Men's basketball heads North to face MIAC foes

The Simpson men's basketball team looks to add two more tallies to the win column this weekend when it travels to Minnesota to face MIAC foes Augsburg and Gustavus Adolphus. The Storm (1-0) face Augsburg on Friday at 5 p.m. and close the weekend against Gustavus on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Friday vs. Agusburg, 5 p.m. - LIVE VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Saturday vs. Gustavus, 7 p.m. - LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS

Last time out - Austin Turner scored 16 points and Ben Rajewski made four of Simpson's 14 3-pointers in an 87-69 win over Graceland in the season opener Monday. Rajewski finished with 14 points, Turner added seven assists and Dillon Gretzky had 11 points and six rebounds to help the Storm win their first season-opener since 2012. First-year head coach Brad Bjorkgren became the first Simpson coach to win his debut since 1931.

The all-time series - Simpson and Augsburg have split their two meetings in a relatively new series that began in 2013. Augsburg won 79-77 that year but Simpson won 66-53 at home in 2014.

Gustavus leads the all-time series with Simpson 3-0, including wins in each of the last two seasons. The Gusties beat Simpson 87-73 back in 2001-02, and won 83-68 in 2013 and 66-58 in 2014.

A look at Augsburg - Friday marks the season-opener for Augsburg. The Augies went 11-14 overall and 8-12 in the MIAC last year, missing out on the league playoffs. The team's top returner is 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Collin Olmscheid. The honorable mention all-MIAC pick averaged 12.3 points and five rebounds in 2014-15.

A look at Gustavus - The Gusties (0-1) lost to 2015 NCAA Tournament qualifier Northwestern (Minn.) 75-73 to open the season despite a 19-point, 11-rebound effort by 6-foot-6 post Brody Ziegler. Ziegler and senior guard Gary Cooper - both honorable mention all-MIAC picks - are the top returners for Gustavus, which went 16-11 overall and 11-9 in the MIAC in 2014-15.