SIOUX FALLS -- The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (15-5, 11-3 NSIC), which is off to the best start in the program's DII era, will be tested with a pair of South-North cross divisional matchups on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. USF, which leads the NSIC South by a game, will travel to Bemidji State (8-10, 5-9 NSIC) on Friday, Jan. 31 for a 7:30 pm tipoff and then head to Minnesota Crookston (9-11, 5-9 NSIC) on Saturday, Feb. 1 for a 5:30 pm start.
 
USF, which was ranked ninth in the most recent D2SIDA Central Region Poll, have won eight games in the last 10 played.  At 15-5, USF has its best start in DII program history and the best opening run in a season since  a 15-1 start in the 2006-07 season when the Cougars were in the NAIA. In 2006-07, USF advanced to the NAIA National Tournament and fell in the opening round. 
 
How to follow USF Men's BB
Follow USF Men's Basketball on twitter at @USFCooBBall. All USF's home games and NSIC contests are streamed for free through Stretch Internet 
at usfcougars.com/watch. Veteran announcer Tom Frederick will provide play-by-play for both the nonconference games on Stretch Internet and conference games at  KWSN.com. Live stats for home games are available at www.sidearmstats.com/mbball.  

With balanced scoring and stout defense and boardwork, USF is off to best league start in program DII history
With an 11-3 NSIC start, the Cougars have the best opening to the league season in the NSIC in the DII program era.

One of the keys to USF's success this season is the balanced scoring in which seven players average 5.1 points per game or more. Junior guard Chase Grinde leads USF with 11.6 points per game while junior forward Teathloach Pal is supplying 11.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Junior forward Austin Slater is adding 10.2 points and has 7.2 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Jack Thompson is averaging 9.8 points per game and has gone over 20 points three times. In league play, Grinde leads the way with 12.9 points and is totaling 5.0 boards per game. Thompson is supplying 12.1 points in league games whee  he is at 42.4 percent on threes (25-of-59). Plus, USF's board work includes ranking in the top three in the NSIC in all the rebounding categories.

Bemidji State will try to end six-game slide against USF
On Friday, USF faces a high-scoring Bemidji State team which is looking to end a six-game losing streak. Last weekend, they lost to Minot State, 74-67, and U-Mary, 78-77. Junior guard Nick Wagner led BSU in scoring with 16.5 points per game, including a game-high 23 on 8-of-12 shooting against UMary. Sophomore guard Max Bjorklund followed close behind with 15.5 points per game, including a game-high 19 against Minot State. Bjorklund also led the team with five rebounds against MiSU and went 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. Bemidji State ranks ninth in the nation and leads the NSIC shooting 41.2 percent from beyond the arc, 19th nationally with 11.1 3-point field goals per game and 20th with 28.83 defensive rebounds per game. The Beavers are one of the best teams offensively in the conference, leading the pack shooting 49.1 percent from the field, and ranking third with 81.4 points per game and 36.9 rebounds per game.
 
League's top scorer Harrison Cleary leads UMC 
On Saturday, USF will face Minnesota Crookston at 5:30 p.m., at Lysaker Gym. USF lost earlier this season to the Golden Eagles, 94-69. Led by All-League guard Harrison Cleary (27.7 ppg, 4.1 assists per game), UMC is 9-11 overall and 5-9 in league play. The Golden Bears defeated U-Mary, 71-68 but fell to Minot State, 91-68 on Jan. 24-25 Cleary, who with his Golden Eagles team play at SMSU on Friday, is closing in on Gage Davis' all-time NSIC scoring record, needing just 29 points to surpass the St. Cloud State great. Cleary needs 133 points to surpass Will Vorhees of Notre Dame College (Ohio) as NCAA Division II's highest scorer since 1992.
 
USF closes January at BSU with 6-2 mark
USF was 5-2 in November this year and 15-5 over the past three seasons. The Cougars finished  4-1 in December and 11-7 over the past three seasons. In January, the Cougars have a 6-2 record this year and stand 17-8 over the past three seasons.  

Breaking it down - USF leading NSIC in both scoring  defense and rebounding defense 
In its move to the top of the NSIC, USF has utilized stout defense and steady rebounding. While USF is averaging 70.9 points for 14th in the NSIC, they rank second in scoring defense in the league at 68.3 ppg. As a result, USF is eighth in scoring margin at 3.5 per game.  In rebounding defense, USF is first in the NSIC at 30.3 while sitting fifth in rebounding overall at 36.5 per game. The Cougars, which average 12.4 offensive boards per game for second in the NSIC, also rank second in rebounding margin at 6.3 per game. Steadily, USF has moved near the top of the league in steals per game with 6.35 (127 total) per game. The Cougars have had more steals than opponents in 14-of-20 games and recorded seven or more steals 11 times and twice has had 12 steals in a contest. USF is also seventh in blocked shots at 3.35 per game.  After a slow start this season in shooting from the field, USF has moved up to 12th in the NSIC at 44.2 percent while holding opponents to 43.4 percent for sixth in the NSIC. Also USF ranks ninth with 13.1 turnovers per game, which is an improvement of nearly one per game (.8) over the past four games. 

