SIOUX FALLS -- The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (12-6, 7-5 NSIC South, 3rd) which leads the NSIC in rebounding and ranks fifth in scoring, will open a  four-game NSIC road swing at Minnesota State (13-4, 9-2 NSIC) at 8 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, the Cougars head to Concordia St. Paul (3-14, 2-9 NSIC)  for a 6 p.m. tip off.

USF, which has won four of six games, just finished a three-game home stand at 2-1. The Cougars upended Minnesota Crookston, 68-56, and rolled past Midland, 90-61. With the victory over Minnesota-Crookston, USF is now 7-5 in league play and in a tie for third in the NSIC South with Winona State. The victory over Midland, which was USF's 13th straight in a series that dates to 1957-58, wraps up the nonconference slate with a 5-1 mark. USF faces a MSU team that sits first in the NSIC South at 13-4 and 9-2 in the NSIC. Then, USF will face CSP, which sits at the bottom of the NSIC South at 3-14 and 2-9 in league play. MSU has won three of four, winning and losing a game in overtime. They rank second in scoring at 83.2 ppg and lead the league in three point shooting at 42.5 percent. CSP is 13th in scoring defense at 77.9 ppg and 16th in scorign at 68.5.

The Cougars are on a two-game winning streak after  dropping a 74-68 decision to Bemidji State on Jan. 12 when the Cougars shot a season-low 31.8 percent. Trevon Evans led USF with 21 points. Led by career-bests from Drew Maschoff (15 points) and Aaron Rothermund (13 points), USF took a 68-56 victory over Minnesota Crookston on Jan. 13.   Drew Guebert had 15, while Evans and Aaron Rothermund supplied 14. For Rothermind, it was the second straight game in which he had established a career-high in points. He has also made two straight starts.  

Series Notes --
MSU leads USF, 14-2 in all-time series
Since moving to NCAA DII, the Cougars trail MSU, Mankato, 10-0 (14-2 overall), including a heartbreaking 68-67 loss on Jan. 20, 2017  at the Stewart Center as Cole Harper made a driving lay-up in the closing seconds. On Feb. 18, 2017, MSU defeated USF, 79-67. In the 2015-16 season, MSU took an 80-70 decision on Feb. 19, 2016 at the Taylor Center and a 70-68 decision at the Stewart Center on Jan. 23, 2016.

USF leads Concordia-St. Paul, 11-4 in all-time series
In DII, USF is 7-3 in NSIC games and 11-4 overall vs. Concordia-St. Paul, after taking a 73-69 decision at the Ganglehoff Center on Feb. 17, 2017.  Mack Johnson scored 28 points with seven rebounds while Zach Wessels and Daniel Hurtt both had 14 points. Bryndan Matthew led CSP with 24 points and nine rebounds. USF also took a 93-70 decision on Jan. 21 at the Stewart Center. Drew Guebert had 23 points and five three pointers while Clint Thomas added 19 points and three triples at USF was 12-of-24 from distance. In 2015-16, the Cougars set a school record by hitting 20 triples on 28 attempts in a 110-90 victory over CSP at the Stewart Center on Jan. 22, 2016.   In the match up in St. Paul, CSP took a 78-63 decision on Feb. 20, 2016. Matthews had 16 points and seven rebounds. Thomas led USF with 12.

Inside Scoop on Cougars
Through 18 games, USF has been one of the league's best scoring teams, averaging 80.2 ppg  with 10 games of 80 points or better.  USF is led by junior forward Drew Guebert, who ranks third in the NSIC in scoring at 20.6 ppg.  Junior guard Trevon Evans is sixth in the NSIC in scoring at 19.6 points per game.   The Cougars, picked ninth in the NSIC Preseason Poll,  lead the NSIC in rebounding at 39.9 per game and margin at 7.4 differential.

