SIOUX FALLS— After a preseason spent mostly with games played outside of Sioux Falls, the University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (6-1, 1-0 NSIC) return home this weekend to host its Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) home opener against Concordia-St. Paul (4-2, 0-1 NSIC) on Friday, Dec. 7 at 7:30. USF will then turn around and host Minnesota State (4-2, 1-0 NSIC) on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Stewart Center.
 
USF, which received votes in the most recent D2SIDA Men's Basketball National Media Poll released on Dec. 4, has won six-of-seven games to open the season. Most recently, USF recorded a convincing a 94-72 decision over defending NSIC South Division champion Southwest Minnesota State at Marshall, Minn., on Dec. 1. In that win, USF had three players score in double-digits and led by junior Milan Surlic with 27 points. Surlic, who hit 9-of-15 shots from the floor and 4-of-7 from three-point range, was named the NSIC South Division Player of the Year. He was joined in the scoring by All-NSIC performers Trevon Evans, who had 22 points; and Drew Guebert, who added 21.
 
The Cougars are 4-1 on a neutral floor with a 78-70 win over Chadron State and a heartbreaking 70-67 setback to Truman State at the NSU tourney on Nov. 23-24. USF also has a 73-70 win over Central Missouri in Kansas City on Nov. 19 and victories over Fort Hays State, 89-70, and Emporia State, 99-63, at the MIAA-NSIC Challenge at Marshall, Minn. In its only home game, USF, which is 1-0 at home and in away games, registered a 64-47 win over Waldorf on Nov. 16.
 
Breaking down the opponents
CSP had 21 points from Jalen Mobley and 20 by Isaiah McKay in a 91-72 loss to Minnesota State on Saturday (Dec. 1) night. CSP, which will play its seventh game of the season, has dropped their last two games after winning four straight games to open up their 2018-19 season. The Golden Bears, which is directed by head coach Joey James, has wins over Arkansas-Monticello (86-71), Arkansas Tech (118-113 3 OT), Edgewood (85-79) and Georgian Court (85-69). They have lost to Florida Tech (95-89 and Minnesota State. CSP, which is 3-0 at home and 0-2 on the road (1-0 neutral court), is led in scoring by Nebraska-Kearney transfer Isaiah McKay at 23.2 points per game and 6.7 rebounds and Brydan Matthews at 22.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per contest. McKay and Mathews are the top two scorers in the NSIC to this point. CSP averages 89.1 points (3^rd, NSIC) and gives up 84.8 points per game (16^th, NSIC).
 
Minnesota State will face Southwest Minnesota State on Friday night before meeting the Cougars on Saturday at 6 pm. MSU has opened with a 4-2 overall record and stand 1-0 in league play. The Mavericks, which are directed by veteran head coach Matt Margenthaler (375 career wins), has defeated Lindenwood (88-85), No. 13 St. Cloud State (80-77 OT), Tampa (75-61) and CSP, 91-72. MSU's losses included a 100-98 overtime loss to No. 25 Missouri Southern State at the Taylor Center at MSU and a 78-67 decision to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla. Through six games, the Mavericks rank sixth in the NSIC with 83.2 points per game and are allowing 78.8 per game which ranks 13^th. Guard Kevin Krieger leads MSU in scoring at 16.8 points per game, which ranks 10^th in the NSIC, and 9.5 rebounds.  Carlos Anderson is adding 14.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. The Mavericks, who have been without Cameron Kirksey (19.0 ppg) for three games, also have had 11.3 points and 3.2 assists from guard Juwan McCloud.
 
How to follow USF Men's BB on social media – Listen on radio
Follow USF Men's Basketball on twitter at @USFCooBBall. All USF's home games and NSIC contests are streamed for free through Stretch Internet at usfcougars.com/watch. Veteran announcer Tom Frederick will provide play-by-play for both the non-conference games on Stretch Internet and conference games at KWSN.com. Live stats for home games are available at usfcougars.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary. The live stats for USF - SMSU can be found here.
 
USF leads Concordia-St. Paul, 13-4 in all-time series
Against the Golden Bears at the DII level, USF is 8-3  and 13-4 overall. In their most recent game matchup against the Golden Bears, Trevon Evans led USF with 35 points and Pal Teathloach added 10 points on 62.5 percent shooting in the 79-68 home victory on Feb. 16, 2018.  In St. Paul, Minn., on Jan. 20, 2018, the Cougars had 22 points from Evans and 17 by Aaron Rothermund in an 85-64 victory over CSP, USF's third straight win and fourth in five games in the series.  The Cougars, which hit 17-of-30 shots from the field in the first half, including 5-of-11 from three-point range, opened up a 41-28 halftime margin. The Cougars, which hit 54 percent (34-of-63) for the game, outscored the Golden Bears, 44-36, in the second half. In the 2016-17 season, the Cougars swept CSP, including 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 Matthews 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.
 
