SIOUX FALLS -- The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (10-4, 5-3 NSIC), which has won two straight league games, will face a major road test as they travel to face NSIC South Division leaders Minnesota State (11-3, 7-1 NSIC) at 7:30 p.m., on Friday, Jan .11. On Saturday, USF will meet Concordia St. Paul (6-8, 1-7 NSIC) on Saturday, Jan. 12 with game time set for 5:30 p.m.  

At Stake
There is certainly a lot at stake this coming weekend for USF, which trails MSU by two games in the South Division standings. USF is 5-3 while MSU is 7-1. Early this season the Cougars dropped a heartbreaking 87-84 overtime decision to the Mavericks. In that game at the Stewart Center, USF received 21 points from Trevon Evans, who also had three assists and two steals while Drew Guebert provided a double double of 27 points and 10 rebounds. Evans made a game-tying three to force overtime but MSU outscored USF, 12-9, in the extra session to take the victory. Carlos Anderson scored 30 points to lead MSU.

Breaking down opponents - Minnesota State and CSP
Since meeting USF on Dec. 8, MSU has gone 5-1 in league play and sit at the top of the South Division at 7-1. The Cougars have a 4-2 mark since facing MSU.

The Mavericks, which begin a four-game home stand with USF on Friday, recorded an 82-76 win over Minot State and an 90-83 win over U-Mary in road wins last weekend.  MSU, which averages 85.2 points while allowing 75.5 points per game, have made 46.7 percent from the field.  They are led by Cameron Kirksey with 17.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while Carlos Anderson provides 15.6 points and 6.4 rebounds.

CSP, who will matchup with Southwest Minnesota State on Friday night, enter the game a 6-8 overall and 1-7 in the NSIC South. In the last matchup with USF, the Cougars had 16 points and 15 rebounds from Justin Taylor along with 28 points from Drew Guebert and 23 from Trevon Evans in a 91-81 victory at the Stewart Center. CSP, which also opens a four-game home set this weekend, had a 1-1 split last weekend on the road. They defeated U-Mary, 66-61, before falling at Minot State, 88-75.

USF swept Augie and WSC last weekend   
Last weekend, USF used the play of NSIC Player of the Week Trevon Evans to defeat Wayne State, 77-71; and city rival Augustana, 77-73. Evans scored 16 points, including six in the final 31 seconds in the win over Wayne State at the Stewart Center. In that game, USF led by as many as 16 points before WSC rallied late to tie the game. Against WSC, Drew Guebert had 23 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double double of his career. Against Augustana, Evans scored 33 points, including six in the final two minutes, to lift the Cougars to a win over their city rivals and even the all-time series at 36-36 with a fourth victory in five outings with the Vikings. Guebert had 16 points but played only 21 minutes due to foul trouble.

USF trails MSU, 17-3 in series
 In their most recent contest on Dec. 8, USF dropped an 87-84 overtime decision to MSU at the Stewart Center. USF was led by Drew Guebert with 27 points and 10 rebounds and Trevon Evans with 21 points. Carlos Anderson had 30 points to lead MSU. 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. USF took 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.  

USF leads CSP, 17-3, all-time in series
Against the Golden Bears, USF has a 16-6 overall mark with five straight wins. The last USF loss to CSP was a 78-63 decision in St. Paul on Feb. 20, 2016. In their most recent game matchup against the Golden Bears on Dec. 7, Drew Guebert had 28 and seven rebounds, Trevon Evans added 23 points and six rebounds while Justin Taylor had career-bests of 16 points and 15 rebounds in a 91-81 win at the Stewart Center. Trevon Evans led USF with 35 points and Pal Teathloach added 10 points on 62.5 percent shooting in a 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.  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.

Cougars rank sixth in NSIC in scoring and second in scoring defense  
USF enters play this weekend ranking sixth in the NSIC with 79.6 points per game. The Cougars are ninth in defensive scoring at 71.6 points per game, which places USF sixth in scoring margin at 8.0 ppg. USF has been strong on defense as their second place ranking in field goal defense attests. They hold opponents to 41.3 percent per game. The Cougars have also limited foes to just 34.4 percent from three-point distance. The Cougars are the league's top rebounding squad at 43.3 per game with a league-best rebound margin of 12.0.

