SIOUX FALLS -- The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (4-1), which is off to its best start since 2013-14, will host Southwest Minnesota State (4-2, 0-0) in the NSIC home opener on Saturday at 6 p.m., at the Stewart Center. The 30th all-time meeting between the two schools will be the first game of the NSIC season for both teams.

For the first time since 2012-13, the Cougars, the top scoring team in the NSIC and 34th nationally at 88.6 ppg, opened the season with three straight wins before dropping a closely contest 79-74 contest with Minnesota Crookston. Junior forward Drew Guebert had 28 points to help USF bounce back with a 98-62 victory over Waldorf on Tuesday. The Cougars will look to match the 5-1 start  of the 2013-14 team.

The Cougars, picked ninth in the NSIC Preseason Poll, 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 11 outings. Now they take on travel partner SMSU, which won the 2016-17 NSIC South Division title (28-6, 17-5 NSIC) and captured the NSIC Tourney title before advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

Hey Family to be recognized by USF on Saturday
Between the USF Men's and Women's Basketball games on Saturday, USF Athletics honor the Hey Family at a dedication reception of the Gladys Holm Hey Lobby at the Stewart Center. At the dedication reception, scheduled for 5:30 p.m., USF Director of Athletics Josh Snyder, Associate AD for Externai Operations Ben Krush and Chuck Hey will make remarks. USF will also recognize the Hey Family during halftime of the men's game.

USF ranks first in the NSIC scoring - sit 34th nationally

Through five games, USF ranks seventh in DII with a rebounding margin of 12.8 at 39.8-to-27.0 rebounds per game edge. The  Cougars have shot under 50 percent just once this year and rank second in the league in field goal percentage at 50.6 percent (159-of-314) and are fifth in field goal percentage defense at 42.8 percent. USF is also first in the league in three-point percentage at 45.2 percent (42-of-93).Led by Drew Guebert, who ranks in the league's top 10 in five offensive categories, the Cougars are an explosive squad. Guebert is second in the league with 23.2 points per game and he is fifth in three-point shooting percentage at 46.7 percent with 14 treys on 30 attempts. Guebert, who is second in free throw shooting at 94.1 percent (16-of-17), is joined by two other players in double digits as junior guard Trevon Evans is averaging 18.6 points per game for 10th in the league while grabbing 7.4 rebounds per game for eighth in the NSIC. Jerrod Walton is 28th in the NSIC with 13.2 points per game.

Inside Look at the Opponent - Southwest Minnesota State
Ninth year head coach Brad Bigler led the Mustangs to an NSIC championship a year ago. SMSU, which is 4-2, has won three straight games after a 1-2 start. Bigler needs one win to tie Greg Stemen  (141 career wins)for first in all-time wins at the school. On the floor, SMSU is led by junior guard Ryan Bruggeman, who is averaging a team-high 14.7 points per game while dishing out a team-best 26 assists. Carter Kirk is second in scoring with 14.5 points and a team-high 8.8 rebounds. On the year, SMSU is averaging 78 points per game and holding opponents to 74.  SMSU dropped an 85-66 decision to Fort Hays State in the opener at the MIAA-NSIC Challenge, where they also took a 70-66 victory over host Emporia State. On Nov. 15, the Mustangs fell to Northern State, 81-66, at the R/A Facility in Marshall, Minn. Since then, they have wins over Michigan Tech, 65-52; Northern Michigan, 85-78; and Crown College, 116-80.
 
Quick Look - USF
On Tuesday, the Cougars had 28 points from Drew Guebert and 21 from Jerrod Walton in an 89-62 victory over Waldorf at the Stewart Center. In the victory, the Cougars shots 60.6 percent from the floor in the second half and 54 percent for the game on 34-of-63 shooting. USF made 8-of-18 from three point range for 44.4 percent. In a loss to Minnesota Crookston on Nov. 18 at Lysaker Gymnasium in 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 match up 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.

USF-SMSU Series Notes - Cougars lead 10-4 at Stewart Center
USF will meet SMSU for the 30th time with the Mustangs owning an 19-10 lead in a series that dates to 1968-69.  The Mustangs have won four in a team, including a 79-68 victory over USF in the NSIC Tournament quarterfinals on Feb. 26, 2017 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. Drew Guebert led USF with 19 points, connecting on four treys. It was the second straight year that USF lost in the league tournament quarterfinals. Since USF moved into the NSIC, the Mustangs own a 7-4 lead in series, winning each of the last four games. USF has a 10-4 series lead at home.

On Nov. 28, 2016, SMSU defeated USF, 74-72 in Marshall, Minn., improving to 14-0 in games at SMSU against USF.  Drew Guebert had 26 points and five rebounds for USF while Ryan Bruggeman added 15 points and Carter Kirk had a double double. On Dec. 16, 2016, USF dropped a 87-86 decision to SMSU at the Stewart Center, despite 27 points from Mack Johnson. USF led 86-83 with 1:21 to play after two foul shots by Zach Wessels, who had 16 on the night, but the Mustangs closed with four straight points, including a game-winning lay-up by Ryan Bruggeman with 10 seconds to play.  On Dec. 8, 2015 at the Stewart Center, USF rallied from a 13-point deficit to pick up a 78-72 victory as Jared Mayes had 23 points and seven rebounds. He hit a season/team best 9-of-11 from the field.  In the second game of the 2015-16 season, (Dec. 19, 2015),  SMSU edged USF, 62-60 at the RA Facility in Marshall, Minn.  Mack Johnson had 17 points, three rebounds and three assists to lead USF. Mitch Weg and Ryan Bruggeman had 10 points. In 2014-15, USF and SMSU split a pair of games, each winning on its home floor. Down one in the final seconds at the Stewart Center, Charles Ward, who scored 23 points, hit a three from the left corner to give USF a 69-67 win over SMSU on Dec. 20, 2014. Earlier, SMSU took a 72-68 win  on Dec. 2 at Marshall, Minn. SMSU was led by Mitch Weg with 15 points and 15 rebounds. USF was led by Ward with 21 and Mack Johnson with 18.

Evans earns has  NSIC POW honor in fast start to career
Junior guard Trevon Evans has opened his career at USF in a big way, leading the Cougars to four wins in five games. Through five games, he is  averaging 18.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. At the MIAA-NSIC Classic on Nov. 10-11, he had 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.  As a result of those performances, he earned NSIC Men's Basketball Player of the Week honors.  Evans has four double digit scoring games (28, 31, 13, 14) including two over 20 points and one over 30.  He also has one double double.

Guebert passes 900 career points; ranks 7th in made 3's
Junior forward Drew Guebert  drawing closer to 1,000 career points with 924. He ranks in the NSIC top 10 in five offensive categories. A junior forward from Apple Valley, Minn., he is second in scoring at 23.2 points per game, second in free throw percentage at 94.1 percent, fifth in made three pointers at 2.8 per game, sixth in free throw shooting at 46.7 percent (14-of-30) and ninth in field goal percentage at 56.6 percent (43-of-76).  He averages 5.0 rebounds and has two blocks in five games.  Guebert has scored 13, 32, 22, 21 and 28 points this season in the five 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 and 28 against Waldorf College. .  He now has 45 double digit scoring games in his career. With four 20 point or better performances, he has 16 in his career. Guebert has 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. 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.