Men's Basketball | 1/23/2019 3:29:00 PM

SIOUX FALLS --  The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (13-5, 8-4 NSIC), which has won 5-of-6 games, will face a road test with games at Upper Iowa (6-12, 3-9 NSIC) at 7:30 p.m., Friday (Jan. 25) in Fayette Iowa and Winona State (7-11, 4-8 NSIC) in Winona, Minn., on Saturday (Jan. 26) at 6 p.m., in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division action.

On Jan. 18-19, the Cougars split a pair of home games with a 77-72 win over U-Mary and a 75-70 setback to a hot-shooting squad from Minot State. The Cougars were led by Trevon Evans, who continued to score points in bunches with 58 combined in the two games. Evans had 26 points in the victory against the Marauders and had 32 against MiSU in the heart-breaking setback.

Upper Iowa, which has six straight setbacks, lost a close decision to Bemidji State, 93-90, in Bemidji, Minn., and suffered a  100-69 setback to Minnesota Crookston last weekend. UIU, which leads the league with 11.5 three pointers per game, last won on Dec. 30 with a 82-76 loss in overtime at home to Winona State. The Peacocks, which will be led by sharp-shooting guards Jareese Williams at 15.2 ppg and Joe Smoldt at 13.8 points per game. Smodt is shooting 34.3 percent from three-point range and averaging 2.6 made threes per game. Williams is shooting 47.7 percent from three-point range with 2.8 per game.

Winona State, which sits sixth in the NSIC South at 4-8, split two games last weekend. They defeated Bemidji State, 87-59, and fell at Minnesota Crookston, 80-66. Kevion Taylor leads the Warriors at 15.8 points per game, which places him 13th in the NSIC. Directed by veteran head coach Todd Eisner (470 career wins), the Warriors averaged 74.7 points per game and rank second in the league with 10.1 made threes per game. They also sit third in turnover margin at 3.72 and fourth in foul shooting at 76.9 percent in NSIC statistics.

At Stake

After a 1-1 weekend, the Cougars certainly have a lot at stake as the league schedule has wound down to 10 remaining games. At 8-4 in the South, USF sits just a game behind Wayne State at 9-3 for the lead. The Wildcats will face Minnesota State and Concordia St. Paul this weekend. USF is tied with MSU and Augustana with 8-4 records and sit in a three-way tie for second place. Augustana also faces MSU and CSP this weekend.   

Upper Iowa leads all-time series with USF,  9-6
Sioux Falls has three straight wins over Upper Iowa but trails the Peacocks, 9-6, in the overall series. A year ago, USF, which had 28 points from Trevon Evans and 17 from Drew Guebert, took a 77-72 road win at Fayette, Iowa, on Jan. 6, 2018.  USF also recorded a 90-78 victory on Dec. 2, 2017 at the Stewart Center. Evans had 31 points and Drew Guebert, 19, while Carson Parker scored 27 for UIU. USF also defeated Upper Iowa, 73-57 on Jan. 6, 2017. USF limited Upper Iowa to 33.3 percent shooting from the field on 21-of-63 shooting. In addition, the Cougars held UIU to 3-of-20 from three point range or 15 percent. Leading the Cougars offensively was Mack Johnson, who had 19 points and six rebounds to go with three assists. On Dec. 3, 2016, UIU took a home 78-76 decision over USF despite 22 points by Guebert. USF, which trailed 41-38 at halftime, drew within 74-73 with 34 seconds to play, and had opportunities to tie or take the lead in the final three minutes but couldn't get the shots to drop. The series dates to a 100-94 win by Upper Iowa in 1965-66. The Cougars recorded its first win over the Peacocks in 2005 with a 74-56 decision. In 2015- 16, UIU and USF won on each other's home floor. With Mack Johnson scoring a career high 39 points, USF defeated Upper Iowa, 85-79 on Dec. 5, 2015 in Fayette, Iowa.  The Peacocks returned the favor with an 81-68 decision on Jan. 9 at the Stewart Center. USF had 15 points from Drew Guebert and 14 from Kebu Johnson. UIU was led by Carson Parker with 23.  The Peacocks won twice in 2012-13 with a 71-62 win in Fayette on Jan. 4, 2013 and an 82-74 decision on Jan. 26, 2013 at the Stewart Center. In the 2013-14 season, USF defeated Upper Iowa, 84-78 at the Stewart Center on Jan. 17, 2014. Earlier in the season, Upper Iowa took a 96-87 win over the Cougars in Fayette on Dec. 14, 2013. The Peacocks recorded a 82-66 win over USF on Dec. 5, 2014 at the Stewart Center and a 100-87 verdict in Fayette, Iowa on Jan. 10, 2015.  