Cougar Tracks
~ Junior forward Drew Guebert has 1,179 career points and has moved up to 19th on USF all-time scoring chart. He is the 33rd player to surpass 1,000 points in his career.   
~ A rarity, USF has had two players record double doubles of over 30 points and 10 rebounds. Trevon Evans had career highs with 31 points and 12 rebounds against Ft. Hays State while  Drew Guebert had a career-best 36 points with 10 rebounds against SMSU
~ Between Evans and Guebert, they have a combined six games over 30 points and 17 games of 20 points or more. Evans scored 31 against Fort Hays State, 31 against Upper Iowa and a career-high 32 on the road against St. Cloud State. Guebert had his career-high 36 points in the overtime win at home against SMSU, 31 at Winona State on Jan. 5 and 32 in the victory over Fort Hays State.
~ The Cougars have had three players (Jerrod Walton, 2; Trevon Evans, 8; and Drew Guebert, 9) combine for 19 games of 20 points or more.
~ In total, USF has a combined 55 double digit scoring games  from 10 players including Guebert, 16; Evans, 16; Walton, 7; Wessels, 3; Teathloach Pal, 2; Justin Taylor, 3; Drew Maschoff, 3; Austin Slater, 1; Aaron Rothermund, 3; and Chase Grinde, 1.
~ Four players including Slater (17), Evans (12), Maschoff (11) and Guebert (10) have recorded double digit rebounds and also had double doubles in those games. Slater had 17 points and 13 rebounds against SMSU, 11/25/17; Guebert, 36 points and 10 rebounds against SMSU, 11/25/17; and Evans, 31 points and 12 rebounds against Fort Hays State, 11/11/17. In his first career start, Maschoff recorded career-bests of 15 points and 11 rebounds in an overtime win over Augustana, 70-61, at the Stewart Center. Teachloach Pal had a team-high and career best 13 rebounds in the win over Minnesota Crookston. He now has two double digit rebounds game.
~ USF has outrebounded 14-of-18 opponents team this season, including 13 teams by at least six rebounds, which has enabled them to lead the NSIC at 39.9 per game. When USF outrebounds opponents, they are 12-2 in 20-17-18. The Cougars' 7.4 margin per game also leads the NSIC.  The Cougars have had over 40 boards nine times with a high of 50 against both SMSU on Nov. 25 and Augustana on New Years Eve (12-31-17). In fact, USF has had a double digit margin over opponents in rebounds eight times.
~ In its 12 wins, USF has outshot opponents from the field nine times with a season-best 56.3 percent against Minnesota Duluth on Dec. 9. The Cougars have shot at least 50 percent five times.
~ Four times in 2017-18, the Cougars have had at least 10 3's in a game with a high of 12 against Wisconsin-Superior and the most recent of 11 in a 72-70 loss at Winona State.
~ Redshirt freshman Austin Slater recorded his first career double double with 13 points and 17 rebounds in OT win over SMSU. He had totaled just five points and seven rebounds before his big game on Nov. 25. In fact, the 17 rebounds are the most by a USF player since Kelly Hubbard had 19 on Jan. 13, 2009 (16 points, 18 rebounds, 85-84 win over Northwestern).
~ USF is 6-3 when trailing at halftime, 6-3 when leading at the break and 8-2 in home games.
~ USF has scored at least 41 points in the second half of nine of 16 games and has had 49 or  more second half points five times.
~ USF has had at least one block in every game with a high of eight against Wayne State (12/30/17). In 15 straight games, USF, second in the NSIC in blocks at 4.4 per game, have had at least two each game.
~ For stat nerds, Drew Guebert is an effective field goal percentage of 54.3 percent (accounting that three point shots have more value than two point field goals) and a true shooting percentage of 58.4 percent (player's shooting efficiency - accounting for field goals, three pointers and free throws in one metric) while accounting for 28.4 percent of plays by USF on offense. Trevon Evans has a 52.6 percent effective field goal percentage, 57.7 true shooting percentage and accounts for 30.3 percent of the USF plays. The Cougars have a team offensive rating at 109.1 and team defensive rating of  99.2 per game.

