NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team will hit the road on Wednesday, January 26 to take on the North Central Cardinals for the second time in nine days.
The Vikings are coming off of a 76-64 home win over the Millikin Big Blue on Saturday, avenging an earlier-season loss in Decatur.
Dan Carr had a big night for the Vikings, scoring 19 of his 25 points in the second half to go with a career-high 18 rebounds. Joining Carr in double figures was
Luke Johnson, who helped lead a balanced attack throughout the rest of the lineup with 10 points.
Nate Ortiz and
Nicolas Giliberto both added nine as well. As a team, the Vikings hit 41.5 percent of their shots, but held the Big Blue to their lowest shooting effort of the season at 36 percent. Augie also held a plus-four rebounding margin and forced 20 Millikin turnovers.
North Central enters Wednesday's matchup winners of four straight. The current win streak for the Cardinals began last Monday in their 86-82 road win over the Vikings. Since then, they have defeated Carthage, Carroll, and No. 18 Elmhurst. In their win in their most recent game against the Bluejays, the Cardinals erased a 21-point deficit and outscored Elmhurst 50-25 in the second half to secure a 79-70 win. Matt Helwig, who scored 33 in their win over Augie last week, tallied 21 against the Bluejays and was recently named the CCIW's player of the week. He currently sits second in the nation in scoring at 27.1 points per outing. North Central is 11-5 overall and 6-2 in conference this season.
The Vikings are looking to pick up their first win in Naperville since 2018 as they have lost three straight on the road in the series. Augustana leads the all-time series 107-69, but North Central has won seven of the last eight meetings. The Cardinals defeated the Vikings 71-62 in their last encounter in Gregory Arena a year ago.
Tip is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. North Central is currently only allowing pre-approved spectators. More info on their policy can be found
here.
Game coverage at North Central
Follow @augieathletics on Twitter for in-game updates
