MARSHALL, Minn. – Freshman guard Jack Thompson scored 18 points to lead four players in double-digits as the University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (9-3, 5-1 NSIC South, 1st) remained in first place in the NSIC South after a convincing 84-69 road Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win over Southwest Minnesota State (4-8, 1-5 NSIC) on Saturday (Dec. 21) at the R/A Facility. 

With the double-digit victory, USF sits 5-1 in the NSIC and tied at the top of the South Division with city rival Augustana. USF and Augie will play on Jan. 4 at 5:30 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon. It will be the second of two NSIC games that weekend following the Christmas holiday break. The Cougars will travel to face Wayne State at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 3 at Rice Auditorium in Wayne, Neb.

USF, which has won 5-of-6 games, is now 9-3 overall. For the first time ever, USF swept SMSU in a season series. Since the two teams have been playing in the NSIC, the series is tied at 8-8 while SMSU holds the overall lead at 21-14 after USF's second straight win at Marshall, Minn. After a tight first half, USF had an 11-0 run midway through the second half to gain a six-point advantage (48-42, 13:20, 2nd half) and never relinquished the lead. 

"The 11-0 run in the second half was key to the victory," said USF Head Coach Chris Johnson, who earned his 204th career win as USF ended the month of December with a 4-1 mark. "Jack (Thompson) was pretty good tonight. In the first half both he and Devin (Green) made big shots and important plays to either keep us close or in the lead. I thought Jack and Devin played their best games of the year. We really shared it well and kept our turnovers down to a minimum, which is really important for this team. I also feel good about the performance of Troy Houghton and really every one of our guys who played," he said.

"I thought we did a great job tonight," added Johnson. "All-in-all, I am really happy with this performance. It was a really good night for our program," he said.

Thompson, a freshman guard from Eagan, Minn., is averaging 13.0 points per game in league play after scoring 18 points against SMSU. He hit 6-of-12 shots from the field and knocked in 3-of-6 from three-point range while making all three of his foul shots. In addition, he had three assists and three steals with just one turnover in playing 39 minutes. Thompson now has five career double-digit games and three in a row. In fact, Thompson has double-digit in points in all but one league game.

For the third time in four games, senior captain Devin Green has surpassed double-digit points with 15 against SMSU. He made 4-of-6 field goals, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range and 6-of-7 at the foul line. Green had seven rebounds and an assist in 20 minutes of work.

USF also had 14 points from junior forward Teathloach Pal, who made 6-of-11 field goals and added six rebounds with three assists, two steals and a block. Pal reached double-digit points for the sixth time this season and the 10th time in his career. Senior guard Milan Surlic also had 14 points – a season-high – and now has double-digit points in three of the past four games. He hit 3-of-9 shots with two of them from three-point range and was 6-of-6 from the foul line.

As for Houghton, he had nine points on 4-of-6 shooting, plus seven rebounds, an assist, steal and block.

USF, which built as much as a 16-point lead (4:28, 2nd half, 78-62), led 33-32 at halftime before outscoring SMSU, 51-to-37 in the second half. The 51 points in a half was a season-high for USF.

Interestingly, the Cougars won the game by double-digits despite being outshot from the field. SMSU hit 26-of-50 shots from the floor for 52 percent while USF was 25-of-56 for 44.6 percent. SMSU also had an edge in made threes with nine in 21 attempts while USF was 7-of-18 for 38.9 percent. Still, the seven treys were two over USF's season average.

Clearly, USF's ability to board and share the basketball played a key role. That and the fact, USF had just eight turnovers and just four until the last five minutes of the game. The Cougars outrebounded, the home-standing Mustangs, 34-25, which was the seventh time they had an edge of at least eight boards over an opponent this season.

The Cougars had 17 assists on 25 made baskets as they surpassed their season average. Add in the four blocks and 12 steals and this performance equates to what Johnson called a "solid team effort." 

SMSU, which was led by a game-high 23 points from Kenny Byers, led by as made as five points (42-37, 16:29, second half). They also had 16 points from Nick Default and 11 from Clayton McCray.

Game Recap –
Despite being outshot, 65 percent (13-of-20) to 34.4 percent (11-of-32), the Cougars held a 33-32 lead at the break. Leading the way was Thompson, who had 10 points and made a pair of threes in four attempts. Pal added eight points while Green had seven points off the bench. USF was 5-of-14 from 3-point range and made 6-of-7 free throws. They also had a 15-14 edge on the board and shared the ball with nine assists on its 11 baskets.

The Cougars had a season-low two turnovers in the opening half while SMSU had seven. The Mustangs, which had 11 points from Default and McCray, was 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

Early on, Thompson made a jumper and three as USF took an early 5-4 lead over SMSU. With neither team gaining much traction for much of the first half, USF took an 18-17 lead with 9:32 on the clock when Green hit a pair of free throws and Pal converted "and 1".  After SMSU took a 23-20 advantage, USF closed the half on a 13-9 run to take a 33-32 lead. McCray's three with four seconds left help SMSU cut the USF lead to just a point at the break.

SMSU outscored USF, 10-4 to open the second half for a 42-37 lead with 16:37 to play after a three and a jumper from Byers. USF responded with an 11-0 run, which included a pair of baskets from Houghton and both a three and a three-point play from Thompson as the Cougars built a 48-42 lead with 13:20 to play.

Later, free throws from both Austin Slater and Surlic and a jumper from Surlic gave USF a 59-48 lead with 10:00 to play.  At the 8:36 mark, Thompson's lay-up provided USF a 63-52 advantage. For the remainder of the half, SMSU attempted runs at the Cougars, which had an answer for each time.

USF, which hit 14-of-24 field goals for 58.3 percent in the second 20 minutes, was in control and allowed SMSU to crawl only with nine. The last time the Mustangs cut the lead to nine was at 6:48 after a Default three trimmed the lead to 68-59.

Later, USF had a basket from Pal, free throw from Slater and a three by Surlic to reestablish the double-digit margin at 15 points (74-59). Then, Green knocked in a jumper with 4:28 to play as USF took its largest lead of the game at 78-62 and the matter was decided.