SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team plays its first repeat opponents of the season, starting on the road against No. 13 Southwest Minnesota State. The Vikings will take on the Mustangs at 5:30 p.m., Thursday night before a Saturday afternoon home game at noon against Wayne State.

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 is currently alone at the top of the NSIC standings. The Mustangs are ranked No. 13 in the NABC Top 25 and No. 9 in the D2CSC Top 25 and are 11-1 at home. Aeron Stevens leads the team with 15.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Jakob Braaten scored 14.6 points per game while grabbing 5.9 rebounds and has dished 71 assists.

About the Wildcats
Wayne State was picked to finish 12th in the NSIC and are at 7-7 in the conference while riding a five-game win streak. The Wildcats are 3-5 on the road this season. Matt Noll is one of three WSC players averaging double figures, scoring 14.2 points per game. Cody McCullough scores 12.2 points and grabs a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game. 

About the Vikings
Augustana is 9-11 overall and 6-8 in the NSIC after a pair of overtime losses last weekend. 

Tanner Te Slaa holds the team lead with 14.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting 39.2 percent from deep. Akoi Akoi is second on the Vikings with 12.8 points per game while shooting 45.8 percent from the field. He is also second on the team with 15 blocks. 

Sam Rensch adds 11.1 points per game and 1.7 steals per game while providing havoc to a defense that ranks second in the NSIC in turnover margin.

Tameron Ferguson continues to grow into his own while running the point for the Vikings. Ferguson scored in double figures for the ninth time in his last 10 games while shooting 50 percent from the field and playing all 90 minutes in the two games combined. He scored a career-best 25 points against Concordia-St. Paul on Dec. 14.

The true freshman is fourth on the team with 9.7 points per game and has facilitated well, holding a 62/22 assist/turnover ratio. Ferguson ranks first in the NSIC and 28th nationally with a 2.82 assist/turnover ratio.

In his first season of action, Bennett Fried has already shown growth. The redshirt freshman is averaging 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. In 16 games since entering the starting lineup, Fried is fourth on the team with 10.3 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds per game while shooting at a 59.8 percent clip.

Trends To Watch
The Vikings are 8-4 when leading at the half this season. The defense has propelled AU as they are 9-7 when holding opponents under 50 percent shooting from the field and are 7-1 when holding teams under 70 points. Offensively, the engine runs when the 3-pointers fall. The Vikings are 4-1 on the season when making more 3-pointers than their opponent.

Series History
Augustana and Southwest Minnesota State will match up for the 48th time all-time with the Vikings leading 31-16. AU had a 10-game win streak snapped in the series last year and are 13-8 on the road in the series. Earlier this season, the Vikings hit 11 3-pointers to lead the Vikings to a 62-59 win over the then-No. 24 ranked Mustangs.

Augustana has won the previous three meetings with Wayne State and are 36-19 overall in the series. The Vikings are 20-7 at home in the series and won 65-59 earlier this season as Tanner Te Slaa went off for 21 points and 14 rebounds.