USF is 11-3 when leading at halftime  and 12-1 when shooting better than its opponents.  In shots inside the arc, the Cougars have made 381-of-759 for 50.9 percent. The Cougars have a season high of 43 boards in a loss at Wayne State. Twelve times USF has had a margin of six or more boards with a high of 22 against Southwest Minnesota State on Nov. 30 at the Stewart Center.  USF has won the rebound battle in 18-of-20 games, which includes each of the past seven contests. Eleven times, USF has over 70 points with a high of 87 points in an overtime win over Winona State (87-85) on Jan. 25 at the Stewart Center. When USF has scored 70 points or more, they have an 11-0 record. 

Quick Season Preview -
For the second time (2017-18) in three seasons, USF opened the NSIC season with three straight wins. Then, the Cougars split with UMD and SCSU  and registered a 84-69 road win over SMSU with a 77-65 win at Wayne State and a 65-59 decision over city rival Augustana. The Cougars completed season sweeps of Minnesota State, 71-64, and Concordia St. Paul, 74-59, at the Stewart Center earlier which gave USF an 9-1 record and they opened 8-0 in the South Division. Both were DII program best starts. Since then, USF has a 2-2 mark for 11-3 which is also the best in DII program history. The Cougars own a one-game lead over Upper Iowa in the NSIC South and rank tied for second overall in the league. 
 
In splitting four games in the last two weeks, the Cougars have an 87-85 overtime win over Winona State on Jan. 25 as Teathloach Pal scored 18 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double double of the season. Senior captain Devin Green had a career-high 18 points and hit a late three in the game which helped force overtime. USF has gone 2-0 in overtime games at home in each of the past two seasons against WSU. USF also dropped a 68-60 decision to Upper Iowa. USF also had a 59-53 win at U-Mary and dropped a 69-66 decision to Minot State on Jan. 18.

In the second win (Jan. 10) over Minnesota State, freshman guard Jack Thompson tied a career-best with 21 points to lead Cougars to the win. Devin Green, Troy Houghton and Austin Slater all scored 10 points for USF, which outscored the Mavericks, 39-28, to complete the season sweep with a 71-64 win. In the win over CSP, the Cougars had 16 points from Chase Grinde while Thompson had 12 points while Teathloach Pal and Austin Slater both had 11 points while Devin Green again put up 10 points in the 74-59 road win. As a result, USF defeated the Golden Bears for an eight consecutive time.

In the win on Jan. 3 at Wayne State, USF had a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds from junior forward Austin Slater plus a career-high 16 points from Trevon Adams, who knocked in four threes for the first time in his career at USF.  Chase Grinde supplied 10 points, four assists and four rebounds as USF outscored the Wildcats, 47-37 in the second half.  USF tied a season-high with nine made threes and had just six turnovers. Before 2,371 fans at the Sanford Pentagon, the Cougars defeated then No. 24 (NABC) Augustana, 65-59, as freshman guard Jack Thompson scored 20 points. Thompson hit a career-high five treys and was 7-of-10 from the fieldAfter leading 34-31 at the break, the Cougars outscored Augustana, 31-28, on the Vikings' home floor. In the process USF held AU to its lowest point total on their home floor since 2012 when USF took a 70-58 win at the Elmen Center. 

In closing out 2019, USF recorded an 84-69 road  NSIC win over SMSU in Marshall, Minn., as Thompson scored 18 points. For the first time ever, USF swept SMSU in a season series as a result of the 84-69 road win on Dec. 21. 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.  Thompson 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. Senior captain Devin Green 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. Senior guard Milan Surlic also had 14 points. He hit 3-of-9 shots with two of them from three-point range and was 6-of-6 from the foul line. 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. 

On Dec. 13, USF fell to UMD, 100-65, at the Stewart Center as the Cougars hit just 37.5 percent from the floor and made 24.1 percent from three. UMD hit 64.4 percent from the field and knocked in a sizzling 16-of-24 (15-of-20 at one point) from 3-point distance.  Against SCSU on Dec. 14, Austin Slater had 20 points to lead USF to a 73-67 win. USF, which led by as many as 16 points in the first half, hit 46.6 percent from the floor and had five triples while converting 14 foul shots. The Coo also limited SCSU to 39.3 percent shooting. 

