SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana University men's basketball, the No. 3 seed out of the South Division, returns to action in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament on Sunday, Feb. 26 taking on North Division No. 2 seed Northern State. The Vikings and Wolves will tip-off in quarterfinal action of the NSIC Tournament at 8 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon.
 
Augustana and Northern State enter the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament with identical records of 22-7. Sunday night's game will be the fourth time the two teams have met in the NSIC Tournament since the Vikings joined the league in 2008-09.

NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Augustana is the two-time defending NSIC Tournament Champions
• The Vikings won their first ever postseason tournament in 2014-15 before repeating as NSIC Tournament Champions last season
• Augustana is 11-6 all-time in the NSIC Tournament
• Augustana won its first NSIC Tournament game in 2013 with a first round win over Minnesota Duluth
• The NSIC Tournament moved to a 16-team tournament during the 2012-13 season
• Augustana has qualified for the NSIC Tournament each season since joining the NSIC in 2008-09
• Sunday's game between Augustana and Northern State will be the third time the two teams have played in the NSIC Tournament
• Augustana is 3-0 all-time against Northern State in NSIC Tournament play
• The NSIC moved the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds of the tournament to the Sanford Pentagon in 2013-14
• Augustana is 7-1 all-time in NSIC Tournament games played at the Sanford Pentagon

NCAA CENTRAL REGION RANKINGS
• Augustana moved up two spots to No. 6 in the second release of the NCAA Central Region rankings which were released on Feb. 22
• Augustana was ranked eighth in the first edition of the rankings
• Northwest Missouri State is the No. 1 ranked team in the region for the second straight week
• SMSU moved from third to second, Arkansas Tech went from sixth to third and MSU Moorhead is ranked fourth
• Sunday's game will have regional implications as well as Northern State was ranked eighth in the latest Central Region poll
• The third set of NCAA Central Region rankings will be released on Wednesday, March 1
• The complete list of NCAA Central Region rankings can be found on p. 2 of this release

SPENCER AND BUSACK EARN ALL-NSIC HONORS
• Augustana's Jordan Spencer and Mike Busack were named to the All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference team which was announced Thursday
• Spencer, a two-time All-NSIC South Division honoree, was named to the All-NSIC First Team for 2016-17
• Busack is making his first appearance on the All-NSIC Team, earning Second Team honors
• Spencer earned Second Team honors as a freshman and sophomore. He was also named the league's Freshman of the Year in 2014-15
• Spencer leads Augustana and ranks 11th in the NSIC averaging 15.9 points per game
• Spencer also leads the NSIC in assists with 214 and assists per game (7.4)
• Busack ranks 12th in the conference in scoring (15.8 ppg) and seventh in rebounding (6.9 rpg)

NSIC PLAYER(s) OF THE WEEK
• Mike Busack was named the NSIC South Division Player of the Week for the third time this season on Monday, Feb. 20
• Busack averaged 24.5 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 52.4 percent from 3-point range
• He hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and nine rebounds against Winona State on Friday before matching his career-high in points (27) and rebounds (14) against Upper Iowa on Saturday
• Jordan Spencer has been named player of the week three times in 2016-17 (Nov. 28, Jan. 23 & Feb. 13)
• Augustana has had the NSIC South Division Player of the Week in three straight weeks
• Busack was named player of the week on Feb. 6, Spencer on Feb. 13 and Busack again on Feb. 20
• Busack was named player of the week for the first time in his career on Jan. 9
• Senior guard Adam Beyer was named the NSIC South Division Player of the Week on Dec. 5
• The player of the week honors marked the first career weekly honor from the NSIC for all three players

LAST TIME OUT
• Zach Huisken scored a career-high 19 points helping the Vikings overcome a tough shooting night to pick up a 74-63 win over Bemidji State in the first round of the NSIC Tournament on Wednesday night
• The Vikings finished the game shooting 35.3 percent (24 of 68) from the field, including 6 of 20 from 3-point range
• Augustana had a great night at the free throw line, shooting 83.3 percent, knocking down 20 of 24 shots from the stripe
• Huisken was 9 of 11 from the free throw line and 5 of 14 from the field to lead the Vikings
• Bemidji State shot 46.6 percent from the field and hit seven 3-pointers 
• Augustana forced BSU into 19 turnovers on the night and converted 28 points off of turnovers

ABOUT AUGUSTANA
• Augustana is averaging 82.7 points per game which ranks second in the NSIC
• The Vikings have out-scored opponents by 10.8 points per game which leads the NSIC and ranks 30th nationally
• Augustana is allowing just 72.7 points per game, the second-fewest in the NSIC
• Augustana is shooting 48.3 percent from the field as a team, including 40.4 percent from 3-point range
• Augustana averages 12.8 made free throws per game and is shooting 72.7 percent from the line as a team
• Augustana is averaging 37.5 rebounds per game and owns a +5.9 rebound margin on the season
• The Vikings rank second in the NSIC and 20th in the country averaging 17.2 assists per game
• Augustana is averaging 6.4 steals per game which ranks fifth in the NSIC

ABOUT NORTHERN STATE
• Northern State enters the quarterfinals of the NSIC Tournament with a record of 22-7 on the season
• The Wolves have won three straight games entering Sunday night's game
• Northern State defeated Winona State 75-56 in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday night at home
• The Wolves are averaging 84.3 points per game, having out-scored opponents by 7.9 points per game
• NSU is shooting 49 percent from the field, including 41 percent from 3-point range
• NSU averages 18.6 made free throws per game and shoots 74.3 percent fro the stripe as a team
• NSU averages 38.8 rebounds per game and owns a +7.8 rebound margin on the season
• The Wolves are averaging 12.7 turnovers per game while their opponents have averaged just 10.7 turnovers per game
• Mack Arvidson leads the Wolves in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per game
• Logan Doyle, the NSIC Newcomer of the Year, is averaging 14.3 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game
• Paul Sather is in his seventh season as the head coach at NSU. He owns a career record of 220-140, including 126-78 at Northern State

SERIES HISTORY
• Sunday night's game between Augustana and Northern State will be the 71st all-time meeting between the two schools in men's basketball
• Augustana is 38-32 all-time against Northern State and has won 14 of the last 16 meetings
• Sunday's game will be the second meeting between the two teams this season
• Augustana picked up an 80-66 win over the Wolves on Jan. 14 at the Sioux Falls Arena
• Sunday will be the fourth meeting between the two teams in the NSIC Tournament
• Augustana is 3-0 against Northern State in NSIC Tournament games
• The Vikings defeated the Wolves 85-61 in Aberdeen in 2012-13, 66-64 in Aberdeen in 2013-14 and 67-65 in overtime at the Sanford Pentagon in 2014-15