HAYS, KAN. (Nov. 13, 2015) -- The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (0-0) will open the season on Saturday with the first of two matchups with in-region and
MIAA schools at the
MIAA-NSIC Challenge to be played at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays, Kan.
The Cougars, which lost an exhibition at DI Iowa, 99-73 on Oct. 29, will face Emporia State (0-0), 12-16 a year ago, at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Then, USF will battle host school Fort Hays State (0-0), 16-13 in 2014-15, at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Southwest Minnesota State (0-0) is the other NSIC school at the tourney. The Cougars and Mustangs will not play this weekend but will meet on Dec. 1 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls to open the NSIC season.
Broadcast info: The Saturday game vs. Emporia State will be broadcast on KWSN, 1230 AM with the FHSU game on Sunday carried on 107.9 in Sioux Falls. Due to scheduling issues, the radio broadcasts for games will be feeds from ESU and FHSU.
Quick Check on Opponents
Both opponents should be a challenge as Emporia State returns an all-league guard in Terrance Moore (16.8 ppg) and has four DI transfers as they look to develop chemistry among a group which is nearly new. As for Fort Hays State, All-American guard Craig Nicholson (14.9), who missed a large chunk of the season a year ago due to injury, is the leader for FHSU. The Tigers, which will host this tournament, has two other starters back to go with two junior college transfers.
Previewing the Cougars
The Cougars, which begins its fourth season in the NSIC and DII, will be an exciting team to watch with the return of three starters including NSIC Player to Watch, junior sharpshooting guard Mack Johnson, who averaged 15.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game a year ago. He hit 68 three-pointers (38.2 percent), ranking sixth in the league. Johnson, who has scored 669 career points, also knocked down 81.5 percent from the foul line. He has 110 career-three-point baskets.
Other returning starters include senior forward Stotts (7.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and junior forward Cutler Finneman (4.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg). Three others also started games for USF a year ago. They include sophomore forward Tom Aase (3.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg), sophomore point guard Zach Wessels (2.8 ppg, 11.7 rpg) and junior guard Kebu Johnson (2.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg).
On a roster that includes experience, youth and talent, the Cougars will look for contributions from several newcomers. They include 6-6 junior forward Daniel Hurtt of Redlands Community College (8.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg), and junior guard/forward Jared Mayes (14.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg), who helped Rock Valley College to a national title two years ago and a 61-9 record over the past two years. In addition, the Cougars will look for scoring from sharpshooter Clint Thomas, a junior who averaged 17.9 points per game at McCook Community College a year ago. Freshman Drew Guebert, a 6-7, 180 guard who averaged 12.0 ppg and 5.0 rebounds per game for Eastview HS in Apple Valley, Minn., is expected to contribute immediately.
Series Mark - Emporia State
Emporia State holds a 1-0 series edge with a 79-74 win in the 1980-81 season.
Last Time Out -- Iowa 99 USF 73
To open the season, USF played Iowa in exhibition play on Oct. 29. In the game, USF battled DI Iowa tough before falling, 99-73, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in front of 11,381 in attendance.
USF placed three players in double digits, led by Jared Mayes with 17 points, three steals and three assists, but fell to DI and Big Ten school Iowa, which returned four starters from a team that had advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tourney a year ago.After trailing just 46-40 at halftime, USF was outscored by the Hawkeyes, 53-33, in the second half. The victory moved Iowa's record in exhibitions to 22-1, including 6-0 under head coach Fran McCaffery. Iowa, which made 51.7 percent (15-of-29) in the first half but had just a six-point lead, opened the second half on a 27-11 run for a 73-51 advantage. From there, they held off the Cougars the rest of the way. However, the Cougars, as Johnson noted battled all night.
Before the second half was done, the Cougars had pulled within 11 points at 80-69 when junior guard Clint Thomas, who had eight points, hit a pair of three point shots while senior Jordan Stotts, the only Iowa native on the roster, added a basket to force an Iowa timeout. From that point, Iowa had a closing run of 19-to-4 to build the lead back to over 20 points.
