SIOUX FALLS -- The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (3-1), which is off to its best start since 2013-14, will host Waldorf College in a nonconference matchup on Tuesday (Nov. 20) at 7 p.m. at the Stewart Center.

For the first time  since 2012-13, the Cougars, the top scoring team in the NSIC  and 34th nationally at 88.5 ppg, opened the season with three straight wins before dropping a closely contest 79-74 contest with Minnesota Crookston. Junior forward Drew Guebert had 21 points to lead USF.  This is the third time in USF's DII era in which the Cougars will look for a 4-1 or better start. The Cougars opened 5-1 in 2013-14 and 4--1 in 2012-13. USF, which owns a 40.2-to-26.5 rebounds per game edge, has shot well from the field at 49.8 percent, including 45.3 percent from three point range which first in the NSIC and 15th in DII. As a result the fast- paced Cougars will look to build on a 354-to-308 season points advantage.

Follow, listen and watch USF Men's Basketball
Keep up with USF Men's Basketball on twitter at @USFCooBBall. All of USF's home games and NSIC contests are streamed for free through Stretch Internet and can be viewed at usfcougars.com/watch. Veteran announcer Tom Frederick will provide play-by-play for both the nonconference games on Stretch Internet and conference games at KWSN.com. Live stats for home games are available at www.sidearmstats.com/mbball
 
Inside Look at the Opponent - Waldorf College

Waldorf is directed by seventh year head coach Nigel Jenkins (87-92), a former guard at the University of North Dakota. WC is off to a 2-6 start, including a loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater, 75-57, on Nov. 18. They have wins over Mount Mercy, 78-68, and Silver Lake College, 88-68, at home. Waldorf is led by 6-9 center Kaden Verdin, who is averaging 16.8 points and 8.4 rebounds. Guard Brady Kuchinka is also averaging double figures in points at 13.5 per game. He has made a team-best 16-of-41 from three point range for 39 percent. Falmala Tula is putting up 10.8 points per game. As a squad, WC is averaging 71.9 points per game while allowing 85.6. They have made 40.5 percent from the field and 31.8 percent at the foul stripe while allowing 47.3 percent from the field and 41 percent from three point range. Turnovers have hurt WC with 16.3 per game and they are being outboarded, 34.2-to-34.0.

Quick Look - USF opens 3-1

In the loss to Minnesota Crookston, USF had a 16-point lead but a hot shooting Golden Eagles squad rallied in the second half for the win. It was a rare nonconference matchup between NSIC foes. Guebert made 7-of-13 field goals, including both of his three pointers and all five of his free throws while grabbing five rebounds. Jerrod Walton and Trevon Evans both had 14 points. USF shot just 43.3 percent from the floor (26-of-60), but were 8-of-14 from three point range and are leading the NSIC.  Against UW-Superior in the home opener Tuesday, the Cougars opened up a 41-20 advantage at halftime and cruised to the 90-49 win. For the third straight game, USF shot over 50 percent from the floor.  Guebert scored 22 points with four three-pointers. Evans had 13 points while reserves Aaron Rothermund had a career-high 11 and freshman Chase Grinde added a career-high 10.

In the opening weekend, the Cougars recorded back-to-back overtime wins with the 94-89 decision over host Emporia State and a 96-92 victory over Fort Hays State at the MIAA-NSIC Challenge in Emporia on Nov. 10-11.  Junior Trevon Evans, who was named the NSIC Men's Basketball Player of the Week, averaged 29 points and 10.5 rebounds and Drew Guebert supplied 22.5 points per game in the wins at the MIAA-NSIC Classic. It was the first time in the D2 era that USF had recorded back-to-back overtime wins. In fact, no USF team had won back-to-back overtime wins since before 2000.

The Cougars scored 90 points or more in three games for the first time in the D2 era and dating back to the NAIA days. In addition, USF won its home opener for the seventh time in 1 1 outings.
   
USF-Waldorf Series Notes
In the DII era, USF has a 3-0 lead over Waldorf, including an 80-57 win in 2015 at the Stewart Center. Here is a series summary in the DII era.

Nov. 21, 2015 - USF 80 Waldorf 57
The Cougars rolled to a 80-57 victory as Clint Thomas had 21 points, including seven three-pointers. Mack Johnson added 16 as USF made 49.2 percent from the field on 30-of-61 shooting. The Cougars made 13, 3's in the game although WC had a 47-45 edge on the boards. They made just 4-of-19 from three point range.

Nov. 23, 2013 -- USF 78 Waldorf 67
Led by 19 points from Mack Johnson, the Cougars outscored WC, 43-33, in the second half to claim the win. USF, which led 35-34 at halftime, made 29-of-58 field goals for 50 percent, including 11-of-26 from three-point range for 42.3 percent. They were 9-of-13 from the foul stripe.  Trey Scott had 24 points for WC.

Nov. 20, 2012 -- USF 67 Waldorf 64
Keaton Moffit hit a three-point field goal with 1:05 left to lift the Cougars to a 67-64 win over WC. David Maxwell had 13 points and seven rebounds to lead USF, which placed five players in double digits. The Cougars hit 22-of-53 percent from the floor and just 7-of-24 from three point range. WC was 21-of-37 for 57 percent from the floor and a blistering 9-of-12 from three point range. WC was led by Kwamaine Johnson with 17 points and eight rebounds.

