnesota, Fritsch is averaging around 13 minutes per game and is good for 1.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per contest. He has also had a steal in each of the past three games.
Beyond the arc
At a sturdy 6-foot-6,
Yuriy Malashenko (Jordan, Minn.) spends a lot of his time on offense in the post, but he has been known to extend his zone beyond the inside when needed for deep shots. The sophomore forward has one of the sharpest shooting touches from behind the arc in the NSIC. Malashenko ranks fourth in the conference in 3-point field-goal percentage at 48.2 percent (14 of 29, conference games only). He has hit four 3-pointers in a game twice this NSIC season and is averaging one trey per contest (15 total) in all games in 2011. Malashenko hit 17 3-pointers last season.
On the road again
Augustana is on the road again after a three-game homestand. The?Vikings are 2-3 on the road this season and 2-2 in road NSIC games. Augustana's last road trip resulted in losses to St. Cloud State and Concordia University, St. Paul.
The Vikings are better in nearly every category when playing at home, especially in points per game.
W-L FG% 3-FG% FT% REB PTS TO
Home 6-2 48.9 37.6 74.9 34.5 80.2 10.6
Away 2-3 43.4 38.5 74.3 30.4 66.0 12.6
Road trip, part 2
Augustana will embark on its second-longest conference road trip of the season this weekend. The Vikings will travel about 675 miles (round trip) on their trek to Fayette, Iowa, and Winona, Minn., to play Upper Iowa and Winona State. Earlier this season, Augustana logged more than 800 miles on its journey to Bismarck, N.D., and Aberdeen,?S.D., to face U-Mary and Northern State.
Against nationally ranked
For the first time this season, the Vikings will face a nationally ranked team when they battle Winona State on?Saturday. The Warriors are eighth in the latest NABC/Division II national poll. WSU is also in first in the NSIC with a 10-1 mark in league games.
One and done
Upper Iowa and Winona State are two of four teams Augustana will face just once this season in regular-season NSIC play. The other two opponents scheduled for just one meeting with the Vikings are Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth--two teams that have already visited the Elmen Center this year. The remaining nine conference teams have already faced the Vikings once this season and will play them again at the opposite site of the initial meeting.
Three's company
The backcourt trio of
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.),
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) and
Drae Murray (Huntsville, Texas) is one of the most productive in the NSIC. The Vikings are the only team in the conference who have three players in the top 20 in points per game. McCaffrey ranks eighth at 15.7 points per conference game, Schilling is tied for ninth at 15.5 per contest and Murray is 17th with 14.2 per outing. Combined, the guards average 45.4 of Augustana's 75.5 points per NSIC game.
What the coaches say
Augustana is the favorite to win the conference, according to the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll released Oct. 26 by the conference office. The Vikings received nine first-place votes and 164 points in the poll voted on by the conference's 14 head coaches.
National news
After appearing in the NABC/Division II national polls for six straight weeks, Augustana fell out of the top 25 in the Jan. 10 edition of the rankings. The Vikings have now been out of the top 25 for two weeks. NSIC schools in the rankings include Winona State (No. 8), St. Cloud State (No. 17) and MSU Moorhead (No. 18). Augustana was ranked as high as 14th on Dec. 13. To view the complete poll, turn to page 8.
Schilling closing in
It could be a record-breaking year for
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.). With his 15-point effort against?Wayne State last Saturday, the senior passed former Viking great and current Augustana Director of Athletics Bill Gross on the career scoring list. He now sit at seventh with 1,637 career points. Schilling needs 193 points to tie Carl Gonder's career scoring mark of 1,830 points.
Rk Points Player Years
1. 1830 Carl Gonder 1980-84
2. 1795 Mark Smed 1979-83
3. 1764 Greg Nagel 1974-78
4. 1704 Jason Garrow 1988-92
5. 1681 Scott Beckstrand 1990-94
6. 1642 Arvid Kramer 1975-79
7. 1637 Cody?Schilling 2008-12
8. 1628 Bill Gross 1969-73
9. 1510 Brett Szabo 1987-91
10. 1381 Rich Chapman 1973-77
History lesson
Augustana enters its 90th season of men's basketball in 2011-12. The?Vikings are 927-1037 all-time and have racked up 37 winning seasons, including the past five seasons under
Tom Billeter.
On the radio
Veteran radio man Jeff Fylling is back as the “Voice of the Vikings” for 2011-12. Join Fylling for each broadcast on KIKN-FM 100.5. You can also stream the broadcast at kikn.com/stream.
Augustana Sportscene
Augustana Sportscene is a 30-minute weekly television show highlighting Augustana athletics and is hosted by Director of Athletics Bill Gross. The show includes Viking highlights, interviews with various coaches and student-athletes and promotion of upcoming Augustana athletic events. Augustana Sportscene airs Monday's at 10:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on Midco Sports Network and at various times on Mediacom's MC22.
Augustana Coaches' Show
Live from Rookies in Sioux Falls, The Augustana Coaches' Show airs On ESPN 99.1 each Monday at 5 p.m. Join Jeff Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics. You can also stream the show live at www.ESPN991.com.
