SIOUX FALLS – With a career-best performance from Justin Taylor and 20-point plus performances from the All-NSIC duo of Drew Guebert and Trevon Evans, the University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (7-1, 2-0 NSIC) successfully opened its home Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schedule with a 91-81 victory over Concordia-St. Paul (4-3, 0-2 NSIC) on Friday at the Stewart Center.

For the second straight year, USF has opened the season with seven wins in eight games and a 2-0 record in league play. With a  second straight win, USF provided head coach Chris Johnson with his 199^th career win with 183 coming while he has been at USF.

"We put together some good runs tonight and rebounded the basketball well while holding down our turnovers, which was key to the game," said Johnson, whose team will face co-South Division preseason favorite Minnesota State (5-2, 2-0) at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Stewart Center. "Justin Taylor was active all night and Drew (Guebert) and Trevon (Evans) did what they do," he said.

Taylor turned in a 16-point, 15-rebound effort for his first career double double. The 16 points by Taylor tied his career-high and the 15 boards was his best as a Cougar. He made 7-of-9 shots from the field and had six offensive rebounds among those boards he collected off the glass. Taylor, who also had a dunk, added an assist and steal in his 23 minutes on the floor.

With his 28 points, Guebert registered his 74^th double-digit scoring game of his career and his 32^nd 20-point plus performance. The senior from Apple Valley now has 1,578 points and needs 13 to move into ninth place at USF, which is currently held by USF Athletics Hall of Famer Luther Hippe with 1,589 from 1983-87.  He now has five 20-point or higher games this season and a string of four straight (24, 27, 21 and 28).  On the night, he was 7-of-17 from the field and made 13-of-15 from the foul line Guebert also had seven rebounds, three assists and a career-best six steals.

Evans, a senior from Wichita, Kan., plugged in another big game for USF with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists in 34 minutes of work. Evans is eight for eight in double-digit games this season and has 34 for his career. He now has 21 games of 20 points or more, including five in the 2018-19 season. Evans made 8-of-17 field goals and 5-of-6 at the foul line while make a pair of three-pointers in seven attempts.

USF also had eight points, five assists and three rebounds from redshirt freshman forward Chase Grinde and six points and six rebounds from sophomore forward Austin Slater.

While the score may not have indicated it, USF had a solid night on defense by registering 10 steals and forcing CSP into 16 turnovers. On offense, USF surpassed 90 points for the third time this season.  USF made 44.3 percent from the field by hitting 31-of-70 field goals, which included just 4-of-20 shots from three-point range. USF was sold at the line by making 25-of-35 free throws for 71.4 percent.

As for CSP, they hit 47.6 percent from the floor on 30-of-63 shooting. Like USF, they struggled from three-point range with five makes on 21 attempts. Bryndan Matthews led the way with 23 points and nine rebounds while Isaiah McKay had 19 points and seven rebounds.

Game Breakdown –
USF led nearly start to finish and had the advantage for over 37 minutes. The Cougars, which led by as many as 15 points in the first half, took a 41-31 lead at the halftime break. Both teams scored 50 points in the second half as USF improved their series lead to 14-4 over CSP. USF, which defeated the Golden Bears for a four straight time, had a big edge in points off turnovers (18-to-5), second chance-points (21-to-12) and paint points (48-to-42). However CSP had the 12-to-6 advantage on fast break points and a 26-to-14 margin in bench points.

After McKay gave CSP an early lead, USF used a lay-up by Guebert to key a 19-3 run which produced a 22-7 advantage with 12:08 to play in the first half. USF was able to hold the double-digit advantage as Taylor's lay-up enabled a 26-13 lead with 9:09 left in the half. Two foul shots by Guebert at the 6:13 mark left the lead at 33-19. CSP tried to battle back in the half and cut the deficit to 10 points (37-27, 2:48, 1^st half) but USF continued to find the answer.
Two foul shots helped USF push the lead back to 14 (41-27) with 1:39 to play but the Golden Bears closed the half with four straight as the Cougars led, 41-31, at the break.  In the opening half, USF was just 16-of-38 (42.1 percent) from the floor and 3-of-13 from three-point range. However, CSP also struggled by hitting just 11-of-29 field goals for 37.9 percent and missed all six of their three-point shots.

Evans opened the second half with a three-ball for a 44-31 lead (19:41, 2^nd half). Over the next four minutes USF held a double-digit lead before CSP put together a run. Down 14 (52-38, 16:39, 2^nd half), CSP had a 9-0 spurt, keyed by four points from Matthews, to draw within 52-47 at the 14:35 mark. 

As would be the case all night, every run by the Golden Bears was answered by USF. The Cougars had baskets from Guebert and Austin Slater to push the lead to 56-47 (13:53). Later, scores by Guebert and Evans helped USF to a 68-55 lead with 9:47 left on the clock.

CSP just didn't have a consistent answer for USF as an offensive board and putback by Taylor gave the Cougar a 77-62 lead with 6:22 to play. Once again, CSP closed the gap to nine points (79-70, 2:47, 2^nd half) on foul shots by Lee Higgins. They pressed the action and cut the margin to 83-77 on a three-point play by Jalen Mobley in the final minute but USF made eight straight foul shots in the last 55 seconds to ice the game.