On Nov. 21 at the Stewart Center, the Cougars won a 74-56 decision over SMSU in a game in which Head Coach Chris Johnson picked up his 200th career win at USF. Earlier in USF's NSIC home opener, Chase Grinde had 19 points and Will Lybaek added 14 points while Teathloach Pal added eight points and 13 rebounds for USF in a 74-56 win on Nov. 30.  USF hit just three triples but hit 23-of-46 field goals for 50 percent. In shots inside the circle, USF was 20-of-33 for 60.6 percent.

In USF's NSIC road openers, the Cougars finished 2-0 with a 78-71 win at Concordia St. Paul and a 86-81 victory against league favorite Minnesota State on Dec. 7. In the CSP win, Grinde had 20 points to lead the way while four other players scored in double digit points. Freshman Jack Thompson had 14 points as made four 3-pointers on seven attempts. Pal had his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 boards while blocking two shots and dishing two dimes. In the 86-81 win against Minnesota State, the Cougars led by 17 in the first half and had a double digit lead for much of the second half as they upended MSU for a second straight year at the Taylor Center. Grinde had 21 points and seven rebounds for USF, which also had 15 points from senior captain Devin Green and a career-high 14 from Troy Houghton who made all six of his field goal attempts.  In wrapping up the nonconference season, USF dropped a 94-69 decision to Minnesota Crookston as Harrison Cleary had 40 points. The loss dropped USF to 51-5 in nonconference game with Johnson. The loss to UMC ended USF's three game winning streak. In the setback to UMC, senior captain Devin Green had a career-high in points with 16 and rebounds with seven.  

Also in the nonconference part of the schedule, Austin Slater had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Cougars turned back Chadron State, 62-59, in the first game at the Dacotah Bank Classic. In game two, junior guard William Lybaek had 15 points, including a trio of threes, and Teathloach Pal added 14 points and eight rebounds as USF captured its third straight victory with a 77-70 decision over CSU-Pueblo, also at the Dacotah Bank Classic. 

In winning their 10th straight home opener, the Cougars handed Dakota State a 72-51 nonconference setback on Nov. 16 at the Stewart Center.  Earlier USF was 1-1 at the Central Region Challenge in Kansas City. USF defeated 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.

Series Breakdowns -- 
USF and Bemidji State tied 4-4 all-time
The Cougars and Bemidji State are tied 4-4 in the all-time series. USF has dropped two straight to BSU which includes a 76-73 decision a year ago. In the last matchup to BSU, 74-68, despite 21 points from Trevon Evans on Jan. 12, 2018.  BSU opened the game with a 13-0 lead and trailed just once in the game. USF led, 41-40 on a Drew Guebert basket with 11:37 to play but fell at home. On Jan. 20, 2011, the Beavers won the first meeting 68-49 on Nov. 20, 2011 as James Ellison had 27 points and 15 rebounds. Skyler Bloch led USF with 17 points and 12 rebounds. USF had a 44-41 rebound edge but shot just 25.9 percent from the field. On Feb. 2, 2013, BSU edged USF, 72-68 as Lance Rognstad had 20 points. USF was led by James Radar with 19 points while Derek Brown had 17. On Feb. 1, 2014, the Cougars won for the first time with an 87-78 decision at the Stewart Center. Charles Ward had 21 points and Jordan Stotts, 16 as USF shot 54.9 percent from the floor. BSU, which had 10 made 3's, was led by Zach Noreen with 24 points and seven rebounds. The Cougars took a 69-64 win on Feb. 7, 2015 at Bemidji, Minn. In that victory, Charles Ward had 18 points. USF, which had a 33-21 rebound edge, and a 17-to-6 margin at the foul line. BSU, which had 19 points from Clayton Elrod, had 10 3's and outshot USF, 49%-to-48%. On Feb. 6, 2016, the Cougars had 25 points from Mack Johnson and 21 by Drew Guebert for a 90-62 win at the Stewart Center. After leading 35-34 at halftime, USF had a 55-28 second half run for the win. USF shot 58.5 from the field and made 11 three-pointers. BSU, led by Jordan Rhodes with 17 points, shot just 39.27 percent and six threes. On Jan.13, 2017, the Cougars won their fourth straight game in the series with a 78-71 decision at BSU. Zach Wessels had 20 points and 10 assists while Drew Guebert had 16 points with four threes in the victory. After leading 30-28 at halftime, the Cougars had a 48-43 edge in the second half. USF, which had a 33-24 rebound margin, shot 53.6 percent from the field with six threes. Zach Norman led BSU with 24 points and seven rebounds.

