SIOUX FALLS – After a 1-1 start at the Central Region Challenge, the University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team returns home to host Dakota State (2-7) in their home opener on Saturday (Nov. 16) at 7 pm at the Stewart Center. The game will be streamed live with veteran Tom Frederick on the call. Click here to watch the game or follow on live stats.
 
The Cougars, directed by the all-time wins leader Chris Johnson (196 wins at USF), will play DSU in a nonconference match up on a busy day at the Stewart Center. USF Volleyball will begin the day at noon followed by two women's basketball games as part of the USF Classic at 3 and 5 p.m. with the USF-DSU game concluding the action at 7 pm.
 
USF is 1-1 after defeating Lincoln University, 64-63, as Austin Slater had a career-high 22 points on Nov. 8. They also took a 62-55 loss to Pittsburgh State on Nov. 9 at the Central Region Challenge.
 
Breaking down USF through two games
 
Leading the way for USF is junior forward Austin Slater who is averaging 18.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He has reached double digits in successive games (22, 14) and is hitting 7-of-11 shots from the field for 63.6 percent while hitting 20-of-24 free for 83.3 percent. Also starring in the first two games for USF is Teathloach Pal, a junior forward who has back-to-back double doubles and now has seven in his career. He is averaging 12.5 points and 15.0 rebounds per game. Pal had a career-high 17 boards against Pitt State. Sophomore guard Chase Grinde is also reaching double digits for USF with 10.0 points per game while adding 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
 
As a team, USF is averaging 59.5 points and allowing 62.5 per game. The Cougars own a 37.0-to-34.5 rebound edge and have 119 total points with 55-to-51 first half edge but have been outscored 74-to-64 in the second half. To this point, USF is shooting 38.4 percent (38-of-99) from the field and just 8-of-38 from three-point range for 21.1 percent. They have been solid at the line with a 72.9 percent mark on 35-of-48 free throw conversions. Defensively, they have held opponents to 35.2 percent (38-of-108) from the field  and 36 percent from three on 18-of-50 shooting.
 
About Dakota State
Dakota State, which is coming off a 101-63 win over Trinity Bible College, has opened the season 2-7. DSU is led by 11^th year head coach Gary Garner, who has 156 career wins.He guided the Trojans to back-to-back North Star Athletic Assocaition regular season co-championships and a national NAIA tourney bid from 2014-16. Forward Josh McGreal leads DSU with 17 points per game. Heh as reached double digits in eight of nine games with a season high 27 in the  win over TBC. He is 12-of-28 from three-point range on the season and hitting 55 percent from the field. Gare Ewefada, a 6-2 guard, is averaging 11 points and has knocked in 11 threes. They are averaging 72.6 points and allowing 78.3 points per game. DSU has made 79 threes while hoisting 197 shots in their nine games.
 
Cougars picked to finish fourth in the NSIC South
USF has been picked to finish fourth in the South Division and tied for 10th overall in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, according to the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll released earlier this fall. The Cougars, directed by head coach and the program's all-time wins leader Chris Johnson (212 career wins and 196 victories at USF), officially opened practice on Oct. 15. USF, which returns three starters & seven letter winners, finished 19-11 over and 13-9 in league play as they advanced to the NSIC Quarterfinals for a fourth straight year.

Minnesota State was selected by the league coaches as the preseason favorites in the NSIC for the 2019-20 season. The Mavericks received 214 points with seven first place votes and six points ahead of Augustana with 208 points and six first place votes. Minnesota Duluth was third with 196 points and three first place votes. USF was 10th overall, and tied with Wayne State for 10th with 96 points. In the South Division, USF was fourth with 25 points. They sit behind favorite MSU, 47 points, five first place votes; Augustana, 44 points, three first place votes and Winona State with 37 points.
 
