SIOUX FALLS --  The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (8-3, 3-2 NSIC) will look to continue a strong start to the season as they host Southwest Minnesota State (7-4, 2-3 NSIC) Sunday, Dec. 30 at 4 p.m. in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action at the Stewart Center.

USF, which leads the league in rebounding at 43.3 per game and rebound margin at 11.7 per game, is coming off the Christmas break following a 1-1 road trip against two Northern Division opponents. The Cougars defeated Minnesota Duluth, 73-66, on Dec. 14 at Romano Gym, which provided USF Head Coach Chris Johnson with his 200th career victory. During Johnson's tenure at USF, he is 184-135 (.577), with a 73-69 win over Concordia St. Paul making him the program's career wins leader with 155. Johnson, who is 200-150 (.571) overall, has compiled a 108-41 mark at home and a 59-82 road record with an 18-12 mark on a neutral floor. In NSIC play, he has a 63-74 record, including a 48-27 mark in home league games and 25-44 mark in away games. Johnson is 3-6 in postseason. He is also 52-5 in nonconference games.

Against UMD, Senior guard Trevon Evans had a game-high 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds. On Dec. 15, USF dropped a 83-73 decision to St. Cloud State at Halenbeck Hall despite 23 points from Drew Guebert, 19 by Trevon Evans and 11 by Chase Grinde. USF, which is fourth in the NSIC South at 3-2, averages 80.3 points per game for eighth in the NSIC.

USF trails all-time series with SMSU, 20-12
USF will meet SMSU for the 33rd time with the Mustangs owning a 20-12 lead in a series that dates to 1968-69.  USF, which has won 2-of-3 vs. the Mustangs, took a 94-72 decision on Dec. 1 in Marshall, Minn. Led by a career-high 27 points from Milan Surlic, who would earn NSIC Player of the Week honors two days later, and 22 points from Trevon Evans and 21 from Drew Guebert, USF ended a 15-game losing streak to the Mustangs in Marshall, Minn. USF hit 56.4 percent from the field on 31-of-55 shooting and made 10-of-19 for 52.6 percent from three-point range. Additionally, they hit 22-of-27 free throws for 81.5 percent.

The Cougars opened up a 45-33 halftime lead and outscored SMSU, 49-39, in the second half. The Cougars, which led for 37:08 of the game, built its biggest lead of 24 points (80-56) with 7:40 to play in the second half. Surlic hit 9-of-15 field goals, including a career-best 4-of-7 from three-point range, while making all five of his free throws to score 27 points in 33 minutes. Surlic, who had his second 20-point game of the season, added four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Guebert made 6-of-10 field goals and 8-of-10 foul shots while grabbing five rebounds with a season-high five assists. Evans made 9-of-17 field goals against SMSU with 4-of-7 from three-point range. He added four rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.

Led by Guebert's career-high 36 points and 10 rebounds, USF knocked off SMSU, 91-85 in overtime on Nov. 25, 2017 at the Stewart Center. However in the second matchup in the 2017-18 season, SMSU recorded an 86-57 win at the R/A Facility. USF is 11-5 in games at the Stewart Center. SMSU has a 15-1 at the R/A Facility in Marshall. Since both teams have been in the NSIC, SMSU holds an 8-6 advantage, 7-6 in league play.

The teams met in the NSIC Tournament on Feb. 26, 2017 as SMSU registered a 79-68 victory in the NSIC Tournament quarterfinals on Feb. 26, 2017 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. Guebert led USF with 19 points as he made four treys. On Nov. 28, 2016, SMSU defeated USF, 74-72 in Marshall, Minn. 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 an 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. n the second game of the 2015-16 season, (Dec. 19, 2015),  SMSU edged USF, 62-60 at the RA Facility in Marshall, Minn.  Mitch Weg and 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. In the series, the two teams have played five overtime games, with USF winning twice. The Cougars won the Nov. 25, 2017 game at the Stewart Center and registered 87-83 OT decision on Nov. 30, 2013, at the Stewart Center. USF won three straight in the series with victories in 1976-77, 1980-81 and 1983-84. SMSU won seven straight in 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1998-99, 2007, 2008 and 2012. USF's largest margin of victory was 32 points, 85-53, in the 1969-70 season at Sioux Falls.   

SMSU Notes  
SMSU, directed by head coach Brad Bigler (168-114 career record), is competing for the 50th season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.  SMSU is coming off a road split up north as the defeated Minnesota Duluth, 75-63, but dropped an 80-60 decision to St. Cloud State. The Mustangs, which stand 1-1 in away games, will be led by NSIC South Division Co-Offensive Player of the Year Ryan Bruggeman, who leads the league with 23.2 points per game. He is the workhorse on an offense which is fifth in the league at 82.7 points per game. On defense, SMSU allows 78.1 points per game. Steven McNease is fifth in the NSIC with 8.5 rebounds per game. The Mustangs have four players scoring in double digits with Taylor Schafer, at 12.1 points per game.  

Breaking Down USF - Evans and Guebert leading the way
After 11 games, senior All-NSIC guard Trevon Evans ranks third in the NSIC in scoring at 21.9 points per game while All-NSIC forward Drew Guebert is fifth in the NSIC in scoring at 21.4 points per game.  

Guebert, who was named second team All-NSIC a year ago, has played in 103 games and ranks eighth in career scoring at USF with 1,639 points. He needs 61 points to reach the 1,700 point mark, which has been reached by just three players in school history and all of them are members of USF's Athletics Sports Hall of Fame. They include Gayle Hoover, 1954-58, 2,169 points; Ron Krayl, 1964-68, 2,029; and Tony Overbaugh, 1987-91, 1,809 points. Guebert, who has 228 career three-pointers, needs four more three-point baskets to move past Mack Johnson (2013-17), who has the most in school history at 232. Guebert needs four points to move past USF Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Chris Frick (1,642, 1984-87) for seventh all-time in scoring; and 12 to surpass his former teammate Mack Johnson (1,650, 2013-17) for sixth on the career scoring chart. With 58 points, he can move into the top five all-time and ahead of Todd Kelsey, another USF Athletics Hall of Famer who had 1,696 points  from 1977-81.  Guebert has 77 double digit scoring games with 35 games of 20 points or more and five games over 30.

Evans has started this year as he finished a year ago. He is averaging 21.9 points per game with 11 games in double digit points (15, 26, 19, 28, 22, 19, 23, 23, 21, 26, and 18) and six of his last eight games with 20 points or more. He has 15 straight double digit scoring games dating to a year ago and now has 37 double digit scoring games and 23 games of 20 points or more in his career at USF. Evans has 851 points in his career at USF.

Also for USF, Milan Surlic, a unior point guard, has a pair of 20 point games with 27 last time against SMSU. Senior Justin Taylor has been a model of consistency with 7.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He is shooting 55.8 percent from the field.