Evans named NSIC Player of the Week; ranks second in league in scoring
Through 14 games, senior All-NSIC guard Trevon Evans ranks second in the NSIC in scoring at 22.8 points per game while All-NSIC forward Drew Guebert is sixth in the NSIC in scoring at 20.4 ppg.  Evans scored a combined 49 points with 10 rebounds and scored six points in the final two minutes in each of wins over Wayne State (77-71) and Augustana (77-73) on Jan. 4-5 at the Stewart Center. The senior guard from Wichita, Kan., has started this year as he finished a year ago. He has 14 games in double digit points (15, 26, 19, 28, 22, 19, 23, 23, 21, 26, 18, 29, 16, 33) and eight of his last 11 games with 20 points or more. He has 18 straight double digit scoring games dating to a year ago and now has 40 double digit scoring games. He recorded his 25th game of 20 points and seventh 30 point game with his 33 points against Augustana. He also increased his career scoring total to 930.  

Guebert has moved up to sixth in all-time scoring at USF; 18th in NSIC all-time  
Guebert, who was named second team All-NSIC a year ago, has played in 106 games, including 89 starts, and has moved up to sixth in career scoring at USF with 1,690 points. Guebert, who is averaging 20.4 points per game, needs seven points to move into fifth all-time (Todd Kelsey, 1,696 points, 1977-81) and nine points to rise to fourth in school history (Matt Malloy, 1,698, 2007-11). With 10 points, he will become just the fourth player in school history points to reach the 1,700 point mark. Each of those players 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 hit seven 3's last weekend to move into first in school history with 234 career three pointers. He passed former USF teammate Mack Johnson (2013-17), who now ranks second with 232. Guebert, who ranks 11th in the NSIC with 6.7 rebounds per game, has 80 double-digit scoring games with 35 games of 20 points or more and five games over 30.  In addition, Guebert has moved to 18th in career scoring in NSIC games with 1,162 points.'

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. Dan Hagen, SCSU (1977-81), 1,329
10. Brett Ervin, UMD (2010-13, 14-15), 1,291
11. Terez Van Pelt, CSP (2011-15), 1,247
12. Ryan Rasmussen, UMD (2009-12), 1,244
13. Harrison Cleary, Minn. Crook. (2017-), 1,237
14. Clayton Vette, Winona St. (2008-13), 1,210
15. Craig Heiman, CSP (2006-10), 1,206
16. Larry Grimes, Mich. Tech (1968-72), 1,167
17. Jordan Miller, SMSU (2009-13), 1,164
18. Drew Guebert, USF (2016-), 1,162
19. Assem Marei, MSU (2012-15), 1,148
19. Eric Erdman, U-Mary (2006-11), 1,148
21. Ryan Bruggeman, SMSU (2016-), 1,141

Breaking Down Games won by USF
The Cougars have averaged 81.5 points per game in the 10 games won this year. In those games, USF has a 45.1-to-32.1 rebound average and have outshot opponents, 45.7 percent to 38.9 percent from the field. USF also has more blocks (41-to-28), steals (67-to-58) and offensive rebounds (142-to-96).  The Cougars have outscored opponents in the games won by 13.2 points. In the first half of those games, USF has a 389-to-287 margin with a 412-to-385 margin in second half and 14-to-11 advantage in overtime. Trevon Evans is averaging 23.1 points per game and shooting 40 percent from three-point range in USF's wins. Drew Guebert is scoring 19.7 points per game with 6.7 rebounds per contest in those games. Milan Surlic is averaging 10.0 points per game in the USF wins.

Breaking Down USF - 1st H to 2nd H
In the first half this season, USF has a 6.6 point margin over opponents (36.8-to-30.2). With those totals, USF has a 10-1 overall record when leading at halftime. The Cougars, which are led by Guebert with 9.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of play, have hit 43.5 percent from the floor and 36.1 percent from three point range. USF also has a 22.3-to-15.4 margin. Trevon Evans is averaging 9.0 points, 2.1 rebounds  while Justin Taylor has provided 4.8 points and 3.6 rebounds during the first half of games.

In the second half of games this season, USF has a 41.1-to-39.7 scoring margin. The Cougars have had 13.4 points and 2.3 rebounds from Evans and 10.6 points and 3.1 rebounds from Guebert during second half play. USF owns a 20.1-to-15.2 rebounding edge and have outshot opponents, 46.9 percent to 45.7 percent from the field. However, opponents have a 59-to-49 edge in made threes while USF owns a 135-to-119 made free margin.  USF has averaged 6.1 turnovers in the second half with opponents at 5.2.