SIOUX FALLS -- (RV) The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (17-5, 13-3 NSIC), which is off to the best start in the program's DII history and the co-leader in the NSIC, will face a pair of home cross division tests with (RV) Northern State and Minnesota State Moorhead at the Stewart Center on Feb. 7-8. 

In what amounts to an NSIC first-place showdown, South leader USF will host North leader (RV) Northern State (17-5, 13-3 NSIC) on Friday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 pm. The last time (Jan. 27, 2017) NSU and USF played at the Stewart Center, the Cougars lost in the final seconds, 86-84. USF will look to end a nine-game losing streak to the Wolves in a series that dates to a USF 20-18 win in the 1927-28 season. A year ago, NSU defeated USF, 90-84, in Aberdeen. Both USF and NSU, which are tied for the overall NSIC lead with 13-3 records, are receiving votes in the most recent NABC Top-25 poll.

On Saturday, Feb. 8 at 5:30 pm, the Cougars face MSUM (14-8, 10-6 NSIC). USF trails the series, 9-3, and lost, 75-71, last year but won a last second decision, 70-67, two years ago when Trevon Evans hit the game-winner in the final seconds.

At 17-5, the Cougars are off to the best start in the program DII history. With a 13-3 league mark, USF also has the program's top mark through 16 league games in the DII era (since 2012-13). USF has is tied with Northern State at the top of the NSIC overall and lead the NSIC South by two games (Upper Iowa, 11-5 in NSIC play). 

Last weekend, the Cougars had a pair of road wins in a 66-54 road win at Bemidji State and a 77-62 decision over Minnesota Crookston when Jack Thompson set a career-best with 23 points and Teathloach Pal (10 points, 13 rebounds) and Austin Slater (10 points, 14 rebounds) had double-doubles in the same game for the first time as teammates. 

Midco and First Premier to serve as game sponsors; USF to promote "It's A Slam Dunk - Don't Drive Drunk" campaign this weekend
On Friday, First Premier will serve as the USF game sponsor and USF alum Lauren Van Driel will present a game ball to the USF basketball coaches, Travis Traphagen and Chris Johnson, prior to their respective games at 5:30 and 7:30 pm. In conjunction with the NSIC, USF will designate this weekend as the "It's A Slam Dunk - Don't Drive Drunk" awareness effort to raise awareness about drunken driving. On Saturday, USF Student Athlete Advisory Committee members will collect signatures from fans pledging not to drive drunk. Also on Saturday, USF game sponsor Midco will hold two different raffles and give away a pair of a 50-inch screen TVs and Bose speaker systems. Also on Saturday, Midco representative Mark Powell will make the game ball presentation to USF basketball coaches (Travis Traphagen and Chris Johnson) prior to the men's and women's basketball games.

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 13-3 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 team's balanced scoring in which seven players average 5.5 points per game or more. Junior guard Chase Grinde leads USF with 11.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game . Grinde has 14 games with double-digit points, which includes each of the last seven games. Junior forward Teathloach Pal, who has two consecutive double-doubles, is supplying 11.0 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.  Junior forward Austin Slater is adding 10.0 points and has 7.3 rebounds per game.  For the first time at USF, both Pal and Slater had double-doubles in the same game when Pal had 10 points and 13 boards while Slater added 10 points and a game-high and season-best 14 rebounds in the win over Minnesota Crookston (77-62) on Feb. 1.  Slater has four double-digit rebound and 11 double-digit scoring games this season. Pal has 14 double-digit scoring games, including seven straight, and nine double-digit rebound games which has resulted in six double-doubles this season with 11 in his career.

Freshman guard Jack Thompson is averaging 10.4 points per game and has gone over 20 points three times. He has hit 31-of-79 of 39.2 percent from three and has 50 assists or 2.3 per game. He ranks second in the league with 1.8 steals per game. 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 where 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. 

