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This week
Augustana (15-8, 12-7 NSIC) heads to Wayne State (7-16, 6-13 NSIC) on Saturday for a 6 p.m. contest at Rice Auditorium.
The series
Augustana and Wayne State will meet for the 32nd time on Saturday in a series that first saw action during the 1938-39 season. The Vikings are 19-12 against the Wildcats and beat them 63-49 last month in Sioux Falls. Augustana has won the last three games in the series and has earned victories nine of the last 10 meetings. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 9-3 against WSC.
Last time out
The Augustana seniors made the most of their final regular-season appearances in the Elmen Center, leading the Vikings to wins over Northern State and U-Mary last weekend. A 17-point outing from
Cody Schilling keyed a 73-60 Augustana victory over NSU last Friday evening. Schilling's 17 points was a game high. He was one of four Vikings in double figures.
Alex Richter poured in a career-high 15 points,
Cameron McCaffrey netted 14 and
Drae Murray had 11. McCaffrey, Murray and Schilling combined for 56 points to help the Vikings post an 89-66 victory over U-Mary Saturday night. McCaffrey finished with a game-high 22 points, Murray checked in with 18 and Schilling netted 16. The trio also combined for 14 of Augustana's 17 assists on the evening. The Vikings shot 56.1 percent (32 of 57) in the win and committed a season-low four turnovers.
Born to run
A sizable run by the Vikings last Friday against Northern State allowed them to pull away from their in-state rival. Augustana strung together 23 unanswered points in about a five-minute span that began four minutes into the second half. The surge saw
Drae Murray (Huntsville, Texas) and
Alex Richter (Lakeville, Minn.) hit three 3-pointers each. A pair of NSU free throws cut into the run, but Augustana had already built a 23-point lead and rode the momentum to a home win.
Second-half surge
Augustana's second half against Northern State last Friday was a productive one offensively. The Vikings shot 55.2 percent (16 of 29) and drilled eight 3-pointers. The eight treys were the most in a half by Augustana this season. It was all part of a 46-point effort by the Vikings in the final 20 minutes.
Minimal mistakes
A new season low was established by the Vikings last Saturday when they committed just four turnovers in their win over U-Mary. Augustana's previous season low was six--a number the Vikings had hit twice before last Saturday. Augustana also dished out 17 assists, which put its assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.25 for the game.
Take the lead
Augustana led its two opponents most of last weekend. The Vikings only trailed for 14 of the 80 minutes they played against Northern State and U-Mary. Augustana broke away from a 19-19 tie with around six minutes left in the first half against NSU and didn't trail for the remainder of the weekend. The Vikings led the entire game against U-Mary on Saturday.
No more streak on the glass
Brennan Olson (Luck, Wis.) had his five-game streak of leading the team in rebounding broke when
Derrick De Zeeuw (Brandon, S.D.) grabbed six boards last Saturday against U-Mary. Olson still finished with five boards. He has led the Vikings in rebounding eight times this season (including sharing the team lead).
Cam past 20
Junior guard
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) reached 20 points for the fourth time this season with a 22-point effort against U-Mary last Saturday. It was the 21st 20-point game for McCaffrey in his career. He also did it 12 times as a sophomore and five times as a freshman.
Dec. 2, 2011 Southwest Minnesota State 21
Dec. 10, 2011 at Northern State 20
Jan. 8, 2012 Minnesota Duluth 27
Feb. 11, 2012 U-Mary 22
Double D
Senior postman
Derrick De Zeeuw (Brandon, S.D.) returned to the starting lineup for Augustana last weekend. It was his 14th start this season and his first since Jan. 3 at Concordia University, St. Paul. De Zeeuw scored eight points (on 4 of 4 shooting form the field) and grabbed eight rebounds on the weekend. The Vikings are 10-4 with De Zeeuw in the starting lineup.
Freshman phenom
It was another strong weekend for freshman guard
Alex Richter (Lakeville, Minn.). He averaged 12.0 points per contest in Augustana's two games and shot 53.3 percent (8 of 15) from the floor. He put together a career performance last Friday against Northern State, scoring 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting off the bench. Richter has reached double figures twice this season and is averaging 5.7 points per game. His scoring average has increased after almost every game this season.
We meet again
Augustana and Wayne State will meet for the second time this season on Saturday. The Vikings are 5-1 this season when facing a team for the second time. Augustana's only loss in a second meeting with a team in 2011-12 was to Southwest Minnesota State on Feb. 4.
Postseason approaches
With just three regular-season games remaining, the Vikings are vying for position in the NSIC/Sanfor Health Men's Basketball Tournament. Augustana is currently in sixth place in the conference standings at 12-7. The top-eight teams make the league tournament, and the top-four seeds earn the right to host a first-round game on Feb. 29. The final two rounds will be played at Taylor Arena in Rochester, Minn., on March 3 and 4. The winner of the NSIC Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Regionally speaking
The first set of Central Region rankings conducted by the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball committee are due out this week. The top-eight teams in the final region rankings advance to the NCAA tournament. Augustana has qualified for the NCAA tournament nine times, including in 2008, 2009 and 2010 under
Tom Billeter.
Schilling closing in
It could be a record-breaking year for
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.). With his combined 33 points last weekend against Northern State and U-Mary, Schilling passed Greg Nagel. He is now third with 1,776 career points. Schilling needs 54 points to tie Carl Gonder's career scoring mark of 1,830 points. Assuming Augustana qualifies for the NSIC Tournament, Schilling would need to average at least 13.5 points per game to tie Gonder. He is averaging 16.7 per contest this season. Factoring in just the Vikings' three remaining regular-season games, Schilling would need to average 18.0 points per game to get the record.
Rk Points Player Years
1. 1830 Carl Gonder 1980-84
2. 1795 Mark Smed 1979-83
3. 1776
Cody Schilling 2008-12
4. 1764 Greg Nagel 1974-78
5. 1704 Jason Garrow 1988-92
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
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 six weeks. Winona State is the only other NSIC school ranked as the Warriors checked in at No. 3. Augustana was ranked as high as 14th on Dec. 13. To view the complete poll, turn to page 8.
History lesson
Augustana enters its 90th season of men's basketball in 2011-12. The Vikings are 932-1040 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.
