The GamePositioning for The Summit League Tournament continues as South Dakota hosts North Dakota State inside the DakotaDome tonight at 7 p.m. The Bison enter play in fifth place in the standings, but just 1.5 games back of co-leaders Fort Wayne and South Dakota State after SDSU lost at Omaha Wednesday. The Coyotes are tied for seventh place with Oral Roberts, who hosts IUPUI tonight. The two are 1.5 games ahead of Western Illinois, who is in action at Denver. The top eight teams qualify for the Summit League Tournament held March 5-8 in Sioux Falls.
South Dakota and North Dakota State met in Fargo back on Jan. 13. The Bison controlled much of the first 32 minutes of the game and led 59-43 with eight minutes to go. The Coyotes ended the game on a 24-9 run and had two shots to win it in the final 10 seconds, including one from point-blank range that rolled around and out. NDSU hung on for a 66-65 win.
Kory Brown scored a game-high 21 points and had 15 rebounds to lead NDSU.
Casey Kasperbauer made 8 of 15 shots and scored 19 points for USD. The Bison made twice as many 3-pointers (10-5) and free throws (14-6) as USD and outrebounded the Coyotes 39-28. USD scored 19 points off 17 Bison turnovers.
The SeriesNDSU leads the all-time series 93-77. The home team has won the last four games of the series including South Dakota's 71-67 win in Vermillion last season.
Missing PiecesNorth Dakota State's Paul Miller and South Dakota's
Shy McClelland scored 14 points each in the first meeting between the two teams, but aren't expected to compete tonight. Miller, the Bison's leading scorer this season at 16 points per game, is out indefinitely with a knee injury sustained against Oral Roberts a week ago. McClelland, the Coyotes' third-leading scorer at 11 points a contest, quit the team on Tuesday. He had been suspended for the Coyotes' prior two games.
The BisonNorth Dakota State has played great in Fargo, but enters with a 4-7 road record including losses in three of four Summit games. The Bison swept Oral Roberts and Fort Wayne last week while the Coyotes lost to Fort Wayne and beat Oral Roberts. A.J. Jacobson shared Summit Player of the Week honors with Fort Wayne's Max Landis after averaging 21 points on 65 percent shooting. Kory Brown scores 10 points per game and is the team's second-leading rebounder.
The CoyotesSouth Dakota ended a season-long four-game skid with a 12-point win against Oral Roberts Saturday. All five starters and reserve guard
Tre Burnette scored in double figures. Forward
Tyler Flack and senior guard
Trey Norris have entered the starting lineup of late. Norris has averaged 35 minutes, 12 points and five assists in his last three starts while Flack is the team's leading scorer at 14 points a game in that same span. Burnette was the Coyotes' leading scorer in two games off the bench last week.
Casey Kasperbauer averages a team-best 13 points per game and has made the third-most triples in the Summit.
One Final NoteCasey Kasperbauer has made 47 consecutive free throws dating back to late November. He leads the nation in free-throw shooting at 96.7 percent (59 of 61, minimum of 60 attempts).