Breaking Down Northern State 
Directed by former NDSU Head Coach Saul Phillips, who is in his first season in Aberdeen, NSU has had an 17-5 start with a 13-3 record in the NSIC North, which leads the division.  The Wolves, which have won two straight games, rank second in the league in scoring at 82.0 ppg and rank fifth in the NSIC in scoring defense at 71.2 ppg. Key to their success is field goal shooting as they lead the NSIC at 49.5 percent while holding opponents to 42.4 percent, which ranks third in the NSIC and just ahead of USF at 43.0.  They also hit 37.3 percent from three-point range while holding opponents to 34.7%.  They averaged 35.8 rebounds for seventh in the league. Parker Knox leads NSU with 20.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per game while Mason Stark provides 15.8 ppg. 

MSUM will look to continue solid season start
Directed by veteran Head Coach Chad Walthall, MSUM has opened the season at 14-8 and 10-6 in the NSIC North, which places them in third place and three games behind NSU. The Dragons, which have three straight wins, are led by Gavin Baumgartner at 17.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. MSUM averages 78.5 ppg for seventh in the league but allow 74.6 points per game for 12th in the NSIC. Like NSU, they have a talented offense and hit on 48.6 percent from the floor for third in the league. However, they also give up 45.3 percent to opponents for 13th in the league.  MSUM is 12th in three-point shooting at 34.3 percent while holding opponents to 35.6 percent for fifth in the NSIC. MSUM averages slightly more rebounds than does USF at 37.1 per game (third in the NSIC) while USF is fourth at 36.5.  

USF closes January with 7-2 mark; 1-0 in February
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 7-2 record this year and stand 18-8 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 71.0 points for 14th in the NSIC, they lead the NSIC in scoring defense at 67.3 points per game.  As a result, USF is seventh in scoring margin at 3.6 per game.  In rebounding defense, USF is first in the NSIC at 29.6 while sitting fourth  in rebounding overall at 36.5 per game. The Cougars, which average 12.2 offensive boards per game for second in the NSIC, also rank second in rebounding margin at 6.9 per game. Steadily, USF has moved near the top of the league (5th) in steals per game with 6.23 (137 total) per game. The Cougars have had more steals than opponents in 16-of-22 games and recorded seven or more steals 11 times and twice has had 12 steals in a contest. USF is also eighth in blocked shots at 3.23 per game.  After a slow start this season in shooting from the field, USF has moved up to 11th in the NSIC at 44.8 percent while holding opponents to 43.0 percent for fourth in the NSIC. Also USF ranks eighth in the NSIC with 13.0 turnovers per game, which is an improvement of nearly one per game (.9) over the past six games. 

USF is 14-3 when leading at halftime  and 14-2 when shooting better than its opponents.  In shots inside the arc, the Cougars have made 420-of-835 for 50.2 percent. The Cougars have a season high of 43 boards in a loss at Wayne State. Fifteen 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 20-of-22 games, which includes each of the past nine contests. Twelve 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 12-0 record. 

Quick Season Preview 

For the second time (2017-18) in three seasons, USF has 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 4-2 league mark for 13-3 which is also the best in DII program history. The Cougars own a two-game lead over Upper Iowa in the NSIC South and rank tied for first overall in the league. 

Last weekend, the Cougars picked up their fourth road sweep of the season with  66-54 win at Bemidji State and a 77-62 decision over Minnesota Crookston. Teathloach Pal and Devin Green scored 12 points to lead five USF players in double digit points in the win at BSU. Jack Thompson had a career-high 23 in the victory at UMC. 

In their last home games on Jan. 24-25, the Cougars recorded 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 on Jan. 17 and dropped a 69-66 decision to Minot State on Jan. 18.

In the second win (Jan. 10) over Minnesota State,  Thompson tied a career-best with 21 points to lead Cougars to the win. 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 field. After 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. Devin Green surpassed double-digit points with 15 against SMSU. 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.