SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball season gets underway Friday with a Noon contest against host Missouri Western followed by a 4 p.m. game against Northwest Missouri State on Saturday. Both contests are taking place as part of the Tip-Off Classic in St. Joseph, Missouri.
 
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. The live stream is provided through the MIAA Network and has a per-game fee.

About the Griffons
Missouri Western, the tournament host, was picked to finish eighth in the MIAA and have started 1-1 after a loss to West Texas A&M and a win over UMSL last weekend.

Noah King averaged 17.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game over the weekend. Brooks McKowen is in his first season as head coach after leading former NSIC foe Upper Iowa.

About the Bearcats
Northwest Missouri State was picked to finish 11th in the MIAA media poll and are 1-1 after a loss to Minnesota State and a win over UMSL last weekend. Royce Williams averages 14.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and is one of three Bearcats to average double-figures.

About the Vikings
Augustana returns the bulk of a roster that reached the Sanford Pentagon for the NSIC Quarterfinals a season ago.

All-NSIC Second team selection Tanner Te Slaa returns for his senior season after averaging 13.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 34.6 minutes per game while starting all 30 games. He shot 37.4 percent from 3-point range while leading AU with 68 made 3-pointers and an 86.6 percent free throw percentage.

Entering his final season as a Viking, Sam Rensch thrived in his first expanded role last season. He started all 30 games after coming off the bench for the first 59 games of his career. The senior averaging 12.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 37.0 percent from deep and tallying 1.5 steals per game.

He scored double-digits in seven straight games, a stretch that includes a career-high 25 points against Sioux Falls on Feb. 11. During the same stretch, Rensch grabbed 14 rebounds while scoring 17 points for his first career double-double against Bemidji State on Feb. 14.

Also back is emerging sophomore guard Tameron Ferguson. Ferguson scored in double figures for the 14 times in his last 20 games and committed just three turnovers in the his final six games. He scored a career-best 25 points against Concordia-St. Paul on Dec. 14 and had a career-high nine assists on Feb. 11 against Sioux Falls.

The true freshman was fourth on the team with 10.1 points per game and facilitated well, holding a 100/30 assist/turnover ratio. Ferguson led the NSIC and eighth nationally with a 3.27 assist/turnover ratio.

In his first season of action, Bennett Fried showed growth that he will look to carry into this season. The sophomore averaged 8.0 points and a team-high 5.4 rebounds per game. Against Minnesota Duluth in the NSIC Tournament, Fried recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and tied a career-high with 12 rebounds.

In 24 games in the starting lineup, Fried averaged 8.8 points and a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game while shooting at a 57.2 percent clip. In that time, he also averaged 32.2 minutes per game. Fried shot over 50 percent in 17 of the 24 games he started and recorded at least a block in seven straight.