What's Up:  The tenth-ranked Minnesota State men's basketball team, 17-2, 13-2 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, opens the month of February with a trip to Augustana (Friday, 8 p.m.) and Wayne State (Saturday, 6 p.m.).

Scouting The Vikings: Augustana enters the weekend with a 14-5 overall record and are 11-4 in the NSIC, which is good for a tie with the University of Mary for second-place.  The Vikings are in the midst of an eight-game winning streak, a streak which includes a pair of overtime wins.
    
Last weekend, Augustana earned a pair of road victories defeating Concordia, 83-69, and upending St. Cloud State, 89-87.
    
The Vikings are led in scoring by junior guard Cody Schilling.  Schilling is averaging 19.9 points per game while sophomore guard Cameron McCaffrey is also averaging double figures at 17.8 points per game.  Junior forward Derrick DeZeeuw leads the team in rebounding at 6.8 per contest.
  
As a team, the Vikings are averaging 75.2 points per game while giving up 68.4.  From the floor, AC is shooting 45.6 percent and are connecting on 73.4 percent its free throw attempts.  Augustana has also won the battle of the boards, owning a +2.8 edge on the glass.
    
Tom Billeter is in his sixth season with the program and owns record of 123-100 with the Vikings and is 220-150 in his 12 years as a head coach.

Inside The Series: Minnesota State owns a 56-43 record all-time record against the Vikings in a series that dates back to the North Central Conference days...Under head coach Matt Margenthaler, the Mavericks are 14-6 all-time against the Vikings, including 7-4 in the Elmen Center...Earlier this year MSU downed Augustana, 83-67 in the Taylor Center behind a game-high 24 points from senior wing Jefferson Mason...In three career games, Mason leads all active Mavericks in scoring against Augustana averaging 17.7 points per game while shooting .571 from the floor...He also averages a team-high 8.3 rebounds against Augustana...Seniors Joe Drapcho and Marcus Hill have each played in eight games against Augustana...Drapcho is averaging 3.9 points per game with six steals and six assists while Hill averages 9.5 points per game with nine assists.

Scouting The Wildcats: Wayne State enters the weekend with a 10-9 record including a 6-9 mark in the NSIC which is tied for eighth-place.  Last weekend, the Wildcats played to a split on the road, dropping a 66-59 contest at St. Cloud State before upending Concordia, 70-62.  

Sophomore guard Amry Shelby leads the squad in scoring averaging 16.5 points per game while senior forward Brad Starken is averaging 11.9.  Senior wing Jason Jensen rounds out the Wildcats in double-figures with 11.1 points per game.  Senior post Ben Tasa leads the rebounding averaging 5.2 per contest.

As a team, WSC is averaging 68.5 points per game while giving up 68.2  The Wildcats are shooting 44.7 percent from the floor and 75.9 percent from the free throw line and are being outrebounded by a  -0.9 margin.  Paul Combs is in his second season with the program and owns a 24-13 record with the program and 181-125 record in his 11-year career as a head coach.

Inside the Series: The Mavericks are 10-2 in 12 games against the Wildcats.  Since joining the NSIC, Minnesota State owns a 3-0 record against Wayne State and a 1-0 record in the Rice Auditorium...Head coach Matt Margenthaler is 6-0 all-time against Wayne State...Earlier this year MSU earned a 74-63 victory over the Wildcats behind a team-high 19 points by senior guard Marcus Hill....Hill leads all active Mavericks in scoring against Wayne State averaging 15.0 points per game while shooting 55 percent from the floor...Senior wing Jefferson Mason is averaging 12.5 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game against WSC.

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