The Game
South Dakota takes momentum from Saturday's win against Fort Wayne on the road to Tulsa tonight for a 7 p.m. matchup against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. The Coyotes have enjoyed recent successes in Tulsa where few others have. USD has earned double-digit wins in each of the last two seasons at the Mabee Center. Other opponents are a combined 29-129 (.224) since the 2004-05 season on the Eagles' home court.
A win tonight would move South Dakota to 5-2 in Summit play, equaling its number of conference wins from a year ago. The Coyotes enter this week in second place in the Summit, one half game behind North Dakota State (4-1). The Bison host Fort Wayne Thursday in Fargo.
About the Eagles
Oral Roberts went 2-10 against Division I teams in non-conference play, but its schedule included Baylor, Creighton, Michigan State and Ole Miss - teams currently ranked in the top 50 of the RPI rankings. The Eagles also took on 2016 NCAA Tournament teams Tulsa, Oklahoma and Little Rock. Their Summit results include road losses at Denver, Fort Wayne and Western Illinois, a home win against South Dakota State, and a 91-85 home loss against IUPUI last time out.
Oral Roberts features one of the league's top big men in 6-foot-9 forward/center Albert Owens, who is averaging nearly 21 points and seven rebounds in Summit League play. Senior guard Jalen Bradley, the older brother of USD women's basketball Jaycee Bradley, averages 14 points per game as does teammate Kris Martin, a guard in his second season.
About the Coyotes
South Dakota is two defensive stops from a 6-0 Summit League record. Both of the Coyotes' league losses have come by a point scored in the closing seconds. That said, the team has equaled its best start in Summit League play and is looking to move to 5-2 for the first time. Sophomore guard
Matt Mooney is averaging 20 points in conference play and coming off a career-high 30-point effort in Saturday's win against Fort Wayne. Sophomore Tyler Hagedorn has come off the bench to total 37 points and block nine shots spanning the last three games. He and
Austin Sparks have rotated in at the post in recent games while
Tyler Flack continues to heal.
Carlton Hurst,
Trey Burch-Manning and
Trey Dickerson are averaging 10 points apiece in conference play.
One last thing...
The Coyotes have attempted at least 30 free throws in each of their last four games and in eight games total during the season. Only seven teams nationally have attempted more free throws than the Coyotes (498). South Dakota is averaging 16 points from the line per game.
