SIOUX FALLS -- The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (15-7, 10-6 NSIC), will face a road test with games at North Division leader Northern State (17-5, 13-3 NSIC) at 7:30 p.m., Friday (Feb. 8) at the Barnett Center in Aberdeen, S.D., and a matchup with MSU Moorhead (16-6, 10-6 NSIC) at Nemzek Arena in Moorhead on Saturday at 6 p.m., in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference cross-division action.

The USF-Northern State game will be broadcast on KWSN-Radio with Tom Frederick on the call and live stats will be available. The live video stream will also be available for fans. Additionally, Midco Sports is broadcasting the USF-NSU game live with David Brown on the call.

On Feb. 1-2, the Cougars split a pair of home games with a 76-73 loss to Bemidji State and a 82-74 win over Minnesota Crookston. Senior forward Drew Guebert led the way for the Cougars with 24.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He had 22 in the loss to BSU and 27 as the Cougars turned back the Golden Eagles at the Stewart Center. In the loss to BSU, Guebert had 22 points, six rebounds, two steals and a block. Against UMC, Guebert hit 7-of-14 field goals, including 4-of-5 from three-point range and 9-of-10 free throws as the Cougars picked up with 10th league win of the season. At home, USF is 6-4 overall and 5-2 in road games.

Reviewing opponents

Northern State, which leads the NSIC North with a 13-3 mark in league play and 17-5 overall, took a 90-79 at Concordia-St. Paul on Feb. 1 and an 88-80 victory over Minnesota State in Mankato on Feb. 2 NSU, which has gone 3-2 over the past five games, lost at home to Wayne State on Jan. 19.  NSU, which ranks eighth in the NSIC in scoring, is the league's top team in defensive scoring at 68.7 points allowed per game. The Wolves, which ranks second in the league in rebound margin at 7.6. They are an outstanding shooting team as they hit 49.2 percent from the field and ranks first in the league with a 41.8 three-point percentage. The Wolves averaged 8.8 threes per game and lead the NSIC with 15.2 assists per game. Ian Smith leads the team with 13.9 points and adds 5.7 rebounds per game while Justin Decker is putting up 11.7 ppg and 4.4 rebounds per game. Bo Fries also averaged double digits with 10.0 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game.

MSUM, which split a pair of road games last weekend, is one of the league's top scoring teams. The Dragons averaged a league-high 87.2 points per game with 11 games of 90 points or more and four games over 100 points - all wins. MSU, which is averaging 8.5 threes per game, rank third in the NSIC in three-point field goal percentage at 41.4 percent and also sit first in field goal percentage at 51.4 percent. They  are led by Addison Park, a forward who comes off the bench, at 115.8 points per game. Gavin Baumgartner is providing 15.8 points per game and 4.8 rebounds while Travaun Coad added 14.5 ppg and Johnny Beeninga at 12.0 ppg.  The Dragons lost at Minnesota State, 88-87, with 25 points from Park but lost when Beeninga's shot at the end was offline as they lost a close one.  On Feb. 2, they defeated Concordia-St. Paul on the road as Bryce Irsfeld had 26 points.

At Stake
After a 1-1 home stand, the Cougars certainly have a lot at stake as the league schedule has wound down to six remaining games. At 10-6 in the South, USF sits just a game behind Minnesota State at 11-5 for second place. Wayne State leads the South at 12-4.

USF trails NSU in series
USF trails NSU, 59-20 in a series that dates to the 1927-28 season when the Cougars won the first meeting ,20-18. The Wolves recorded their first win in the series with a 31-22 decision in 1930-31. NSU has won eight straight in the series, including a 97-75 loss at NSU on  Jan. 26, 2018 when Trevon Evans had a career high 42 points. With a late 15-0 run in the first half, NSU built a 46-33 advantage over the Cougars. The Wolves also had the edge in the second half, 51-42, to take the 22-point decision. USF led just once on Guebert's three to open the game. Two years ago at USF, NSU won a dramatic 86-84 decision.  After Mack Johnson, who had 18 points, converted a lay-up with 10 seconds to play, Mack Arvidson hit a three-pointer as the clock expired to give NSU the victory.  USF, which had a 35-23 advantage at halftime, led by as many  as 18 points early in the second half before the Wolves rallied. USF's last win over NSU was a 71-70 decision at Wachs Arena on Nov. 23, 2002. Adam Burnison scored 24 points while Brett Moody added 14. Jared Obering led NSU with 19.

USF trails MSU Moorhead, 8-3 in all-time series
 Trevon Evans, who had a double of 29 points and 10 rebounds, knocked down a dramatic three-pointer with less than a second to play as USF rallied in the last five minutes to pick up a 70-67 win over MSUM at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse before 983 in attendance on Jan. 27, 2018. Prior to that USF win, MSUM had won three straight in the series. The Dragons lead the series, 8-3, overall. In the first matchup, held in the 1975-76 season, MSUM defeated the Cougars, 75-66. USF's first win was a 73-70 win in 1976-77.  Prior to last year, USF's previous win was a 92-70 decision on Jan. 3, 2014. Five players scored in double digits, including Charles Ward with 21 points and eight rebounds. Mahlon Jones had 17 and Derek Brown, 15.  USF shot  50.9 percent from the floor and held a 39-35 rebound edge. Prescott Williams had 12 points and Jordan Riewer, 11, for the Dragons. Two years ago, MSUM built a 42-22 lead at halftime en route to an 84-59 win at the Stewart Center on Jan. 28, 2017. Jon Doss had 18 points for MSUM, including four of the Dragons' 12 3's on the night. Addison Park added 13 for MSUM. USF, which was outrebounded, 40-28, was led by 11 points from Drew Guebert, Zach Wessels and Daniel Hurtt.  

