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This week
Augustana (13-8, 10-7 NSIC) finishes the home part of its regular season this weekend, hosting Northern State (12-9, 8-9 NSIC) on Friday at 8 p.m. and U-Mary (5-16, 4-13 NSIC) on Saturday at 6 p.m.
The series
Augustana and Northern State will play for the 62nd time on Friday in a series that reaches back to the 1922-23 season. The Vikings are 31-30 against the Wolves and are riding a seven-game winning streak in the series. Earlier this season in Aberdeen, S.D., Augustana earned a 76-68 win over the Wolves. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 7-6 against NSU. Augustana and U-Mary have faced off 11 times in the series that began during the 1999-00 season, and the Vikings lead the series 6-5. Augustana topped the Marauders 58-45 earlier this season in Bismarck, N.D. Billeter is 5-5 against U-Mary. For more on both series, turn to pages 10 and 11.
Last time out
A relatively quick road trip saw the Vikings earn a split last weekend as Augustana beat Minnesota State on Friday and fell to Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday. Augustana rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit and picked up a 70-64 win over MSU.
Cody Schilling scored a game-high 23 points for the Vikings, who beat the Mavericks for the second time this season.
Leif Nomeland added 16,
Cameron McCaffrey had 14 and
Alex Richter netted 11. The Vikings also received a seven-rebound performance from
Brennan Olson. SMSU made a late-game lead stick and collected an 80-77 victory over Augustana. The Vikings had a chance to tie the game as time expired, but Schilling's 3-point attempt rimmed out. SMSU's Matt Zager missed the second try of a bonus opportunity with six second left to give Augustana that last possession. Four from Augustana reached double figures.
Drae Murray scored 18, Schilling had 16 and
Yuriy Malashenko and McCaffrey each added 10.
Trailing at half
For just the third time this season, Augustana faced a deficit at halftime when the Vikings trailed Minnesota State 35-24 last Friday. However, Augustana managed to turn a halftime difference into a win for the first time in 2011-12. The Vikings dropped games at St. Cloud State and Concordia University, St. Paul earlier this season--the other two contests Augustana trailed after the first 20 minutes.
Making steals
Augustana turned in back-to-back games with nine steals against Minnesota State and Southwest Minnesota State last weekend. The Vikings have had six games this season with at least nine steals, peaking with a 12-swipe effort at U-Mary on Dec. 9.
Chairman of the board
Sophomore
Brennan Olson (Luck, Wis.) has developed into one of Augustana' strongest rebounders this season. The high-flying forward has grabbed at least six boards in each of the Vikings' last four games. He had six against Concordia University, St. Paul on Jan. 27, a career-high nine against St. Cloud State on Jan. 28, seven at Minnesota State last Friday and another six against Southwest Minnesota State last Saturday. His presence has led to a number of second chances for the Vikings as he grabbed four offensive rebounds against both SCSU and MSU. Olson is averaging 4.1 rebounds per game.
Increased time
Ever-expanding minutes for true freshman
Alex Richter (Lakeville, Minn.) resulted in his first double-figure scoring game at the collegiate level last Friday at Minnesota State. Richter scored 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the field. He followed that by draining a trio of 3-pointers against Southwest Minnesota State the following evening. Richter has seen more playing time since the new year started. He played a season-high 27 minutes against St. Cloud State on Jan. 28 and has been on the floor for at least 12 minutes in each of the Vikings' games in 2012. Richter's minutes have nearly doubled when you compare his time in 2011 to that in 2012. He played 9.7 minutes per contest prior to the new year and is averaging 18.8 minutes per game in 2012.
Heading downtown
The Vikings tied a season high with 11 3-pointers against Southwest Minnesota State last Saturday. It was the sixth time this season Augustana has drilled at least 10 treys but just the second time in 2011-12 the Vikings have lost when hitting at least 10 from behind the arc. Augustana has hit 143 3-pointers this season and is shooting 39.2 percent from 3-point range.
Repeat offenders
Southwest Minnesota State became the first team to beat Augustana in a second meeting this season. Heading into their tilt with the Mustangs, the Vikings were 3-0 when facing teams for the second time in 2011-12. Augustana has beat Concordia University, St. Paul; St. Cloud State; and Minnesota State in its second game with those schools. The Vikings are now 3-1 when facing teams for the second time.
Schilling 20-point games
Senior guard
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) registered his sixth 20-point game this season against Minnesota State last Friday. More often than not this season (83.3 percent of the time), the Vikings collect a win when Schilling scores 20 points or more.
Nov. 15, 2011 vs. University of Sioux Falls 28 W
Nov. 22, 2011 Dakota State 22 W
Dec. 17, 2011 Minnesota, Crookston 23 W
Jan. 7, 2012 Bemidji State 29 W
Jan. 21, 2012 at Winona State 27 L
Feb. 3, 2012 at Minnesota State 23 W
Home and away breakdown
The Vikings have fared much better in the Elmen Center than in enemy waters this season. Augustana is 8-2 at home and better in most statistical categories when playing on campus in Sioux Falls.
Tom Billeter's crew has better marks at home in field-goal percentage, 3-point field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage, rebounds, points and turnovers.
W-L FG% 3-FG% FT% REB PTS TO
Home 8-2 49.2 42.3 76.1 34.5 80.5 10.8
Away 3-6 45.3 38.2 74.1 30.6 69.1 11.8
Winding down
Just five regular-season games remain for the Vikings in 2011-12. Augustana's 10-7 conference mark has it in sixth place in the NSIC standings; the top eight teams qualify for the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament, which runs on Feb. 29 and March 3 and 4. After opening-round games at the top-four seeds, this year's tournament will be played at Taylor Arena in Rochester, Minn. This stretch run also means regional rankings from the NCAA are just around the corner. The first set of Central Region rankings is expected to be released in the middle of next week. The top eight teams in the final rankings earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
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 five weeks. NSIC schools in the rankings include Winona State (No. 3) and St. Cloud State (No. 24). 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 39 points last weekend against Minnesota State and Southwest Minnesota State, Schilling passed Jason Garrow. He is now fourth with 1,743 career points. Schilling needs 87 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. 1743
Cody Schilling 2008-12
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
History lesson
Augustana enters its 90th season of men's basketball in 2011-12. The Vikings are 930-1040 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.
