SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team makes its 2023-24 Sanford Pentagon debut on Friday and Saturday with a pair of NSIC contests. On Friday, the Vikings host No. 6 Minnesota State at 5:30 p.m. and Winona State at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
 
Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the App Store or Google Play. 
 
In addition to the games this weekend, on Friday at halftime, the 2023 NSIC Champion Augustana football team will be honored.
 
About the Mavericks
Minnesota State is up to No. 6 in the latest NABC Top-25 with its 8-0 start to the season. The Mavericks are coming off a weekend sweep of Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State by scores of 87-76 and 93-89.
 
Malik Willingham leads MSU at 19.4 points per outing while sinking 48.3 percent of his field goal attempts. He leads the Mavericks in 3-point makes with 21 of his 56 coming from long range. Kyreese Willingham joins his brother in the double-digit category with 13.0 points per outing as Dylan Peeters leads the team with 6.8 rebounds to go with his 11.8 points per game.
 
In an in-conference transfer move, Justin Eagins, the 2020-21 NSIC Newcomer of the Year, closes out the double digit scorers for MSU at 10.9 points per game.
 
About the Warriors
Winona State has just a single blemish on its record, a 75-69 setback to Southwest Minnesota State last Friday while bouncing back for an 81-66 victory over Sioux Falls on Saturday. In all, WSU is 5-1 against an all NCAA Division II schedule.
 
Connor Dillon enters the weekend as the NSIC's second-leading scorer with 22.7 points per game while dishing a team-best 3.7 assists per game. In a team of Connors, Connor Drew is the other Warrior in double-figure scoring at 15.5 points. Securing a team-best 5.2 rebounds per outing is Carson Arenz.
 
A team that does not turn the ball over often, Winona State ranks fourth in the nation with just 8.2 turnovers per game.
 
About the Vikings
Augustana holds a 5-3 record on the season and is 1-2 in the NSIC after splitting last weekend with a high-scoring victory over Concordia-St. Paul and a loss at No. 13 Minnesota Duluth. In the win over CSP, Isaac Fink went off for 42 points, a career-high, o 13-of-21 made field goals including 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
 
For the season, Fink averages 20.5 points per outing while securing 5.8 rebounds per game. His points-per-game total ranks him fifth in the NSIC. Not far behind in the ledger is Jadan Graves with 15.5 points per game. Akoi Akoi is the final Viking in double digits with 10.8 points per game. Brady Helgren pulls in a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game.
 
One Last Thing
When Fink scored is 42 points, he became the first 40-plus point scorer since Cam McCaffrey put in 40 points against the University of Mary on Jan. 18, 2023. The single-game scoring record is 49 points by John Eggers in 1966-67. Fink's 42 points are the third-most for a Viking, right behind assistant coach, and 2023 Augustana Hall of Fame inductee, Cody Schilling who had 44 points on Feb. 26, 20211, against Minnesota Crookston.