SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of the Sanford Pentagon Friday and Saturday for NSIC action. On Friday, the men's hoopsters play the first game of the doubleheader at 5:30 p.m. against No. 25 Minnesota State. On Saturday, again playing the first game of the doubleheader, Augustana hosts Concordia-St. Paul.
 
Complete action can be followed at GoAugie.com/Live and on the GoAugie App, presented by CellOnly. The app can be downloaded in the app store or on Google Play.
 
The Games
Friday evening is a nationally-ranked showdown of sorts. Augustana is No. 17 in the D2SIDA Top-25 while Minnesota State is No. 25 in the NABC Top-25 as the two polls haven't agreed with one another in a number of placements.
 
The visit to the Pentagon will be the first by Minnesota State since the 2019-20 season while Concordia-St. Paul played AU in the building during the shortened 2021 season.
 
About the Mavericks
Minnesota State enters at 7-1 after dropping its first game of the season to Winona State last Saturday by a score of 73-59. The Mavericks come into the game averaging 86.4 points per game on 53 percent shooting. They shoot 35.4 percent from behind the arc and 68.1 percent from the free-throw line.
 
Sophomore guard Quincy Anderson, the reigning NSIC Player of the Week, leads the Mavericks in scoring with 19.3 points per game on 47.6 percent shooting. He dropped a season-high 35 points in their overtime win against Upper Iowa last week. Junior center Kelby Kramer leads the team with 7.5 rebounds per game.
 
The Maverick defense has given up 72.0 points per game, with a scoring margin of +14.4. They've forced 12.8 turnovers per game so far this season with 8.1 steals and 5.8 blocks per game.
 
About the Golden Bears
Concordia-St. Paul enters this week at 1-8 with their lone win coming against Newman in the season opener. They've averaged 68.1 points per game with a scoring margin of -10.3. They shoot 43 percent from the field, 31.8 percent from three, and 72.9 percent from the free-throw line.
 
Freshman Marcus Skeete leads the Golden Bears with 14.6 points per game. He also leads the team with 6.2 rebounds per game. Freshman Elijah Ormiston averages 11.6 points and 6 rebounds per game as well.
 
The Golden Bear defense allows only 78.4 points per game on 49.1 percent shooting. They force 12.8 turnovers per game with 4.4 steals and 3.2 blocks per game.
 
About the Vikings
Augustana is 8-1 on the year, ranked No. 17 in the D2SIDA Top-25 and receiving votes in the NABC poll. Within the NSIC, the Vikings are 2-1 with wins over Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State.
 
The win over SMSU is one that will be talked about for quite some time as Isaac Fink lit up the Mustangs for 37 points on 8-of-10 3-point shooting. The 37 points are the most scored by an individual in the NSIC during the 2021-22 season.
 
Fink is averaging 18.7 points per game to lead AU while Tyler Riemersma is right at a double-double average of 17.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per outing. It is expected that Riemersma will surpass 1,000 collegiate points over the weekend as he sits at 992 when combining his time at Navy and Augustana.
 
When talking offense, one cannot overlook Jameson Bryan and his 4.29 assists per turnover, a ratio that ranks him 16^th in the nation. He leads Augustana with 31 assists on the year, an average of 3.4 per game.
 
The Vikings are averaging 77 points per game and give up 64.6. The +9.0 rebound margin ranks AU 16^th in NCAA Division II.
 
One Last Thing
Isaac Fink is on fire from 3-point land. After going 8-of-10 over two games last week, Fink is shooting 55 percent from 3-point land. His percentage from beyond the arc ranks him ninth in NCAA Division II while making 2.75 3-point field goals per game.