Recap – USF goes 1-1 at Central Region Challenge in KC –
 
Cougars edge Lincoln, 64-64: With a career-high 22 points from Austin Slater and Teathloach Pal's sixth career double (13 points, 13 rebounds), the University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team successfully opened the season with a dramatic 64-63 come-from-behind win over Lincoln University in nonconference play at the Central Region Challenge at the Municipal Auditorium. The Cougars trailed by 10 points in the first half (16-6, 9:54, 1^st half), but rallied to within a point at halftime (29-28) and then outscored LU, 36-34, in the second half to record the win. USF, which led 62-57 with 1:50 to play, received a pair of free throws from Slater with under five seconds to play to ice the game (64-60). Slater, a junior forward who made a career-best 16-of-20 free throws, hit 3-of-5 field goals and grabbed eight rebounds with three assists and a steal in 29 minutes. In his 32 minutes on the floor, junior forward Teathloach Pal had 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 at the foul line while grabbing 13 rebounds for his fifth career double double. In addition, Pal had two assists, two blocks and a steal. Sophomore guard Chase Grinde added eight points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals before fouling out. Freshman guard Jack Thompson, who gave USF its first second half lead with a three-ball, added eight points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor. Thompson knocked down both of his three-point field goals. USF hit 18-of-48 field goals for 37.5 percent but converted 10-of-24 in the second half for 41.7 percent. The Cougars struggled from three-point range on 4-of-21 shooting for 19 percent. However, the Cougars had a solid performance at the foul line by hitting 24-of-31 for 77.4 percent. One of the nation's top rebounding units a year ago, USF outboarded Lincoln, 38-37. While USF committed 14 turnovers, they forced 13 by Lincoln and held the Blue Tigers to 32.1 percent shooting (18-of-56) from the floor. LU was just 8-of-29 for 27.6 percent in the second half when USF's defense came through. At the three-point line, LU was 8-of-27 for 29.6 percent and 19-of-24 at the foul line for 79.2 percent.
 
Coo fall to Pitt State, 62-55: Despite Teathloach Pal's seventh career double double (12 points, 17 rebounds), USF dropped a 62-55 nonconference decision to Pittsburg State (1-1) at the Central Region Challenge at Municipal Auditorium. Pal scored 12 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds. A junior forward, Pal has opened the 2019-20 season with back-to-back double doubles and has seven in his career. USF was led in scoring for a second straight night by junior forward Austin Slater, who had 14 points and five rebounds before fouling out. He hit 4-of-6 field goals and 2-of-3 from three-point range. Sophomore guard Chase Grinde supplied 12 points and five rebounds while senior Devin Green had 10 points and three rebounds. For the second straight night, USF had a rebounding advantage as they had 36 boards to 32 for Pitt State. USF made 20-of-51 field goals for 39.2 percent but converted just 4-of-17 shots from three-point range for 23.5 percent. That proved to be a big difference as Pitt State knocked in 10-of-23 for 43.5 percent from three-point range. In that three-point breakdown, they were 7-of-15 for 47 percent in the second half.  Overall PSU was 20-of-52 for 38.5 percent and 12-of-17 at the foul line. The Cougars, which trailed by eight points with 8:22 to play, made 11-of-17 free throws for 64.7 percent.USF held a 27-22 lead at halftime and led by as many as 13 points (20-7, 7:15; 22-9, 6:38, 1^st half) in the opening half. However, Pitt State outscored USF, 40-28 in the second half to grab a 62-55 win in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. PSU opened the second half on fire and erased USF's five-point lead. They hit three-straight three pointers for a 39-37 lead with 11:32 to play. Then, the Gorillas strung together an 8-2 run for a 45-37 lead at the 8:22 mark.  After trailing PSU 53-45 with 5:31 to play, the Cougars made a run and cut the deficit to 53-51 with three minutes left after Grinde converted two foul shots as part of a 6-0 run. At the 1:51 mark, Troy Houghton, who had five points, converted a layup as USF trailed just 54-53. But PSU closed on an 8-2 run, as they made six free throws to stop USF's rally.