DULUTH, Minn. – The one-two punch of Trevon Evans and Drew Guebert was sizzling again on Saturday night as the University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (8-2, 4-1 NSIC) rolled to a 91-66 victory over Minnesota Duluth (2-6, 0-4 NSIC) at Romano Gym. For the second straight night, both Evans and Guebert scored over 20 points with each dropping in 26 as the Cougars moved to 8-2 on the season and 4-1 in NSIC play.

After trailing early 4-0, the Cougars took off on a 15-0 run to take a 22-9 lead (9:55, 1st half) on a Guebert trey and led by at least eight points the rest of the way.

With 5:25 to play in the first half, USF built a 35-17 lead after Evans knocked home a three-pointer. UMD rallied and pulled within eight (41-33, :57, 1st half) on a Luke Harris three. However, Evans scored on a driving lay-up with 11 seconds left in the first half to push the lead back to 43-33, which the Cougars took to the halftime break. When USF opened the second half on a 15-5 run, the lead grew to 20 (58-38) and the Cougars were on their way to an eighth win of the season.  USF actually pushed the lead to 34 points (77-43, 10:37, 2nd half) on a jumper by Teathloach Pal, who recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

"We challenged the guys tonight after dropping a tough one last night. I am really proud of how they came out and performed," said USF head coach Chris Johnson, who picked up his 180th career victory, including 164 at USF. "We got back to who we are and really played a great game. We shot it, rebounded and defended," he said.

Evans, who scored 58 points this weekend (32, 26), made 10-of-17 field goals, including 3-of-8 from three point range. The junior guard, who had six rebounds and two steals in 30 minutes of play, has scored in double digits in nine of 10 games at USF and now has 26 or more points five times, including three straight games. In fact, he scored 53 points from the beginning of the second half in the loss to St. Cloud State (88-82) to the 10-minute mark of the second half against UMD, a span of just over 30 minutes.

Guebert scored USF's first seven points, had 16 at halftime and finished with 26 points with three rebounds, a block and assist in just 25 minutes. He hit 10-of-15 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three point range. Guebert's 26 points enabled him to move up to 28th on USF's career scoring list at 1,051 points and past Jim Fett (1953-57), who had 1,046 points.With three, three-pointers, Guebert tied Billy Eichman (1987-91) for sixth on USF's career made three point list. He now has 10 double digit games this season, including eight over 20 points. In addition, he now has 50 career double digit scoring games with 20 over 20 points.

"Drew (Guebert) and Trevon (Evans) are playing at an extraordinarily high level. They are really making things happen," Johnson said in a post-game interview with USF play-play announcer Tom Frederick.

While the junior duo continues to play as well as anyone in the league, Johnson was also pleased with the efforts up and down his USF roster.

"I am really proud of all the guys on this team, and especially those guys that don't receive a lot of notice but who continue to step up when given an opportunity," he said. "Justin Taylor got an opportunity and ran with it tonight. Plus Tessy Pal, Drew Maschoff, and Aaron Rothermund really came through for us on a night when we had to play without senior guard Jerrod Walton," added Johnson.

In total, the Cougars had four players in double digits as Taylor had a career-best 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He also had four rebounds and three blocks. Aside from his 11 points and 10 boards, Pal had four assists in what Johnson called his best performance at USF.  

For the sixth time in 10 games, USF, the league's top scoring team, scored over 90 points. USF, which had 28 points in the paint and 23 points off the bench, won for the eighth time when they outshot their opponent.

On the night, USF hit 36-of-64 from the field for a season-best 56.3 percent. USF was 7-of-21 from three-point range and 12-of-15 from the foul line.  USF, the league's top rebounding squad, had a 43-29 advantage on the boards and played solid defense, holding UMD to 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the field. UMD, led by 21 points from Brandon Myer, was 12-of-14 from the free throw line and 6-of-20 from three-point range.

Next for USF will be a road NSIC game at Southwest Minnesota State a 7 p.m., on Saturday, Dec. 16 in Marshall, Minn.

Notes –

~ The Cougars have outrebounded opponents in 9-of-10 games, owning a 40.8-to-30.0 rebound margin.
~ Through 10 games, USF is averaged 87.7 points per game and hitting 49.5 percent from the field.
~ Drew Guebert leads USF in scoring at 24.3 points per game and has hit 46.4 percent on three-pointers and 54.2 percent overall on field goals.
~ Trevon Evans, who is now averaging 21.2 ppg and 6.6 rebounds per game, is shooting 52.4 percent from the floor, including 44.2 percent from three-point range.
~ Over the past four games, USF has scored 48 or more points in the second half in all four games.
~ The Cougars are 5-1 when trailing at halftime and 3-1 when leading at the break.