WAYNE, Neb. – The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (17-9, 12-8 NSIC) had 16 points from Drew Guebert and 15 from Zach Wessels but fell to a hot-shooting Wayne State squad on the Wildcats' Senior Day at Rice Auditorium.

With the setback, the Cougars dropped to 17-9 overall and 12-8 in the NSIC and fourth in the NSIC. However, with USF's win over Augustana on Friday, the Cougars will host a first-round NSIC Tournament game for the first time. Next weekend, USF closes the regular season with a pair of home game against Concordia-St. Paul on Friday at 8 p.m. and Minnesota State at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

The Wildcats, which shot 60.5 percent on 26-of-43 shooting, including a blistering 66.7 percent from three-point range, opened up an 18-7 lead and took a 10-point advantage to halftime (39-29). WSC opened the second half on a 19-6 run, pushing the advantage to 23 points at 58-35 with 10:29 to play. The Cougars pushed together a 26-12 run late in the second half and cut the deficit to 70-61 on a Zach Wessels basket but drew no closer.

While WSC was hot, the Cougars shot just 44.2 percent on 23-of-52 shooting. What was especially difficult for the Cougars was a 3-of-16 shooting performance from three-point range. USF made 15-of-19 from the foul line but the Wildcats also had the edge in that area, making 18-of-24. Both teams had 26 rebounds and the Cougars had 13 turnovers.

With his 16 points, Guebert, who now has 63 career double digit scoring games (23 this season), moved into a tie for 11th place on USF's career scoring list with Joel Running (1985-88). He also had a three and has 195 for his career, which is second all-time. For the second straight night, Wessels reached double digits with 15 points, hitting 6-of-8 shots and 3-of-5 free throws. He now has 24 double digit scoring games in his career, including six this season. Redshirt freshman Austin Slater provided nine points and four rebounds with a blocked shot.

Game Breakdown
Starting an all-senior lineup, the Wildcats opened with an 18-7 run, including a three from Brian Goodwin (13:36). Wessels scored inside to stop the run as the Cougars drew within nine points. A basket by Kendall Jacks pushed the lead to 20-10 at the 12:20 mark of the first half. With a three by Rothermund and a Guebert basket, the Cougars closed to 20-15 at the 11:11 mark of the first half.

From there, WSC had a 17-10 run to increase the advantage to 37-25 with 1:23 to play in the first half. The two team traded baskets late as the Wildcats took a 39-29 lead to halftime. In that opening half, WSC outshot USF, 64-to-41 percent from the floor and owned a 5-to-1 edge in made threes. USF was just 1-of-6 from deep and both teams grabbed 13 rebounds.  

The struggles for the Cougars continued in the second half as WSC opened on a 15-4 run to grab a 54-33 lead over USF with 11:57 to play. At that point, USF had hit just 13-of-33 field goals for 39 percent, including 1-of-10 from three point range.  With a three-point play from Drew Maschoff, who finished with eight points, the Cougars cut the lead to 58-41 with 9:58 to play in the game.

The Cougars tried to rally against the hot-shooting Wildcats, drawing within 63-51 at the seven-minute mark on a three from Guebert. At the 3:24 mark, Wessels had a basket as USF cut the deficit to 70-61.  But the Wildcats continued to have answer as JJ Zumbrennen knocked in a three with 2:06 to play and USF ran out of time.