USF trails Winona State, 7-6 in all-time series
USF will play Winona State for the 14th time on Saturday, Jan. 26, dating to an 84-66 win by the Warriors in the 1969-70 season. The Cougars have won four of the last five games. On Dec. 1,  2017 at the Stewart Center, USF received 23 points from Drew Guebert and 17 from Zach Wessels in an 80-64 victory over Winona State. On Jan. 6, 2018, the Cougars had 31 points from Drew Guebert but suffered a 72-70 setback in Winona, Minn.  A year ago, the Cougars defeated Winona State, 90-81 in Winona on Dec. 2, 2016. USF also picked up a 58-55 home win over  Winona State on Jan. 7, 2017. In the 90-81 win, Mack Johnson had 23 points, including six three-pointers, and Drew Guebert, added 21 with three treys. USF, which also had 18 points from Zach Wessels (6-of-8 from the floor), led 35-29 at halftime before shooting 57.1 percent (16-of-28) in the second half in outscoring the  Warriors, 55-52, to take the win. Kyle Baumann had 22 points and Riley Bambenek, 20, for WSU, which made 20-of-33 shots in the second half for 60 percent . In the second game at the Stewart Center, USF, led by 13 points from Clint Thomas, built a 13-point lead in the second half and held off a rally by the Warriors in the final six minutes. USF led, 35-29, at halftime but were outscored, 26-23 in the second half. Drew Guebert added eight points and 12 rebounds. Conner Flack had 14 and Corey Jeffs, 13, to lead the Warriors.  The Warriors pulled within two points late, including 55-53 with a minute to play. However, M. Johnson, who had 10 points, converted a driving jumper and then hit a free throw with 17 seconds left to give USF a 58-55 lead. WSU put up two late three point attempts from Corey Jeffs and Riley Bambanek, but the shots did not fall as the Cougars swept WSU in the season series. WSU defeated USF, 80-69 on Dec. 5, 2015. USF returned the favor with an 83-78 decision at the Stewart Center on Jan. 8, 2016. In Winona, Mack Johnson had 28 points, hitting 4-of-8 from three point range, but WSU shot 28-of-52 from the field to 45.1 percent for USF (23-of-51). Kyle Bauman had 20 points, hitting 8-of-12 shots, while Mark Blaylock provided 15 points for WSU. In the win in Sioux Falls, the Cougars had four players scoring in double digits with M. Johnson scoring 23 while Drew Guebert had 15 and Daniel Hurtt 11.  On Jan. 9, 2015, Winona recorded a 79-64 victory as Corey Jeffs had 29 points, including 7-of-8 from three point range. In the matchup in Sioux Falls, the Cougars took a 76-54 decision at the Stewart Center on Dec. 6, 2014. Mack Johnson scored 19. USF hit 24-of-42 shots for 57.1 percent, including 9-of-17 from three point range. The win was USF's second straight over WSU, taking a 76-69 win on Jan. 18, 2014 as Charles Ward scored 17. In the first meeting of the 2013-14 season, Winona State recorded a 90-65 decision at Winona. In 2012-13, Winona State defeated USF twice, taking a 76-61 win at the McCown Gym on Jan. 15, 2013 and a 73-63 win on Jan. 25, 2013 at the Stewart Center.

Cougars rank fourth in NSIC in scoring defense  
USF enters play this weekend ranking fourth in the NSIC with 79.4 points per game. The Cougars are fourth in defensive scoring at 69.5 points per game, which places USF third in scoring margin at 9.5 ppg. A lot of USF's success has coming from not only explosiveness on offense but a defense that has shutdown offenses. USF ranks first in the NSIC in field goal defense at 40.2 points per game. Another key factor to their success is a rebounding edge against every opponent. That margin has enabled USF to lead the league at 43.4 per game and a margin of 11.4  which is also the best in the league and third in NCAA DII. Also at a national level, USF is 12th in defense rebounds (29.78 per game) and 22nd in offensive boards (13.61 per game).   

