SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Following a home split last weekend, the Augustana men's basketball team returns to the road for a pair of NSIC North games this weekend. The Vikings will take on Minot State on Friday, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. and will finish up the road trip with U-Mary on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Fans not in attendance can watch live video and stats for the weekend's games at GoAugie.com/live.

This past weekend, 16th-year head coach Tom Billeter won his 300th career win at Augustana. Billeter now sits at 300-173 as a Viking and 397-223 in 21 seasons overall.

Just over midway through the 2018-19 season, Augustana sits in a tie for third in the NSIC South standings with a 9-5 conference record and 13-7 overall. Wayne State, whom the Vikings split the season series with, sits in first at 10-4 in the south.

During last weekend's games, Augustana started off with a 78-70 win over Concordia St. Paul. A.J. Plitzuweit led four Vikings in double-figures with 18 points. The Vikings tried to go for a weekend sweep against Minnesota State but fell in a hard fought battle 79-73 at the Sioux Falls Arena. In the loss on Sunday, Michael Schaefer notched a career-high 27 points. He also hauled in 10 rebounds for his third career double-double.

Minot State (9-14, 4-10 NSIC) sits in seventh place in the NSIC North division. They are coming off a weekend split that saw them lose to Bemidji State, 93-82 and a 92-61 win over Minnesota Crookston. U-Mary (9-11, 6-8 NSIC) swept the weekend with a 76-67 win over Minnesota Crookston and an 83-66 win over Bemidji State.

The Vikings are averaging 36.5 rebounds a game, which is ranked as the second-best in the NSIC going into this weekend's contests. The Vikings are now 12-2 when outrebounding the opposing team. As a team, Augustana ranks fourth in the NSIC with a 76 percent free throw percentage.

The Viking sophomore, Matt Cartwright has the third highest points scored in one game with 37 points against Minnesota Crookston. Cartwright has seen steady improvement in his game since conference play started. He is averaging 18.1 points during conference play, which ranks 10th in the NSIC, compared to his 12 points a game in non-conference play.

Dylan LeBrun has also stepped up, contributing more than one steal per game against NSIC opponents (1.1) and also increasing his rebounds per game (5.9) . Trevor Hanson upped his rebounds a game (4.2) after pulling in nine against Minnesota State.

Michael Schaefer scored a career-high 27 points and 10 rebounds against Minnesota State. The true freshman notched his third career double-double in the loss.


Scouting Minot State (9-14, 4-10 NSIC):
The Beavers, 20-10 last year, are looking to find similar success in the second part of the season and turn the season around before postseason play. The Beavers sit in seventh place in the NSIC North division and have gone 2-2 in the past four games.

They are led by David Akibo who is averaging 19.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. As a team, the Beavers average 71.7 points a game on 49 percent shooting from the field and 36 percent from deep. They haul in an average of 33.8 rebounds a game for a plus-one margin on the boards. They give up 72 points a game and on average their opponents shoot 44 percent from the field and 35 percent from deep.

Series vs. Minot State:
The Vikings lead the series 5-2 with the first meeting coming on Nov. 21, 1999, in which the Vikings won 105-67 in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Vikings are 3-1 in Sioux Falls and 2-1 on the road in the series. After losing the first five contests, the Beavers have won the past two meetings against the Vikings.

Scouting U-Mary (9-11 6-8 NSIC):
The Marauders have already bested their 6-21 mark last season. With the season quickly coming to an end the Marauders look to end on a hot streak. U-Mary sits in sixth place in the NSIC North with a 6-8 conference record and have a two-game win streak to their credit this season.

They are led by Jaylan White with 14.2 points a game on 41 percent shooting from the field. As a team, they average 71.1 points a game and give up 69.4 points a game. They are shooting 43 percent on the season from the field and 33.4 percent from deep. They average 34.9 rebounds a game and average 17.5 points off turnovers. They are allowing their opponent to shoot 44 percent from the field and 37 percent from deep.

Series vs. U-Mary:
The Vikings lead the series 13-5 with the first meeting coming on Nov. 18, 1999, an 89-64
Viking win in Sioux Falls. The Vikings have an 8-2 record while playing at home and a 5-3 record playing on the road. Augustana has won the last eight matchups, with U-Mary's last win coming on Feb. 12, 2011(90-81).

The Fastbreak:

• Following a 3-3 start, the Vikings have won 10 of their last 14 games.
• Augustana holds a 5-2 all-time series record vs. Minot State. The Vikings are 13-5 all-time against U-Mary.
• With a win this past Saturday, Tom Billeter now has 300 victories as a Viking.
• Billeter is standing at 397 career wins, needing three more to reach the 400 mark.
• Augustana's 36.5 total rebounds per game stand second in the conference.
• The Vikings are 12-2 when out-rebounding their opponent.
• Augustana is forcing nearly 10.1 turnovers a night, which has led to more than 12.1 points off turnovers per outing.
• Overall, Augustana has three players averaging double-figures, led by Matt Cartwright with 16.3 points a game.
• Through 20 games, the Vikings are hitting 37.2 percent of their shots from downtown.
• The Vikings are shooting 76 percent from the free throw line, which is fourth in the conference.
• Over conference play, sharpshooter Matt Cartwright is averaging over 18.1 points per game which is 10th in the NSIC.
• Overall, Cartwright is averaging 16.3 points per night, which is 14th in the NSIC in scoring.
• Cartwright had the third-highest scoring outing in the NSIC this year with 37 points versus Minnesota Crookston.
• Through 20 games, opponents are shooting 44.6 percent vs. the Vikings
• Augustana made at least one 3-point field goal in each of the last 446 games. The last time the Vikings did not make a 3-pointer came on Jan. 24, 2004, a 79-69 loss against North Dakota in the Elmen Center.
• At least one Viking scored in double figures in each of the last 270 games. The last time an Augie player did not score at least 10 points in a game came on March 3, 2010, in a 75-52 loss to Wayne State at the Elmen Center in the NSIC quarterfinals, when Lee Stephens led the Vikings with eight points.
• On this year's roster, the Vikings have five true freshmen, two transfers, and 10-of-the-16 student-athletes have never played together.
• With 10 players from last years roster no longer on the team, the Vikings lost 1,768 of last years 2,459 points. That's 71.8 percent of the scoring from 2017-2018.
• In the 2018-2019 NSIC preseason poll, the Vikings received 127 points and were picked to finished seventh overall.
• The Vikings finished 16-14 last year, locking in their 12th straight winning season.
• Billeter has only had three losing seasons in his 16 years at Augustana.
• Augustana men's basketball has played 2,191 games in school history, and the program all-time record is 1,090-1,101 (.497).
• With a 204-80 record (.720) Augustana is 20th in NCAA DII winning percentage from 2010-18