Cougars rank second in NCAA DII in rebound margin
USF, which has outrebounded 21-of-22 opponents this year and leads the NSIC at 42.2 boards per game, is ranked first in the NSIC and second in NCAA DII in rebound margin at 10.8. The Cougars enter play this weekend also ranking 10th in DII in total rebounds with 928 and eighth in rebounds per game at 42.18. USF is 30th nationally in offensive boards at 13.14 per game. USF ranks fifth in the NSIC in all those rebound categories. USF, which sits fifth in scoring defense at 71.0 ppg, ranks first in the NSIC in field goal defense at 40.8 percent and third in three-point field goal percentage at 34.7 percent. The Cougars are sixth in scoring at 79.2 points per game, which places USF third in scoring margin at 8.3 ppg.  

Evans ranks 16th 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,  is averaging  22.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.73 assists per game. In NSIC play,  he  22.6 (3rd, NSIC), also ranks 14th in total points in DII with 491. He has been named to the Bevo Francis Award Watch list, has 1,102 career points. 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 22 straight double-digit scoring games in 2018-19 and 26 dating to last year. The Wichita, Kan., senior guard has 13, 20-point games this season with 48 career double digit score games in 51 played. He is also averaging 1.14 steals with 65 made three-pointers (2.99 per game, 2nd in the NSIC). He has scored 26 points or better in seven of the last 13 games. A year ago, Evans was the NSIC Newcomer of the Year while also gaining all-league accolades.  He was named the NSIC South Division Co-Preseason Player of the Year.  Evans will try to become the 26th USF player in school history with 500 points in a season. Evans, who had 611 a year ago for 12th all-time, needs nine (491) to reach 5K. His teammate, Drew Guebert, who had 596 points for 15th all-time in a season in 2017-18, needs 56 points (444) to reach 500 for a season. With 65 threes this year, he is just two behind his total of a year ago and eight away from moving into seventh for a season at USF (Mack Johnson, 2015-16; Nathan Unruh, 1995-96, 72).

Guebert & Evans first USF DII duo over 1K at same time
Guebert and Evans are the first duo to reach 1,000 points for a career as teammates in USF's DII era. With Guebert at 1,848 and Evans at 1,102 ,the two have a combined 2,950 points.

Guebert has moved up to 3rd in all-time scoring    
Guebert, who was named second team All-NSIC a year ago, has played in 114 games, including 97 starts (56 straight), and has moved up to fourth in career scoring at USF with 1,848 points. Guebert, who is averaging 20.2 points per game for sixth in the NSIC, is looking to become the third USF player ever at 1,900 career points. He needs 52 to reach that mark. 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. Guebert sits 181 points from second all-time at USF. At USF, 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 252. Interestingly, his twin sister Madison Guebert, a two-time All-Summit league honoree, is the career three-point leader at South Dakota State with 336 three-pointers and has 1,650 points. As such, the twins have a combined 588 made three-pointers and  3,498 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 5,831points 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 87 games in double-digit points. Guebert ranks 11th in career points in NSIC play with 1,273  . To more into the top 12th with 1,320 points in league play.   He is 17th points from points into 10th on the NSIC career list and ahead of both Dan Hagen, SCSU with 1,329 from 1977-81 and Scottie Stone of SCSU, who had 1,336 points from 2014-17. With 28 points, Guebert can moved up to ninth and ahead of Casey Schilling of Augustana, who had 1,347 points from 2012-16.

NSIC All-time Leading Scorers
1. Gage Davis, SCSU (2016-), 1,751(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. Harrison Cleary, UMC, (2017-), 1,390
7. Joe Hasz, Minn. Crook. (1999-03), 1,389
8. Ryan Bruggeman, SMSU (2016-), 1,371
9. Casey Schilling, AU (2012-16), 1,347
10. Scottie Stone, SCSU (2014-17), 1,336
11. Dan Hagen, SCSU (1977-81), 1,329
12. Drew Guebert, USF (2016-), 1,320
13. Brett Ervin, UMD (2010-13, 14-15), 1,291
14. Terez Van Pelt, CSP (2011-15), 1,247
15. Ryan Rasmussen, UMD (2009-12), 1,244
 
Breaking Down Games won by USF
The Cougars have averaged 81.6 points per game in the 15 games won this year. In those games, USF has a 44.5-to-32.3 rebound average and have outshot opponents, 45.6 percent to 37.7 percent from the field. USF also has more blocks (65-to-45), steals (102-to-89) and offensive rebounds (204-to-141).  The Cougars have outscored opponents in the games won by 14.2 points. In the first half, USF has a 38.4-to-29.0 ppg margin with a 42.3-to-37.7 margin in second half. Trevon Evans is averaging 22.5 points per game and shooting 41.2 percent from three-point range in USF's wins. Drew Guebert is scoring 19.3 points, grabbing 5.9 rebounds and shooting 44.6 percent from three.

Houghton & Grinde making impression
Freshman Troy Houghton, who has made two straight starts, set career highs with nine points, five rebounds and four steals in USF's 82-74 win over Minnesota Crookston. Houghton is averaging 2.0 ppg and 1.5 rebounds this year. After playing 135 minutes total over the first 20 games, Houghton has played 35 in the past two games. He hit a career-best 4-of-7 field goals in win over UMC.  Grinde, who has made 13 straight starts in his redshirt freshman season, is averaging 7.2 ppg and 4.6 rebounds while hitting 51.6 percent from the floor. He has five double-digit scoring games with a career-high 22 against Winona State on Jan. 26.