USF leads UMC, 7-4, in all-time series            
The Cougars have won 7-of-11 encounters with Minnesota Crookston. The latest meeting was a 94-69 nonconference loss to UMC at the Stewart Center on Nov. 26. USF was led by Devin Green with 16 points and seven rebounds. The Golden Eagles had 40 points and six assists from Harrison Cleary, who hit 11-of-19 field goals, made a trio of threes and converted all 15 of his foul shots. Prior to that the Cougars defeated UMC, 82-74, on Feb. 2, 2019 at the Stewart Center.  USF received 27 points from Drew Guebert, 15 from Devin Green and 13 from Trevon Evans to turn back the Golden Eagles. In the first ever meeting (Nov. 10, 2008) between the schools at Crookston, Minn., the Cougars took a 71-56 decision as Adam Hether had 19 points and Thomas Frames added 16.  Akeem Cubie had 16 for UMC. The Cougars, which had a 35-26 lead at halftime, led by as many as 19 points in the second half. USF had a 39-to-23 edge on the boards and outshot UMC, 46.9 percent to 35.4 percent. On Nov. 10, 2009, USF defeated the Golden Eagles, 68-67 as Matt Malloy had 15 points and frames, 16. Malloy's jumper with 2:59 left provided USF with a 68-63 but UMC cut the lead to one at the 1:40 mark but couldn't get the go-ahead basket despite a missed throw from USF. On Feb. 1, 2013, USF took a 89-57 decision at Crookston to move to 3-0 in the season. USF used 19 points and three steals from Bill Freeman to take an 89-57 decision at Crookston, Minn. USF, which led 47-27 at halftime, shot 51.4 percent from the floor and made 15-of-31 from three point range. UMC, which had 17 from Ashton Powell, made 41.3 percent from the floor and converted six treys. On Jan. 31, 2014, USF edged UMC, 75-73. USF received 22 points from Derek Brown, including the go-ahead three pointer with 1:20 to play. UMC was 11-of-25 from three point range and made 41.4 percent from the floor. After giving USF a 72-70 lead with 1:20 left, Brown made two free throws with 21 seconds on the clock. On Feb. 6, 2015, UMC defeated USF, 75-73 in overtime at Crookston. UMC picked up its first win in the series with a 73-70 overtime decision at Crookston, Minn. Derrick Redd, who led UMC with 26 points, made the game-winning shot as the buzzer sounded and the Golden Eagles outscored USF, 11-8 in overtime for the victory. Charles Ward led USF with 24 points as the Cougars made 44.6 percent from the field. On Feb. 5, 2016, USF took a 73-60 win at the Stewart Center as Drew Guebert had 23 points with five threes and Mack Johnson had 21 points. USF, which made 11 three pointers, shot 43.3 percent from the field and held a 39-31 rebound advantage. USF, which led 29-24 at halftime, outscored the Golden Eagles, 44-36 in the second half. On Jan. 14, 2018, USF defeated UMC, 69-60 in Crookston. Utilizing balanced scoring, Daniel Hurtt had 16 points while Clint Thomas added 15 and Drew Guebert provided 14 points and six rebounds for USF, which won the rebound battle, 37-to-28. On Nov. 18, 2018, UMC had a 79-74 win at Crookston as Drew Guebert had 21 points. The Cougars had a 38-24 lead at halftime and a 16-point edge early in the second half before UMC rallied behind the play of Harrison Cleary, who finished with 33 points and eight assists. On Jan. 13, 2018, USF took a 68-56 decision at Sioux Falls. After struggling on offense and hold a precarious 25-23 halftime lead, USF put the clamps on defense and outscored UMC, 43-33, in the second half for the victory. USF freshman guard Drew Maschoff tied a career-high with 15 points, including 3-of-5 from three point range, while dishing out four assists and pulling down three rebounds in 36 minutes of action. Junior guard Aaron Rothermund, who was making his second career start, had a career-high 13 points, including a three-pointer and converted all four of his foul shots. Junior Trevon Evans supplied 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists, career-high three blocked shots and four steals in 35 minutes. On Feb. 21, 2018, the dynamic duo of Trevon Evans (23 points) and Drew Guebert (20 points) added a third in Aaron Rothermund (17 points) as USF shot a season-best 60.3 percent in rolling to a 98-68 win over Minnesota Crookston in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Postseason Tournament before 1,009 in attendance, including a large student contingent, at the Stewart Center. Evans had a career-high 10 assists as he also added five steals and four rebounds. Evans was 10-of-16 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from three point range. Then USF has split the last two matchups. On Feb. 2, 2019, the Cougars took a home 82-74 decision as Drew Guebert scored 27 and USF hit 51.9 percent from the field. Then Cleary led UMC to the nonconference win at the SC this fall with his 40 point outing.