Evans ranks 8th in DII in scoring
All-league guard Trevon Evans, who has earned two NSIC South Division Player of the Week honors this year and five in his career, continued his outstanding play by averaging 29.0 points and 4.3 rebounds as USF split games last weekend. Evans, who is averaging 25.3 (3rd, NSIC), also ranks sixth in total points in DII with 433. Evans, who named this week to the Bevo Francis Award Watch list, last week has gone past 1,000 points for his career and sits at 1,044. The Bevo Francis watch list includes the top 100 players in small college basketball. Evans, who was the NSIC South POW on Jan. 14, has 18 straight double-digit scoring games and 22 dating to last year. The Wichita, Kan., senior guard has 13, 20-point games this season with 44 career double digit score games in 47 played. He is also averaging 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.2 steals with 57 made three-pointers (3.2 per game, 2nd in the NSIC). He has scored 26 points or better in seven of the last nine games. A year ago, Evans was the NSIC Newcomer of the Year while also gaining all-league accolades.   

Guebert has moved up to 4th in all-time scoring    
Guebert, who was named second team All-NSIC a year ago, has played in 110 games, including 93 starts, and has moved up to fourth in career scoring at USF with 1,750 points. Guebert, who is averaging 19.2 points per game for sixth in the NSIC, needs 60 points to move past Tony Overbaugh for third all-time at USF. Overbaugh scoring 1,809 points from 1987-91. USF's all-time scoring leader is Gayle Hoover, who had 2,169 points from 1954-58. Ron Krayl, who is the only USF player drafted in the NBA or now defunct ABA had 2,029 from 1964-68. At USD, Krayl was a two-time NAIA All-America selection. He was selected by the Dallas Chapparals in the third round of the 1968 American Basketball Association (ABA) draft. After serving in the United States Army, Krayl was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1971 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft.
 
Guebert is also USF's career three-point leader with 245. Interestingly, his twin sister Madison Guebert, a two-time All-Summit league honoree, is the career three-point leader at South Dakota State with 324 three-pointers and has 1,603 points. As such, the twins have a combined 569 made three-pointers and  3,354 points. Adding in their mother's Melissa Olson Guebert's career point total of 2,001, which is the all-time point mark at Augustana, and the 332 points scored by their dad Dan Guebert, who also played (two years - 1985-1987) at Augustana, the Guebert family has collected  have 5,687 points between mom, dad, son and daughter. Melissa Olson Guebert , a 1987 graduate of Augustana, was a three-time All-North Central Conference selection, Academic All-American and Augustana Sports Hall of Fame inductee. When she played the three-point shot was not yet in existence. Dan Guebert was a guard at Augustana from 1985-1987. Also of note, a younger sister, Maci, is headed to USD. So yes, the Guebert family has had quite an impact in basketball in the region.

As for USF's Guebert, Drew now has 83 games in double-digit points. Guebert ranks 15th in career points in NSIC play with 1,224.   

NSIC All-time Leading Scorers
1. Gage Davis, SCSU (2016-), 1,542 (2016-)
2. Daniel Jansen, AU (2012-16), 1,521
3. Tyler Rudolph, Minot St. (2015-18), 1,494
4. Cameron McCaffery, AU (2009-13), 1,455
5. Cody Schilling, AU (2008-12), 1,394
6. Joe Hasz, Minn. Crook. (1999-03), 1,389
7. Casey Schilling, AU (2012-16), 1,347
8. Scottie Stone, SCSU (2014-17), 1,336
9. Harrison Cleary, Minn. Crook. (2017-), 1,331
10. Dan Hagen, SCSU (1977-81), 1,329
11. Brett Ervin, UMD (2010-13, 14-15), 1,291
12. Ryan Bruggeman, SMSU (2016-), 1,252
13. Terez Van Pelt, CSP (2011-15), 1,247
14. Ryan Rasmussen, UMD (2009-12), 1,244
15. Drew Guebert, USF (2016-), 1,224
 
Breaking Down Games won by USF -
The Cougars have averaged 81.6 points per game in the 13 games won this year. In those games, USF has a 45.3-to-33.1 rebound average and have outshot opponents, 45.3 percent to 37.0 percent from the field. USF also has more blocks (52-to-43), steals (88-to-74) and offensive rebounds (178-to-126).  The Cougars have outscored opponents in the games won by 15.1 points. In the first half, USF has a 495-to-369 margin with a 552-to-485 margin in second half and 14-to-11 advantage in overtime. Trevon Evans is averaging 24.1 points per game and shooting 41.6 percent from three-point range in USF's wins. Drew Guebert is scoring 18.2 points and grabbing 6.3 rebounds per contest .