VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota senior guard Casey Kasperbauer scored a career-high 26 points on a night when he made his 200^th collegiate three-pointer and led the Coyotes to an 83-63 win against South Dakota Mines Tuesday inside the DakotaDome.
 
South Dakota (2-3) won its ninth consecutive home opener. It was the first of just three home games for the Coyotes before they dive into Summit League play on New Year's Day.
 
Kasperbauer made 6 of 10 from beyond the arc and 8 of 15 shots overall. His second 3 made him the ninth player in program history to hit 200 triples. He's made 204 of them in 96 collegiate games.
 
The biggest benefactor of Kasperbauer's makes was senior point guard Trey Norris, who handed out a career-high 10 assists – the most by a Coyote since 2011. Six of them came on Kasperbauer buckets.
 
"As a shooter, it's nice to have a point guard that you've played three years with," said Kasperbauer. "T-No and I have gotten into a rhythm."
 
Kasperbauer scored 11 points including back-to-back 3-pointers during a 23-3 run that put South Dakota ahead 25-10 with eight minutes to go in the first half. Kasperbauer had 14 points in the opening stanza.
 
Junior Konor Kulas scored 18 points and had eight rebounds for the Hardrockers, a Division II program from Rapid City. Tuesday was classified as an exhibition game for South Dakota Mines, which has averaged an RMAC-leading 85 points per game en route to a 2-2 record.
 
Shy McClelland had 12 points and seven rebounds for South Dakota and Tre Burnette added eight points and 13 boards. The Coyotes shot 51 percent from the field (31 of 61) and outrebounded the Hardrockers 45-36.
 
The lead was 40-25 at halftime. South Dakota Mines got within 12 points at 47-35 on a 3 from Brian Orr with 14:52 remaining. Orr made four of the Hardrockers' six 3-pointers for 12 points.
 
Kasperbauer's final two points came from the free-throw line with 5:15 remaining. They came during a 10-0 run capped by a McClelland layup that made it 75-48 with 4:28 to go.
 
The Hardrockers were held to 31 percent shooting (19 of 61) which including a 6 of 25 effort from beyond the arc. They drew 23 fouls and made 19 of 27 free throws. Kulas was 8 for 8 from the stripe.
 
South Dakota next will play back-to-back games against Sacramento State and Eastern Washington Saturday and Sunday in Sacramento, Calif. The Coyotes take on Minnesota Dec. 5 in Minneapolis.