THE GAME
•The No. 24 (D2SIDA) ranked Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team (24-5) battles Augustana University (23-7) tonight in the semifinals of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon. Tonight's game will be the third meeting between the two teams this season. SMSU defeated Augustana, 78-76, on Dec. 30 in Sioux Falls, while Augustana earned a 97-79 win in Marshall on Feb. 11. The winner of tonight's game advances to Tuesday night's championship game at 7:30 p.m. versus either Upper Iowa or Minnesota State.

                BROADCAST INFO
•Monday's game will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL.
•The game can also be viewed online at SMSUmustangs.com.

                BRUGGEMAN'S BIG NIGHT LIFTS SMSU PAST USF
•Ryan Bruggeman scored a career-high 34 points—becoming the first SMSU player to score 30 or more points since 2004—to help lead SMSU to a 79-68 victory over Sioux Falls on Sunday night in the quarterfinals.
•Bruggeman finished the night making 10 of 15 field goals, 13 of 14 free throws, while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists.
•SMSU finished the night shooting 51 percent from the field and limiting USF to just 37 percent shooting.
•Joey Bartlett closed the night with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Carter Kirk added 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
                SERIES HISTORY VS. AUGUSTANA
•Southwest Minnesota State and Augustana meet for the 32nd time on Monday with Augustana leading 19-12.
•The teams first met during the 1972-73 season.
•This will be the first time the teams have met in postseason play.
•SMSU's win earlier this season snapped a four-game Augustana winning streak in the series.
•SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 5-10 all-time versus Augie.
 
                NSIC SOUTH CHAMPIONS
•SMSU captured the program's first NSIC?South Division title since divisions formed prior to the 2012-13 season.
•SMSU tied with Northern State for second place overall in the 16-team conference.
•SMSU won overall NSIC championships in 2001 and 2009.
 
                BRUGGEMAN NAMED ALL-NSIC; BIGLER EARNS TOP HONOR
•Ryan Bruggeman was named first team All-NSIC last Thursday.
•He leads SMSU in scoring, assists, steals and free throws made.
•In the final NSIC stats (conference games only), Bruggeman finished fourth in the league in assists (4.5), fourth in free throw pct. (.843), fifth in steals (1.4), 11th in assist/turnover ratio (2.2) and 20th in scoring (15.0).
•Bruggeman is the first SMSU player to earn first team All-NSIC honors since Jordan Miller in 2012-13.
•Brad Bigler was named NSIC?Coach of the Year for the second time during his tenure (2012-13). Tim Miles (2000-01) and Greg Stemen (2008-09) are the only other coaches to earn the award in team history.

                GAME DAY STORYLINES
•SMSU has held opponents to 30 or less points in the first half in five of its last eight games.
•SMSU's 25-point victory in last Wednesday's first round win over Minnesota Duluth tied for its largest margin of victory this season.
•SMSU's 24 victories is the third highest in team history and highest win total since recording 28 during the 2008-09 season.
•SMSU is 12-0 when holding opponents to less than 70 points.
•Carter Kirk's 7.5 per game rebound average would be the highest since Scott Roehl averaged 10.2 in 2010-11.
•Joey Bartlett ranks eighth on the SMSU all-time scoring list with 1,321 points.  
•Bartlett needs two 3-pointers to move into sole possession of fifth place in team history with 176 and passing Jacob Fahl.
•Mitch Weg has 754 career rebounds ranking second all-time in team history. 
•SMSU is 22-2 when committing 15 or fewer turnovers, but 2-3 when committing more than 15.
•SMSU is 12-2 in games decided by four or less points or played in overtime.
•SMSU has recorded a pair of six-game winning streaks this season with both winning streaks ending with losses to Upper Iowa.
               
                SMSU IN THE NSIC TOURNAMENT
•Following Sunday's win, SMSU is now 18-15 all-time in the NSIC?tournament since it began in 2000.
•The Mustangs are 9-2 at home, 1-7 on the road and 8-6 in neutral sites games.
•SMSU has now advanced to the semifinals 10 times and played in five championship games (2001, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2012), including winning its lone tournament championship in 2012.
•SMSU last played in the semifinals in 2014. .
               
                SMSU RANKED SECOND IN NCAA REGIONAL POLL
•SMSU was ranked second in last week's NCAA Central Region poll released on Wednesday, Feb. 22.
•The final weekly ranking will occur on March 1.
•The 64-team NCAA tournament will be announced on March 5.
NCAA?Central Region Poll (Feb. 22)
                Rank      (First-Place Votes)                          D2 Record           In-Region           
                1              Northwest Missouri State             21-1       20-1
                2             Southwest Minnesota State        22-5       22-5
                3             Arkansas Tech   18-4       18-4
                4             MSU Moorhead                22-4       22-4
                5             Arkansas-Monticello       17-4       17-4
                6             Augustana           18-7       18-7
                7             East Central        19-7       19-7
                8             Northern State 20-7       20-7
                9             Upper Iowa         19-9       17-9
                10           Southern Nazarene         15-10    15-10

                BEST START IN TEAM HISTORY
•SMSU opened the season with a program best 6-0 record.
•SMSU's 24-5 record matches the 2000-01 and 2008-09 teams for the best record after 29 games in school history.

                SMSU REACHES 24 VICTORIES
•SMSU's 24 victories ranks as the third highest in team history.
•SMSU?has now recorded 20 or more victories five times in team history and the first since the 2008-09 season.
•Both the 2000-01 and 2008-09 teams won 28 games.
              
                THE 2016-17 SEASON IN SINGLE-SEASON RECORD BOOK
•The following is where SMSU players rank this season in the school single-season record book:
•Ryan Bruggeman ranks tied for second in assists (136) and is one shy of moving into sole possession of second all-time. Marques Pena (2000-01) holds the record of 185.
•Carter Kirk ranks fourth in field goal pct. (.622).
•Mitch Weg ranks fifth in field goal pct. (.615).
•SMSU's 81.4 ppg ranks fifth highest.
•SMSU's 49.3 percent field goal shooting ranks second highest.

                ROAD WARRIORS
•SMSU is 12-2 in "true" road games this season, recording the most road wins in team history.
•SMSU is 15-2 in all games played away from the R/A Facility, the highest total since the 2008-09 team also won 15 away/neutral site games. The 2000-01 team holds the school record with 16 away/neutral site victories.

                SMSU HEAD COACH BRAD BIGLER
•Brad Bigler is in his eighth season as head coach and has compiled an overall record of 132-100, ranking second in team history for wins.
•Greg Stemen holds the all-time record with 141 wins in eight seasons from 2001-09.
•Bigler has a record of 95-79 in NSIC play.
•The 2016-17 and 2012-13 NSIC Coach of the Year, Bigler has now led SMSU to five winning seasons (including this season), including one 20-plus win season and a pair of 19-win seasons.
•In 2011-12, SMSU won 19 games, captured the NSICtournament championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the third time in program history.
 •SMSU's 11th head coach, Bigler spent six seasons (2003-09) as an assistant coach at SMSU, including the last three as associate head coach.