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This week
Augustana (15-9, 12-8 NSIC) finishes regular-season competition on the road this weekend, facing MSU Moorhead (18-6, 14-6 NSIC) on Friday at 8:05 p.m. and Minnesota, Crookston (7-17, 3-17 NSIC) on Saturday at 6 p.m.
The series
Augustana and MSU Moorhead will meet for the 15th time on Friday in a series that is tied 7-7. The two teams first met during the 1966-67 season. The Dragons have won the last three contests, including an 81-76 victory earlier this season in Sioux Falls. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 4-5 against MSUM. Augustana is 9-1 against Minnesota, Crookston in a series that dates back to the 2003-04 season. The Vikings have won the last eight contests between the two schools and handed the Golden?Eagles a 66-60 loss in December in Sioux Falls. Augustana's lone loss in the series was on Nov. 24, 2004, in Crookston, Minn. All meetings against UMC have come under Billeter.
Television
Midco Sports Network will carry Friday's contest at MSU Moorhead live from the Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse. Jay Elsen will handle play-by-play, while Al?Bahe will provide color commentary. MidcoSN can be found on channels 26 or 622 (HD) for Midcontinent Communications subscribers.
Last time out
Wayne State extended a three-point lead with four minutes left to double figures en route to a 71-61 win over Augustana last Saturday night. Amry Shelby scored 24 points to lead his Wildcats, who shot 57.1 percent (12 of 21) in the second half.
Cody Schilling's 20 points paced Augustana. He was the lone Viking to reach double figures.
Derrick De Zeeuw grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in the loss. Augustana held as large as five-point lead in the second half, but WSC erased the difference and had a double-figure advantage with two minutes to play.
Offensive problems
The Viking offense produced just 61 points last Saturday at Wayne State--its lowest output in more than a month. It was the fewest points scored by Augustana since Jan. 2 when the Vikings also registered 61. The Vikings have scored 61 or less points just four times this season. The performance no doubt had a lot to do with Augustana's season-low 35.8 percent (19 of 53) performance from the field. It marked just third time this season the Vikings haven't hit 40 percent.
From the line
Cody?Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) assembled a perfect evening at the free-throw line last Saturday at Wayne State, making all 10 of his attempts. Schilling's effort was the most free throws made by a Viking this season. He's gotten to the charity stripe at least 10 times twice this season. He shot 11 free throws in a home game with Bemidji State on Jan. 7.
Schilling 20-point games
Senior guard
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) registered his seventh 20-point game this season against Wayne State last Friday. More often than not this season (71.4 percent of the time), the Vikings collect a win when Schilling scores 20 points or more.
Nov. 15, 2011 vs. University of Sioux Falls 28 W
Nov. 22, 2011 Dakota State 22 W
Dec. 17, 2011 Minnesota,?Crookston 23 W
Jan. 7, 2012 Bemidji?State 29 W
Jan. 21, 2012 at Winona State 27 L
Feb. 3, 2012 at Minnesota State 23 W
Feb. 18, 2012 at?Wayne State 20 L
Boarding school
Senior
Derrick De Zeeuw (Brandon, S.D.) put together just the second double-figure rebounding game by a Viking this season when he snagged 10 boards against Wayne State last Saturday. De Zeeuw, who has reached double-figure rebounds seven times during his career (the most among active Vikings), hauled in five offensive and five defensive rebounds against the Wildcats. The only other player to reach double figures in the rebounding column this season is
Leif Nomeland (Osakis, Minn.), who had 11 against Minnesota State on Dec. 3.
Double-figure scoring deficiency
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.), who netted 20 points, was the only Viking to reach double figures last Saturday at Wayne State. Augustana having only one player in double figures has happened just one other time in 2011-12 when
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) was the lone player who scored more than 10 with his 12 points at St. Cloud State on Jan. 2.
The scenario
Augustana has locked up at least a seventh-place finish in the NSIC. With two wins this weekend, the Vikings would finish the conference season at 14-8. That could potentially put the Vikings in a tie with Southwest Minnesota State, Bemidji State and MSU Moorhead (assuming all those teams lose their games this weekend). If Winona State, which is one spot ahead of Augustana in the standings, loses both of its games this weekend, the Vikings would pass the Warriors via winning percentage (WSU has had 13 of its games nullified). A loss by WSU, though, could mean a win by BSU or Minnesota Duluth (the Bulldogs are one game behind Augustana). A tie at any spot is determined by the NSIC tie-breaking rules, which can be found in this week's NSIC news release.