Player Awards --
U.S. Basketball Writers Player of the Week -- Drew Guebert, Nov. 28
NSIC Player of the Week -- Trevon Evans, Nov. 13
NSIC Player of the Week -- Drew Guebert, Nov. 27, Jan. 8

How  Cougars stand in NCAA DII Statistics (as of Jan. 17, 2018)
Team                
Free Throws Made -- 30th, 293
Free Throws Attempted -- 43rd, 400
Rebound Margin -- 20th, 7.4 per game
Defensive Rebounds Per Game  --16th, 29.44 per game
Total Blocks -- 17th, 78
Blocked Shots Per Game -- 33rd, 4.3
Total Rebounds -- 13th, 719
Total Rebounds Per Game -- 47th, 39.94

Individual
Scoring -- Drew Guebert, 42nd, 20.6 ppg; Trevon Evans, 59th, 19.6 ppg
Total Points -- Drew Guebert,  14th, 371; Trevon Evans, 47th, 334
Total Field Goals -- Drew Guebert, 14th, 132; Trevon Evans, 51st, 116
Total Field Goal Attempts -- Drew Guebert, 6th, 280; Trevon Evans, 25th, 253

Evans ranks sixth in the NSIC in scoring
Junior guard Trevon Evans ranks fifth in the NSIC in scoring at 19.6 points.  Evans set career-bests with 32 points and five threes (seven attempts) against St. Cloud State. In the 88-82 loss, he scored 11 points in the final 55 seconds of the game.  In a 91-66 win over UMD on Saturday, Dec. 9, he had 26 points with six rebounds in 30 minutes. In a 50-minute period between the second half of SCSU and first 30 minutes against UMD, he scored 53 points or over a point a minute. He had 31 points, including a career-best 27 points in the second half, to help USF rally to a 90-78 victory over Upper Iowa on Dec. 2. In a 91-85 overtime win over SMSU Nov. 25, Evans had 16 points and had the game-tying basket with 2.8 seconds to play. At the MIAA-NSIC Classic on Nov. 10-11, Evans tallied 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 16 double digit scoring games (28, 31, 13, 14, 16, 14, 31, 32, 26, 14, 22, 28, 10, 21, 13, 14) including eight games over 20 points and three over 30.  He also has one double double . Thirteen times this season, he has totaled five or more rebounds and has three or more assists seven times.

Guebert ranks 3rd in scoring in NSIC; 14th in DII in total points
Through 18 games, Drew Guebert, a junior from Apple Valley, Minn., is third in the NSIC at 20.6 points per game. Guebert, who is 14th in DII with 371 total points, has nine games of 20 points or more, including three times (36, 32, 31) scoring over 30 points. After scoring a combined 42 points in a weekend sweep (Dec. 1-2) of Winona State and Upper Iowa,  Guebert became the 33rd player in school history to top 1,000 career points. With 15  points against Midland on Jan. 16, Guebert increased his career scoring total to 1,179, which ranks 19th on USF's career scoring chart.  He has 177 made three pointers in his career, which ranks fifth all-time at USF.  With 10 more treys, Guebert will move into fourth all-time at USF, held by Chad Bendt, who had 186 from 1991-95. With a combined 64 points (28, 32), Guebert was named the U.S.. Basketball Writers Association Player of the Week on Nov. 28.  This season, Guebert has been named NSIC  Player of the Week on Nov. 27 and Jan. 8. He has 56 double digit scoring games with 21,  20-point games. This season, he has scored double digits in 16 games. He set a career-best with 36 points and 10 rebounds, which helped USF defeat SMSU, 91-85 in overtime on Nov. 25. Guebert, who is averaging 5.8 rebounds per game, set a career-best with seven threes (12 attempts)  as he scored 31 points in a  72-70 loss at Winona State.