Along with Mayes, junior Daniel Hurtt had 10 points and a team high five rebounds. Junior sharp-shooter Mack Johnson had 15 points, including three three-pointers, and two rebounds while James Lawson scored eight points. Stotts had four points and three rebounds as did freshman Drew Guebert. USF was 25-of-65 from the field for 38.5 percent while knocking down 9-olf-29 from three-point range for 31 percent. The Cougars, who were outrebounded 48-34, had three blocks. Meanwhile Iowa was led by Mike Gesell with 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Stotts is only senior on Cougars
Senior Jordan Stotts, who is averaging 7.9 points and 3.5 rebounds a year ago, had a season high 19 points in a win over U-Mary. For his career, he has 25 double digit scoring games in his career with nine this season. Stotts had a career best 34 points at Upper Iowa on 12/14/13. He recorded a season best 11 rebounds vs. MSUM, 1/16/15. He has 508 career points.
Mack Johnson has 669 career points
Mack Johnson, who averaged 15.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game last year, ranked 11th in the NSIC in scoring and 6th in the NSIC in made three-point shots at 2.3 (68). Johnson had 19 double figure scoring games in 2014-15 and 24 for his career. Johnson, who has 669 career points, had three 20-point outings last year and six in his career. He scored a career-best 30 points in a 76-60 win over Mount Marty on Dec. 17. Ten times, he has led USF in scoring during his two seasons as a starter.
Inside Look at Emporia State
In an 80-42 exhibition loss to Kansas State, Emporia State shot 25 percent. K-State outscored the Hornets 14-3 over the final 3:40 of the half to take a 43-17 lead to the locker rooms. The Hornets had a 9-1 run early in the second half but a 19-5 run would give the Wildcats a 40 point lead with 2:49 remaining. A total of ten Hornets scored led by Kevin Allen with seven points, seven rebounds, two steals and a block in his Hornet debut.
ESU, led by fifth year head coach (52-61) Shaun Van Diver, are coming off a 12-16 campaign when they finished near the bottom of the MIAA Conference. However, they have brought in several DI transfers. Kevin Allen (Boise State), Joshua Oswald (Miami University of Ohio), Charles McKinney (Depaul) and Bradley Fisher (Montana State) enter ESU after varying amounts of time in Division I programs.
The Hornets, led by All-MIAA performer Terrence Moore, won't look reshaped in how they line up. Moore led ESU in scoring a year ago at just under 17 points per game, followed by Jevon Taylor and Jay Temaat at about 18 combined. Senior Micah Swank also returns to an experienced group of guards who made 205 shots from 3-point range last year.
Perennial power FHSU to face USF Sunday
Fort Hays State, directed by 15th-year head coach Mark Johnson, has a long tradition of excellence in NCAA DII Basketball. The program not only has made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, they won the 1996 NCAA DII national title. Under Johnson's direction Fort Hays State, which was 16-13 a year ago for ninth in the MIAA, has made six NCAA Tourney appearances. The 16 wins a year ago is just the second time that the Tigers haven't won at least 17th in Johnson's tenure.
This year in exhibition play, FHSU lost to Kansas State, 70-52 and to Kansas, 95-59. Against KSU, guard Craig Nicholson led the way with nine points. Against KU, Dom Samac had 12 points and Nicholson, nine.
The Tigers were in the NCAA Tournament two years ago in 2013-14, falling to Missouri Southern in the opening round. Johnson, who is the all-time wins leader at FHSU with 284, led the team to a conference title i n2012-13 when they shared with Central Missouri. FHSU, which lost six seniors to graduation, will feature four seniors and two juniors on the roster.
Leading the seniors will be All-American point guard Craig Nicholson, who will be joined by returners Dom Samac an Jake Stoppel. The squad has added six true freshman and three transfers. Nicholson, who was selected an All-American as a sophomore in 2013-14, lost most of last season due to a broken leg suffered in the 16th game of the season. He was leading the Tigers in scoring at the time of the injury (14.9 points per game) and led the MIAA in assists at the time, averaging 6.1 per game. He enters the season with 1,143 points and 511 assists. Two years ago, he averaged 17.2 points and 7.4 assists per game.