Minnesota State has 15-3 series edge over USF
In their most recent contest on Feb. 17, 2018, Trevon Evans and Drew Guebert led USF to a 88-81 victory for their first win over MSU since moving to NCAA DII in 2012. Evans scored 33 points, including 18-of-21 from the free throw line, and Guebert supplied 28 points with nine rebounds. Guebert hit 4-of-8 from distance as USF was 7-of-20 from three-point land. MSU was led by Charlie Brown with 28 points and Chris Kendrix with 22. Since moving to NCAA DII, the Cougars trail MSU, Mankato, 11-1 (15-3 overall), including a 99-82 loss to the Mavericks in Mankato on Jan. 19, 2018.  In that loss, USF had 28 points from Guebert and 24 by Evans. The key to the win for MSU was shooting 56.1 percent while USF was at 54.2 percent However, MSU, which was 20-of-32 for 62.5 percent in the second half, made 13-of-20 from three-point range. Interestingly, USF was 17-of-31 from the field in the second half and had a 33-30 rebound margin but made just four treys in 13 attempts.  
 
Coo Tracks
 
After seven games, senior All-NSIC guard Trevon Evans leads USF with 21.7 points per game, which ranks fourth in the NSIC, while grabbing 4.1 rebounds with 4.0 assists per outing. Senior All-NSIC forward Drew Guebert is ranked in the NSIC's top-10 in points and rebounds. Guebert is scoring 20.9 points per game for sixth in the league and 6.9 rebounds per game or tied for 14th in the NSIC. USF, which was picked third overall in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, finished with a DII-program-best 20-10 record in 2017-18. USF also had a program-high 14 NSIC wins a year ago and finished third in the South Division.
 
 
Guebert and Evans leading way for USF
 
Guebert, who was named second team All-NSIC a year ago will play in his 100th game  (83nd start) Friday, moved into 10th in career points at USF with 1,550. He passed Tim Dykstra, a USF Athletics Hall of Fame member, who had 1,524 points from 1971-75.  Guebert will need 40 points to move into ninth place, which is currently held by Luther Hippe, a USF Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, who had 1,589 points from 1983-87.
 
Guebert, a two-time Academic All-NSIC selection, is also second all-time in made three-pointers with 220. Mack Johnson, who played from 2013-17, is the career leader with 233.  Guebert also has 73 double digit scoring games with 31 games of 20 points or more and five games with 30 points or more.
 
Evans, a 6-0, 175-pound guard from Wichita, Kan., was earlier this fall named USF's first-ever NSIC Men's Basketball Preseason South Division Player of the Year. Evans, who was first-team All-NSIC and the league's Newcomer of the Year in 2017-18, was selected Co-Player of the Year with Ryan Bruggeman of SMSU in the South Division.  A year ago, Evans averaged 21.1 points per game, which ranked second in the NSIC and 33rd in NCAA DII. He was named the NSIC Player of the Week three times and one of those honors followed a career-best 42-point performance at Northern State. With that point total, Evans had the second highest point total in the NSIC and was tied for 25th-best in NCAA DII during 2017-18.
 
Evans has started this year as he finished a year ago. He is averaging 21.7 points per game with seven games in double digit points (15, 26, 19, 28, 22, 19 and 22). He now has 33 double digit scoring games and 20 games of 20 points or more in his career at USF. Evans has 88 career three-pointers after totaling 67 a year ago. Evans, who has 762 points in his career at USF, has hit 21-of-50 three-pointers for 42.0 percent and 27-of-37 from the foul line for 72.9 percent.
 
USF Head Coach Chris Johnson leads program

University of Sioux Falls head men's basketball coach Chris Johnson, who was named the school's 22nd head coach in 2008, has begun his 11th season at the helm of the program. The Cougars are 6-1 this season and Johnson is 198-148 (.572) in his career with a 182-133 (.577) mark at USF.

Since taking over, Johnson, who is USF's career wins leader, has guided the Cougars to five 20-win seasons, three post-season appearances, two conference tournament championships and one regular season conference crown. Just twice in his run have the Cougars finished below .500. In fact, he has led the team to 15 wins nine times and recorded five 20-win seasons with the 25-10 campaign in 2009-10 the best finish. At the NCAA DII level, USF's mark of 20-10 in 2017-18 is a program-best. The 2017-18 team also finished 14-8 (5th overall) in league play and that is also the top mark for league wins.

He has compiled a 107-40 mark at home and a 58-81 road record with an 18-12 mark on a neutral floor. In NSIC play, he has a 61-72 record, including a 47-26 mark in home league games and 24-43 mark in away games. Johnson is 3-6 in postseason. He is also 52-5 in nonconference games.

Before arriving in Sioux Falls, Johnson was the top assistant coach for three seasons at the University of North Dakota. Prior to joining the UND coaching staff, Johnson spent the 2004-05 season as head coach at Culver-Stockton College. In his lone season as head coach, Johnson led the Wildcats to a 16-15 record, an improvement from the team's 12-19 record the season prior to his arrival. He was named 2004-05 Heart of America Athletic Conference Coach of the Year after guiding the team to the first home conference playoff game in program history. Prior to arriving at Culver-Stockton, Johnson served as an assistant coach at Minot State from 2001-04. Before that he served as an assistant at Minnesota State, Mankato (1999-2001) and Central College (1998-99) in Pella, Iowa. Johnson was a two-year starter as a guard, lettering four times, at Central College and graduated in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in exercise science. He received a master's degree in sports administration from Minnesota State, Mankato, in 2005. Johnson and his wife, Amy, have four children including Bailey, TJ, Zeke and Lucy.