SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team returns home on Thursday afternoon, hosting nationally-ranked Southwest Minnesota State before a Saturday road game at Wayne State. The Vikings will take on the Mustangs at 7:30 p.m., and the Wildcats at 5:30 p.m.
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.
About the Mustangs
Southwest Minnesota State was picked to finish fourth in the NSIC and has opened the season 9-2 overall and 4-1 in the NSIC. The Mustangs are ranked No. 24 in the NABC Top 25 and No. 21 in the D2CSC Top 25. Aeron Stevens leads the team with 17.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Jakob Braaten scored 13.0 points per game while grabbing 6.1 rebounds and dishing 3.4 assists per game.
About the Wildcats
Wayne State was picked to finish 12th in the NSIC and have started the season 7-4 overall and 1-4 in conference play. The Wildcats are 5-1 at home on the season. Matt Noll is one of three WSC players averaging double figures, scoring 11.9 points per game. Cody McCullough scores 11.7 points and grabs a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game.
About the Vikings
Augustana is 3-8 after falling in a pair of road games last weekend.
Tanner Te Slaa scores 13.3 points and grabs 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 39.0 percent from deep, both team-highs. Akoi Akoi is second on the Vikings with 13.1 points per game while shooting 45.1 percent from the field. He has scored at least 20 points in four of the last nine games and is tied for a team lead with 25 assists.
Sam Rensch adds 11.7 points per game and adds 2.1 steals per game while providing havoc to a defense that forces the fifth most turnovers in the NSIC.
In his first season of action, Bennett Fried has already shown growth. The redshirt freshman is averaging 8.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. In five games since entering the starting lineup, Fried is second on the team with 12.4 points and leads with 6.4 rebounds per game while scoring at a 61.4 percent clip.
Tameron Ferguson had a breakout game on Saturday, scoring a career-best 25 points while grabbing four rebounds for the Vikings. The true freshman is fifth on the team with 7.4 points per game and has facilitated well, holding a 25/10 assist/turnover ratio.
Series History
Augustana and Southwest Minnesota State will match up for the 47th time all-time with the Vikings leading 30-16. AU had a 10-game win streak snapped in the series last year and are 16-6 at home in the series. It will be the first time the two teams square off in the Elmen Center since the 2019 season.
Augustana has won the previous two meetings with Wayne State and are 35-19 overall in the series. The Vikings are 15-12 in Wayne, Nebraska, including a 101-88 win in Rice Auditorium a season ago.