Regionally speaking
Augustana checked in at ninth in the first Central Region rankings of the season released last Thursday by the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Committee. At the time of the rankings, Augustana had a Division II and in-region record of 14-8. Winona State was ranked No. 1 and with Division II and in-region record of 19-2. The top-eight teams in the final region rankings advance to the NCAA tournament. The Vikings have made nine postseason appearances in program history, including in 2008, 2009 and 2010 under
Tom Billeter.
Rk School DII Region
1. Winona State 19-2 19-2
2. Colorado Mines 19-2 19-2
3. Metro State 18-5 18-5
4. St. Cloud State 15-5 15-5
5. MSU Moorhead 14-5 14-5
6. Southwest Minnesota State 14-7 14-7
7. Adams State 13-5 13-5
8. Bemidji State. 16-7 16-7
9. Augustana 14-8 14-8
10. Minnesota Duluth 12-9 12-9
Schilling closing in
It could be a record-breaking year for
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.). With his 20 points last weekend at Wayne State, Schilling passed Mark Smed. He is now second with 1,796 career points. Schilling needs 34 points to tie Carl Gonder's career-scoring mark of 1,830 points. Factoring in at least a first-round NSIC tournament game, Schilling would need to average 11.3 points per game during the next three contests to tie Gonder. He would need 17 points per game in Augustana's two remaining regular-season contests to match Gonder.
Rk Points Player Years
1. 1830 Carl Gonder 1980-84
3. 1796 Cody?Schilling 2008-12
2. 1795 Mark Smed 1979-83
4. 1764 Greg Nagel 1974-78
5. 1704 Jason Garrow 1988-92
6. 1681 Scott Beckstrand 1990-94
7. 1642 Arvid Kramer 1975-79
8. 1628 Bill Gross 1969-73
9. 1510 Brett Szabo 1987-91
10. 1381 Rich Chapman 1973-77
Closing the conference campaign
Since joining the NSIC in 2008-09, Augustana has went 4-2 in the final two conference games of the season. Last year, the Vikings beat Minnesota, Crookston but fell to MSU Moorhead. In 2009-10, Augustana beat Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth (but not in a single weekend). The 2008-09 NSIC?season ended with the Vikings topping MSU but falling to UMD (again not in a single weekend).
What the coaches say
Augustana is the favorite to win the conference, according to the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll released Oct. 26 by the conference office. The Vikings received nine first-place votes and 164 points in the poll voted on by the conference's 14 head coaches.
National news
After appearing in the NABC/Division II national polls for six straight weeks, Augustana fell out of the top 25 in the Jan. 10 edition of the rankings. The Vikings have now been out of the top 25 for seven weeks. Winona State is the only other NSIC school ranked as the Warriors checked in at No. 2. Augustana was ranked as high as 14th on Dec. 13. To view the complete poll.
History lesson
Augustana enters its 90th season of men's basketball in 2011-12. The?Vikings are 932-1041 all-time and have racked up 37 winning seasons, including the past five seasons under
Tom Billeter.
On the radio
Veteran radio man Jeff Fylling is back as the “Voice of the Vikings” for 2011-12. Join Fylling for each broadcast on KIKN-FM 100.5. You can also stream the broadcast at kikn.com/stream.
Augustana Sportscene
Augustana Sportscene is a 30-minute weekly television show highlighting Augustana athletics and is hosted by Director of Athletics Bill Gross. The show includes Viking highlights, interviews with various coaches and student-athletes and promotion of upcoming Augustana athletic events. Augustana Sportscene airs Monday's at 10:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on Midco Sports Network and at various times on Mediacom's MC22.
Augustana Coaches' Show
Live from Rookies in Sioux Falls, The Augustana Coaches' Show airs On ESPN 99.1 each Monday at 5 p.m. Join Jeff Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics. You can also stream the show live at www.ESPN991.com.
