NORTHFIELD, Minn. – After securing a postseason spot for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons, the St. Olaf College men's basketball team will begin the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs by traveling to Minneapolis to face Augsburg University in the quarterfinals on Tuesday evening.

St. Olaf (12-13, 9-11 MIAC) earned the No. 6 seed in the MIAC Playoffs by defeating Macalester in a must-win game on the final day of the regular season on Saturday. The Oles will visit Augsburg (18-7, 14-6 MIAC), which clinched the No. 3 seed on Saturday with a 96-77 win over Gustavus, for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Si Melby Hall.

TICKET INFO
$10 - General Admission
$2 - Students with ID
Free - Children 5 and under
*MIAC passes accepted

IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT
Augsburg will provide live video/stats for those unable to attend the game. Fans can also follow @OleAthletics on Twitter for in-game updates.

MIAC PLAYOFF BRACKET
Quarterfinals | Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 | 7:00 p.m. |
No. 6 St. Olaf at No. 3 Augsburg
No. 5 Saint Mary's at No. 4 Bethel
Semifinals | Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 | 7:00 p.m. |
No. 4/5/6 seed at No. 1 Saint John's
No. 3/4/5 seed at No. 2 St. Thomas
Championship | Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 | 7:00 p.m. |
Highest remaining seed will host

SCOUTING THE OLES
St. Olaf got into the MIAC Playoffs by shooting 57.6 percent (19-for-33) from the field in the second half of Saturday's 90-79 Senior Day win over Macalester. Trailing by two at the break, the Oles started the second half on a 10-2 run to take a 47-41 lead and led by at least five the rest of the way.

Senior Troy Diggins Jr. led the way with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and was one of four Oles in double figures in scoring. Junior Dominic Bledsoe posted 17 points, six rebounds and six assists, senior Noah Beck added 16 points, and classmate Travis Fauchald scored a career-high 11 points, as the Oles shot 55.0 percent (33-for-60) for the game.

For the season, senior Nate Albers leads St. Olaf in scoring (14.6) and rebounding (6.4) and became the 24th member of the program's 1,000-point club in a win at Concordia-Moorhead on Feb. 12. The top-three scorers for the Oles are all seniors, as Diggins Jr. averages 13.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and Beck adds 12.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Junior Dominic Bledsoe leads the MIAC in steals per game (2.2) and is fourth in assists per game (4.2), while contributing 10.3 points per game. As a team, St. Olaf's 222 made three-pointers this season are second in the conference, trailing St. Thomas (278) and Augsburg (247).

SERIES HISTORY
Augsburg holds a 71-54 advantage in the all-time series between the two programs and swept the two regular-season meetings this season. On Dec. 4 in Minneapolis, Augsburg got 47 combined points from Booker Coplin and Henry Mulligan and pulled away in the second half for an 85-57 win. On Jan. 22 in Northfield, St. Olaf rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half only to see a last-second tip-in by Diggins Jr. waved off at the buzzer, as Augsburg escaped with a 75-74 victory.

ST. OLAF POSTSEASON HISTORY
The Oles are making their 13th all-time appearance in the MIAC Playoffs (1989, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019) and have missed the tournament just twice in the last 10 seasons. St. Olaf has won the MIAC Playoffs twice (2014, 2016) and is 5-10 all-time in the tournament.

The Oles and Auggies are meeting for the second-straight year in the quarterfinals, as Coplin hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give Augsburg a 67-64 win in the first-ever postseason meeting between the programs in last season's quarterfinal.

SCOUTING AUGSBURG
The Auggies are appearing in the MIAC Playoffs for the sixth season in a row and the 10th time in the last 12 seasons. Augsburg has a 10-14 record in the tournament since it began in 1985-86. As the No. 4 seed, the Auggies defeated St. Thomas, Saint John's and Bethel to claim the first and only MIAC Playoff title in program history in 2018.

Coplin, the reigning NCAA Division III National Player of the Year, leads the MIAC in scoring at 23.8 points per game and also ranks third in rebounding (8.4) and sixth in assists (3.8). Matt Carik is the only other Auggie to average in double figures at 13.3 points per game and shoots 44.2 percent from behind the arc.

Augsburg leads the MIAC in free-throw shooting (76.7 percent) and assists (16.2 per game), is second in scoring (81.8) and third in three-point field-goal percentage (37.7 percent).