SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team plays a split weekend with a road game at Southwest Minnesota State on Thursday and a home game against Sioux Falls Saturday. Thursday's contest in Marshall, Minnesota, is slated for 7:30 p.m. Saturday's game with the visiting Cougars at the Sanford Pentagon has a 5:30 p.m. start.
 
Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app. The app can be downloaded in the app store or Google Play.
 
About the Mustangs
Southwest Minnesota State enters with a 4-1 record in 2022-23 while sitting 1-0 in the NSIC. The Mustangs galloped past Sioux Falls in the NSIC opener with a 73-65 score. Most recently, SMSU defeated Mount Marty, 79-70, over the Thanksgiving weekend.
 
Dunwa Omot leads a quarter of Mustangs in double-figure scoring with 15.4 points per outing. Omot is a 43 percent shooter from 3-point range as 10 of his 25 total field-goal makes are from long range. Jake Phipps is the leading rebounder for SMSU with 7.8 rebounds per game to go with his 10.6 points.
 
Southwest Minnesota State was tabbed fifth in the Preseason NSIC South Division Coaches' Poll, just behind Augustana. In the overall poll, the Mustangs were picked eighth.
 
About the Cougars
Sioux Falls holds a 5-2 record prior to its contest Thursday night with Wayne State. USF has claimed two-straight victories after dropping its NSIC opener at Southwest Minnesota State. The Cougars spent Thanksgiving in Denver, Colorado, topping MSU Denver, 76-71, and Regis, 73-60.
 
Sioux Falls places two players in double-figure scoring with Jack Thompson being one of them with his 10.1 points per game. Chase Grinde is the leading rebounder with 6.6 per game. Augustana must also contend with Zane Alm who ranks 14^th in NCAA Division II with 13 blocks.
 
The Cougars were picked to finish sixth in the Preseason NSIC South Division Coaches' Poll and ninth overall.
 
About the Vikings
Augustana is 4-3 on the season after sweeping the Thanksgiving weekend contests including a 40-point win over Valley City State while shooting nearly 58 percent from the field. Augustana then held off an undefeated NAIA foe, Hastings, in a 59-50 victory.
 
Ryan Miller leads the Vikings in scoring with 12.9 points per outing while shooting 41.4 percent from 3-point range. Just behind him in the scoring category is Akoi Akoi and his 12.4 points per outing. Isaac Fink pushes a near double-double average with 9.7 points and a team-high 8.4 points per game.
 
One Last Thing
Akoi has found his rhythm in the Augustana offense after redshirting two seasons ago and playing just 12.5 minutes per game as a redshirt freshman on last year's NSIC Championship squad. In 2022-23, Akoi is playing 25 minutes per game while making nearly 63 percent of his field goal attempts. He has reset his career-high on two occasions this year, including matching his career-best 19 points in back-to-back games.