With offensive explosion, Evans earns NSIC Player of the Week honors
Junior guard Trevon Evans has opened his career at USF in a big way, leading the Cougars to three wins in four games. Through four games, he is  averaging 21.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. In the most recent victory, he had 14 points as USF defeated UW-Superior on Nov. 14. He added 14 points in a 79-74 road loss at Minnesota-Crookston on Nov. 18.  At the MIAA-NSIC Classic on Nov. 10-11, he had games of 28 points and nine rebounds in the 94-89 OT win against Emporia State on Nov. 10. He bettered his performance on the second day, lighting it up for a career-best 31 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as USF defeated Fort Hays State, 96-92 in overtime. In the two games, he hit 19-of-35 field goals for 54.3 percent, including 6-of-12 from three point range and 15-of-18 from the foul line for 83.3 percent as he earned NSIC Men's Basketball Player of the Week honors.  

Guebert closing in on 900 career points; has 15, 20-point games
Junior forward Drew Guebert  leads USF and ranks fourth in the NSIC in scoring at 22.0 points per game. Guebert, who is averaging 30.8 minutes per game, has made 32-of-59 field goals for 54.2 percent. He is 10-of-23 from three point range for 43.5 percent. The junior from Apple Valley, Minn., has also made 14-of-15 free throws for 93.3 percent. He averages 5.0 rebounds and has two blocks in four games.  Guebert has scored 13, 32, 22 and 21 points this season in the four games. He had a career high 32 points as USF rallied to defeat Fort Hays State, 96-92 OT on Saturday, Nov. 11. In the two games, Guebert averaged 22.5 points (45 points) and 5.5 rebounds (11 rebounds) against the pair of MIAA squads. He made 17-of-32 field goals for 53.1 percent and 7-of-8 free throws for 87.5 percent. In the home win over UW-Superior, he had 22 points and added 21 vs Minnesota Crookston. with 88 points, he now has 896 for his career. With two more double figure scoring games, he now has 44 in his career. Additionally, the junior forward has 15 career games of 20 points or more and two games over 30 (Emporia State, 30,  11/12/16; and Fort Hays State, 32, 11/11/17). In both of his games of 30 points or more, which happened one day and one year apart, he made four made three pointers.

USF picked ninth in NSIC preseason poll
Northern State received eight first-place votes and was tabbed the favorite to win the NSIC with 213 points. They were also the North Division favorite with six first-place votes and 48 points. MSU Moorhead, which was picked fourth overall (four first place votes and 187 points) was picked second in the North Division with 42 points followed by St. Cloud State with 38 points. In the South Division, SMSU received four first-place votes and 45 points to head into the season as the favorite. The Mustangs were picked second overall as they earned seven first-place votes and 211 ballot points, just two behind NSU. Augustana was selected third overall with 190 points and second (44 points) in the South Division followed by Minnesota State, Upper Iowa and Sioux Falls. The Cougars received 97 ballot points for ninth place overall and were also projected to finish fifth (23 points) in the NSIC South.  Junior forward Drew Guebert was named USF's Player to Watch.

USF signs recruits Troy Houghton and Wesley McCullough
USF Men's Basketball Head Coach Chris Johnson announced Wednesday the signings of Troy Houghton and Wesley McCullough, who will continue their academic and athletic careers with the Cougars in the fall of 2018. Today, Nov. 8 was the first day of the fall signing period for NCAA basketball programs. The USF signees include Wesley McCullough, a 6-8 forward from Raymore, Mo.; and Troy Houghton, a 6-3 guard from Council Bluffs, Iowa.   McCullough, who is the son of Bill and Cristie McCullough, is a standout wing forward at Raymore-Peculiar High School where he averaged 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists per game for the Panthers in 2016-17. He was named both first team all-conference and all-district a year ago.  Wesley played his summer hoops with the KC Magic AAU program. A member of the National Honor Society, he served as a Student Leadership Team Captain and has been involved in the Lamp of Learning for three years. A nominee for Boys State as a junior, McCullough has been named to the Principal's Honor Roll three years and served as a Panther Young League member. At USF, McCullough plans to major in pre-medicine. Houghton, the son of Troy Houghton and Sharnell Jones, is a standout guard at Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa. As a junior, he averaged 13.1 points (289) and 5.8 rebounds in helping lead the Lynx to an 18-4 record. He connected on 49.8 percent from the field and 60 percent at the foul line with 58 assists, 33 steals and 38 blocks in 22 games. Named the Team MVP, he was selected Missouri River All-Conference in 2016-17. Houghton played summer basketball with the SW Iowa Select AAU program. He has participated in service events such as helping feed the homeless and in a walk for autism. He plans to major in sports management at USF.

USF fall to South Dakota, 73-64, in exhibition play
USF placed three players in double digits but dropped a 73-64 decision to DI South Dakota in exhibition play on Nov. 4 at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. USD, the defending Summit League regular season champions, trailed USF early but led 33-24 at halftime. Both teams scored 40 points in the second half.