Independent file photo SMSU’s Braedan Hanson drives into the lane during their Feb. 2 game against Bemidji State University. The Mustangs will face Wayne State and Augustana this weekend.

MARSHALL – The Southwest Minnesota State University men’s basketball team (15-11, 10-10 NSIC) closes out the regular season this Friday and Saturday with a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference road games versus South Division opponents.

•SMSU will take on Wayne State College (18-8, 13-7 NSIC) on Friday, Feb. 22, starting at 7:30 p.m. at Rice Auditorium in Wayne, Neb.

•SMSU will finish the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 23, facing Augustana University (16-10, 12-8 NSIC) with tip-off slated for 5:30 p.m. at AU’s Elmen Center.

•Augustana normally plays its home games at the Sioux Falls Arena, but due to a scheduling conflict, the game will be played on AU’s campus arena.

•SMSU begins the weekend in fifth place in the NSIC South standings, while WSC begins the weekend tied for first place, while Augustana is tied for third.

•For SMSU to earn a home game for the upcoming NSIC Tournament on Feb. 27, SMSU will need to win both games and have Minnesota Duluth lose both of its home games this weekend. In this scenario, SMSU and UMD would have identical 12-10 records, but SMSU won at UMD in December, which would give SMSU the tiebreaker.

Broadcast info

•Both games will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL.

•Live stats and video can be found at SMSUmustangs.com.

Series history vs. Wayne State

•SMSU and Wayne State meet for the 71st time on Friday with WSC leading 38-32.

•The teams first met during the 1969-70 season.

•WSC leads the series 23-9 in games played in Wayne, but SMSU has won the last three and six of the last seven in Wayne.

•SMSU has won 14 of the last 16 games overall since Dec. 3, 2011, with WSC’s victories coming on Feb. 14, 2015, in Wayne and earlier this season, Jan. 5, 75-68 in Marshall.

•SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 16-4 all-time versus WSC.

Series history vs. Augustana

•SMSU and Augustana meet for the 37th time on Saturday with Augustana leading 21-15.

•The teams first met during the 1972-73 season.

•Augustana holds a 10-5 advantage in games played at Augustana, but SMSU won the last two games played at the Sioux Falls Arena, including 81-77 last season.

•SMSU has won three of the last five games overall, but Augustana won earlier this season in Marshall, 85-72.

•SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 8-12 all-time versus Augustana.

Mustang tip-off

tidbits

•SMSU (as of Feb. 19) ranks fourth in Division II in free throw pct., fifth in turnovers per game and seventh in 3-point field goal pct.

•Seniors Ryan Bruggeman and Taylor Schafer are both two games shy of tying the school record for games played in a career. Turner Moen and Carter Kirk hold the record of 124 games played from 2014-18.

•SMSU has shot 48 percent or higher from the field in eight of its last 10 games.

•Senior Ryan Bruggeman reached 2,000 career points during last Friday’s win over Upper Iowa and now has amassed 2,051 points.

•Bruggeman ranks first in the NSIC in scoring (26.9), first in steals (2.2), second in field goals made (198), fourth in free throw pct. (91.9) and fourth in assists (5.0).

•Senior guard Taylor Schafer ranks 11th in team history with 1,284 career points and is now 13th all-time with 477 field goals made. He is 10 shy of tying Charlie Taylor (1981-83) for 10th on the all-time field goals made list with 487.

•SMSU finished the regular season with 12 home victories, matching last season’s total. It’s also the sixth time SMSU has won 12 or more home games in a single-season.

•SMSU has outrebounded its opponent just once in its last 15 games. SMSU begins the weekend ranked 15th in the NSIC in rebound margin (-7.4).

•SMSU has scored 100 or more points three times this season for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The last time SMSU reached 100 points four times in a season came during the 1996-97 season, when SMSU reached the century mark five times.

Scouting

Wayne State

•WSC, 18-8 overall, 13-7 NSIC, has lost three of its past four games.

•Senior guard Trevin Joseph is averaging a team best 16.3 ppg with 57 3-pointers.

•Senior guard Kendall Jacks is averaging 15.8 ppg and shooting 53 percent from the field.

•Senior guard Vance Janssen has dished a team-high 76 assists and is averaging 12.6 ppg.

•WSC is shooting 48 percent from the field, 35 percent from 3-point range, 77 percent from the free throw line and is plus-0.7 in rebound margin.

•WSC is averaging 80 points per game, while opponents are averaging 71 points per game.

•Jeff Kaminsky is in his third season as head coach with a record of 42-44. He has also been head coach at Valley City State and Wisconsin-Superior.

Scouting

Augustana

•Augustana, which will host Sioux Falls on Friday, is 16-10 overall, 12-8 NSIC, and is riding a three-game winning streak following a four-game losing skid.

•Senior forward Matt Cartwright is averaging a team-high 16.4 ppg with 70 3-pointers.

•Sophomore forward Tyler Riemersma is averaging 15.5 ppg and also leads the team with 8.7 rpg.

•Freshman guard A.J. Plitzuweit is scoring 14.5 ppg and had dished out a team-high 89 assists.

•AU is shooting 45 percent from the field, 37 percent from 3-point range, 78 percent from the free throw line and is plus-4.1 in rebound margin.

•AU is averaging 79 points per game, while opponents are averaging 77 points per game.

•Head coach Tom Billeter is in his 16th season with a record of 303-176. He has a career record of 400-226 in 21 seasons as a head coach (North Dakota State, 1992-97).

Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications