SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – For the third straight season, Augustana University will play in the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament semifinals. Augustana (23-7), the No. 3 seed out of the South Division, will take on South Division No. 1 seed Southwest Minnesota State (24-5) at 8 p.m. Monday night at the Sanford Pentagon.
 
The winner of tonight's semifinal game will play the winner of South Division No. 2 seed Upper Iowa and South Division No. 4 seed Minnesota State on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.  

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 12-6 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
• Augustana is 8-1 all-time in NSIC Tournament games played at the Sanford Pentagon
• Augustana and Southwest Minnesota State have never met in an NSIC Tournament game

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
• Jordan Spencer scored a game-high 23 points to lead a group of four Vikings in double-figures in an 88-64 win over Northern State on Sunday night
• Augustana shot 49 percent from the field in the win, after firing at 54 percent in the first half
• The Vikings dominated the glass in the win, out-rebounding Northern State 50-29
• The Vikings also knocked down 10 of 20 3-pointers to improve to 14-1 on the year when making 10 or more from behind the arc
• Spencer also dished out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds to go along with his 14th career 20-plus point performance
• John Warren added 17 points and four rebounds while Mike Busack pitched in with 15 points and seven boards
• Adam Beyer recorded 14 points and six rebounds and Zach Huisken went for 7 points and a career-high 11 rebounds
• The Vikings raced out to a 12-2 lead in the opening minutes of the game and never looked back

ABOUT AUGUSTANA
• Augustana is averaging 83.7 points per game which ranks second in the NSIC
• The Vikings have out-scored opponents by 11.2 points per game which leads the NSIC and ranks 30th nationally
• Augustana is allowing just 72.5 points per game, the second-fewest in the NSIC
• Augustana is shooting 48.4 percent from the field as a team, including 40.6 percent from 3-point range
• Augustana averages 12.9 made free throws per game and is shooting 72.7 percent from the line as a team
• Augustana is averaging 37.9 rebounds per game and owns a +6.4 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 6.3 steals per game which ranks fifth in the NSIC

ABOUT SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE
• Southwest Minnesota State advanced to the semifinals of the NSIC Tournament with a 79-68 win over Sioux Falls on Sunday night at the Sanford Pentagon
• The win improved SMSU's record to 24-5 on the season
• The Mustangs are averaging 81.4 points per game on the season, out-scoring opponents by 6.9 ppg
• SMSU has shot 49.3 percent from the field as a team in 2016-17, including 36.7 percent from 3-point range
• SMSU averages 15.2 made free throws per game and is shooting 75.1 percent from the stripe as a team
• SMSU averages 36.1 rebounds per game and owns a +4.1 rebound margin on the year
• SMSU is averaging 14 assists, 11.9 turnovers and 7.1 steals per game
• Ryan Bruggeman leads SMSU ins coring on the year averaging 14.5 points per game
• Bruggeman has also dished out a season-high 136 assists
• Joey Bartlett averages 11.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Mustangs
• Brad Bigler is in his eighth season as the head coach at SMSU. Bigler owns a career record of 132-100

SERIES HISTORY
• Tonight's game between Augustana and SMSU will be the 32nd all-time game between the two schools
• Augustana is 19-12 all-time against SMSU
• Tonight's game will be the third meeting of the season between the two teams
• SMSU picked up a 78-76 win over Augustana in the first meeting between the two schools this season on Dec. 30
• SMSU's Michael Lee hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to give the Mustangs a 75-72 lead
• Augustana had won four straight over SMSU before the Dec. 30 game at the Sioux Falls Arena
• The Vikings then picked up a 97-79 win over SMSU at the R/A Facility in Marshall, Minnesota on Feb. 11
• Jordan Spencer scored a career-high 39 points to lead the Vikings past the Mustangs the last time the two teams played