Storylines
• Augustana men's basketball (12-8, 9-5 NSIC) will hit the road for its second-to-last conference road trip of the 2013-14 season.
• The Vikings first travel to Duluth, Minn., to take on Minnesota Duluth (7-11, 5-9 NSIC) on Friday, Jan. 31, at 8 p.m. at Romano Gymnasium.
• Augustana will then head to the Granite City, St. Cloud, Minn., to take on St. Cloud State (13-5, 9-5 NSIC) at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
• Augustana enters the weekend tied for fifth in the overall conference standings at 9-5 with St. Cloud State and Northern State.
• Augustana currently sits in fourth-place in the South Division standings, one game behind SMSU.
Last time out
• Augustana split a pair of home games last weekend, coming up with a huge win over USF, 94-53 on Friday night before dropping a heartbreaker, 77-75 to Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday night.
• After a slow start, Augustana overwhelmed USF all night long, not allowing the Cougars to break the 30-point threshold in either half.
• The Vikings shot 54 percent from the field and hit 11 of 22 from 3-point range and had five players in double-figures in scoring.
•
Casey Schilling led the Vikings with 20 points and eight rebounds.
• Augustana put up 90-plus points in both wins over USF this season.
• On Saturday night, Augustana looked to be on its way to its third straight win, holding a 16-point lead over SMSU at the midway point of the second half.
• Augustana was held without a field goal over the final seven minutes of the second half, while SMSU closed the final 7:33 of the game on a 22-8 run.
• Augustana had two chances to tie the game or take the lead in the final 10 seconds but missed a shot and was unable to get a shot off as the clock expired.
• Freshman
Ethan Guske led Augustana against SMSU with 18 points, hitting five 3-pointers.
•
Casey Schilling threatened a triple-double with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.
About Augustana
• Augustana is 12-8 on the season and is has scored 79.8 points per game.
• Augustana has allowed 70.2 points per game this season and holds a +9.6 scoring margin.
• The Vikings have shot 45.5 percent from the field, including 37.8 percent from 3-point range.
• The Vikings are shooting 73.7 percent (365 of 495) from the free throw line as a team.
• Augustana has grabbed 35.8 rebounds per game and holds a +2.9 rebound margin through 20 games.
• The Vikings are averaging 11.3 turnovers and own a +2.6 turnover margin.
• Augustana is averaging 13.2 assists per game and owns an assist/turnover ratio of 1.2
About Minnesota Duluth
• Minnesota Duluth enters the weekend at 7-11 on the season, including 5-9 in the NSIC.
• UMD was swept at home last weekend, falling 76-71 to MSU Moorhead on Friday night and 80-78 on Saturday to Northern State.
• UMD has lost three straight games heading into this weekend, with its last win coming on Jan. 17, 88-80, at Minot State.
• The Bulldogs enter the weekend averaging 71.6 points per game while allowing 77.
• UMD is shooting 44.2 percent from the field, including 32.5 percent from the free throw line.
• The Bulldogs have hit 108 3-pointers this season, and are shooting at a 32.5 percent clip from behind the arc.
• UMD averaging 3.07 rebounds (-4.3), 10.4 turnovers (-0.3) and 4.6 steals per game.
• Augustana is led offensively by Jordan Reetz, who is averaging 17.3 points per game with a team-high 31 3-pointers on the season.
•
Peter Crawford is averaging 15.9 points while Reece Zoelle has scored 15.1 points and grabbed a team-high 5.7 rebounds.
• Matt Bowen is in his second season as the head coach at UMD.
• Bowen spent the previous six seasons as the head coach at Bemidji State.
• Bowen owns a career record of 79-132, including 15-30 at UMD and 57-98 in NSIC contests.
About St.?Cloud State
• St. Cloud State owns a 13-5 overall record, including 9-5 in conference games.
• Augustana and SCSU enter the weekend tied for fifth overall in the NSIC at 9-5 in conference play.
• The Huskies split a pair of home games last weekend, defeating Northern State 79-71 on Friday night before losing 95-88 to MSU Moorhead on Saturday at Halenbeck Hall.
• SCSU is averaging 81.8 points and allowing 73.1 points per game this season (+8.7 scoring margin).
• The Huskies are shooting 45 percent from the field, including 36.9 percent from 3-point range.
• SCSU is shooting 71.8 percent from the free throw line and averages 18.8 made free throws per game.
• SCSU averages 34.5 rebounds per game and owns a -3.1 rebounding margin on the season.
• SCSU averages just 9.3 turnovers per game while forcing opponents to 15.1 turnovers per game.
• Jordan Poydras leads SCSU in scoring averaging 15.1 points per game.
• Matt Craggs is averaging 14.3 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game for the Huskies.
• Kevin Schlagel is in his 17th season as the head coach at St. Cloud State.
• Schlagel owns a career record of 334-154.
Series history
• Friday night's match-up with Minnesota Duluth will be the 23rd meeting in the all-time series between Augustana and Minnesota Duluth.
• UMD owns a two-game lead in the all-time series at 12-10.
• Augustana has won the last two meetings over UMD, including five of the last six games.
• Augustana played Minnesota Duluth twice last season, defeating the Bulldogs 67-52 at the Elmen Center on Feb. 1, and 89-81 at the Elmen Center on Feb. 27 in the first round of the NSIC Championships on Feb. 27.
• Saturday's game will be the 84th all-time meeting between Augustana and St. Cloud State.
• SCSU?leads the all-time series 45-38.
• Augustana has won the last two meetings against St. Cloud State, winning 89-74 on Feb. 2 at the Elmen Center last season and 74-52 on Jan. 28, 2012 at home.
• Augustana is 6-19 all-time when playing in St. Cloud, Minn.
