INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA announced on Friday that the Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball program ranked 23rd in average attendance among the nearly 300 NCAA Division II basketball playing schools.

This past season, SMSU averaged 1,761 fans in its 12 games at the R/A Facility.  It's the 12th time in the last 13 years SMSU has ranked among the top 30 in the country.  A season-high 3,179 fans attended SMSU's 80-77 “Hawaiian Night” victory over Augustana College on Feb. 4. 

SMSU was among five Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schools ranked among the top 30 nationally.  As a conference, the NSIC ranked first in the nation in attendance with 269,266 fans in 190 games and ranked second in average attendance with 1,417 per game.

Southwest Minnesota State finished the 2011-12 season with an overall record of 19-11 and finished second in the NSIC with a 15-7 record.  SMSU won the program's first-ever NSIC tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the third time in program history.