GAME NOTES (PDF) | WATCH LIVE | LISTEN LIVE | LIVE STATS
This week
Augustana (12-7, 9-6 NSIC) is on the road this weekend, traveling to Minnesota State (7-12, 6-9 NSIC) on Friday and Southwest Minnesota State (10-9, 9-6 NSIC) on Saturday. Both contests are 8 p.m. starts.
The series
Augustana and Minnesota State will meet for the 104th time on Friday in a series that began during the 1932-33 season. The Vikings are 50-53 against the Mavericks but won a meeting earlier this season in Sioux Falls 69-51. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 6-13 against MSU. Saturday will be the 21st contest between Augustana and Southwest Minnesota State. The programs first met during the 1972-73 season. Augustana leads the series 12-8 and beat the Mustangs 83-66 earlier this season in Sioux Falls. Billeter is 7-5 against SMSU. For more on both series, turn to pages 10 and 11.
Last time out
Augustana collected two conference wins at home last weekend, beating Concordia University, St. Paul and then No. 13-ranked St. Cloud State. Augustana's guard trio of
Drae Murray,
Cody Schilling and
Cameron McCaffrey combined for 49 points as the Vikings cruised to an 89-70 victory over CU last Friday. Murray and Schilling both scored 18, and McCaffrey added 13. The back-court group also collaborated for eight assists. The Vikings shot a season-high 57.7 percent (35 of 61) from the floor and also established a season-high from behind the arc, connecting on 10 of 14 (71.4 percent) 3-pointers. Augustana jumped out to a 35-15 halftime lead over SCSU and never looked back, picking up a 74-52 victory over the Huskies last Saturday night. Schilling scored a game-high 15 points,
Yuriy Malashenko contributed 13 and McCaffrey added 11. McCaffrey also dished out five assists.
Brennan Olson snagged a game-high nine rebounds and helped Augustana dominated the glass 43-31.
Big wins
A challenging home conference weekend resulted in Augustana's largest margins of victory this season. The Vikings beat Concordia University, St. Paul by 19 points (89-70) on Friday--their biggest in terms of points up to that point in the season. Augustana orchestrated an even larger win the following night against St. Cloud State, which was ranked No. 13 in the country at the time. The Vikings bettered the Huskies by 22 points (74-52).
Scrappy defense
Tom Billeter's team put together its best defensive half of the season in the opening 20 minutes against St. Cloud State last Saturday. The Vikings allowed the Huskies to score just 15 points. SCSU, in fact, had just one field goal in the first nine minutes of the contest. SCSU ended up scoring a season-low 52 points and had its five-game winning streak snapped with the loss.
Even stevens
Augustana's victories over Concordia University, St. Paul and St. Cloud State evened the season series with the two teams and earned the Vikings a bit of revenge for road losses to the Golden?Bears and Huskies. CU edged the Vikings 81-77 on Jan. 3, while?SCSU handled Augustana 86-61 on Jan. 2.
Nation wide
The Vikings' 74-52 triumph over St. Cloud State last Saturday was their first win over a nationally ranked squad this season. The Huskies were ranked No. 13 at the time of the loss. It was the second game this season Augustana has faced a team in the top 25; the Vikings fell to then No. 8-ranked Winona State 85-79 on Jan. 21 in Winona, Minn.
Sharp shooters
Season highs in field-goal percentage, 3-point field-goal percentage and free-throw were established by the Vikings in their win over Concordia University, St. Paul last Saturday. Augustana was downright blazing, going 35 of 61 (57.4 percent) from the field, 10 of 14 (71.4 percent) from behind the arc and 9 of 10 (90 percent) at the charity stripe. The precision allowed the Vikings to score 89 points in the victory.
Let it rain
Augustana connected on 21 3-pointers last weekend, nailing 10 against Concordia University, St. Paul and 11 against St. Cloud State. A lot of players got into the act. Against CU,
Drae Murray (Huntsville, Texas) made four, while
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) drilled three.
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.),
Yuriy Malashenko (Jordan, Minn.) and
Alex Richter (Lakeville, Minn.) each had three against SCSU.
Off the bench
Underclassmen
Yuriy Malashenko (Jordan, Minn.) and
Alex Richter (Lakeville, Minn.) were productive reserves last weekend. They each averaged 8.0 points off the bench in Augustana's two games. Malashenko was particularily impressive last Saturday against St. Cloud State, tying a career-high with 13 points and hitting 3 of 5 from behind the arc. Richter scored seven points against Concordia University, St. Paul on Friday and had nine against SCSU (all on 3-pointers).
Perfect weekend
The Vikings 2-0 record for last weekend's conference homestand was the first perfect NSIC weekend for the Augustana since Dec. 9 and 10 when it beat U-Mary and Northern State on the road. Augustana also had a flawless conference weekend on Dec. 2 and 3 at home against this week's opponents, Minnesota State and Southwest Minnesota State.
A new month
Augustana will play its first games in February this weekend. Past months have broken down as follows for the Vikings:?3-1 in November, 5-1 in December and 4-5 in January. The Vikings have seven games and the opening round of the NSIC Tournament on the slate for February.
Twice is nice
All of the Vikings' opponents for the remainder of the regular season will be teams they have played once this season. The location of these rematches moves to the opposite team who hosted the initial meeting. Augustana is 2-0 when facing a team for the second time this season.
Conference notes
Augustana and Southwest Minnesota State are both tied for fifth in the NSIC at 9-6, while Minnesota State is at ninth in the league with a conference mark of 6-9. The top eight teams qualify for the NSIC Tournament, which, after opening-round games hosted by the four-high seeds, will be played at the Taylor Arena in Rochester, Minn. Therefore, wins by the Vikings this weekend, could be integral in getting a first-round home game in the tournament.
On the road again
The Vikings are hoping to improve their 2-5 road record this weekend at Minnesota State and Southwest Minnesota State. Augustana has been outscored by an average of 2.9 points per game this season in away venues.
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 four weeks. NSIC schools in the rankings include Winona State (No. 4) and St. Cloud State (No. 20). 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 combined 33 points last weekend against Concordia University, St. Paul and St.?Cloud State, Schilling passed Scott Beckstrand. He now is tied with Jason Garrow for fourth at 1,704 points. Schilling needs 126 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
1704
Cody Schilling 2008-12
6. 1681 Scott Beckstrand 1990-94
7. 1642 Arvid Kramer 1975-79
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 929-1039 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.
