The Game
South Dakota will try to stop Denver's six-game winning streak when the Coyotes invade Magness Arena tonight to face the Pioneers. Denver has won three in a row against South Dakota including both meetings last season. This season, under first year head coach Rodney Billups, the Pioneers are riding their longest winning streak in four years.
The Coyotes are 1-1 in Summit League play after beating Omaha at home Wednesday and falling by a point at South Dakota State Saturday. The Pioneers are 1-0 after beating Oral Roberts at home last Wednesday. Denver was off this past weekend.
About the Pioneers
Denver's RPI of 175 is three behind South Dakota's. Three of Denver's five losses have come against top 100 RPI teams. The Pioneers are led by sophomore guard Joe Rosga, an honorable mention all-Summit League performer last season, and junior center Daniel Amigo. Both average 14 points per game. Despite their youth, the two are some of the more senior members of the team. Denver's top 10 players feature four juniors (two start), four sophomores (three start) and two freshmen.
Denver is shooting 47 percent from the field including 40 percent from three-point range. Both numbers ranks second in the Summit. Rosga, the team's leading three-point threat, is making them at a 42 percent clip. Thomas Neff has 26 3s in 14 games and is shooting 47 percent from beyond the arc. The Pioneers average seven 3s per game.
About the Coyotes
South Dakota played without starting center
Tyler Flack Saturday. Flack briefly exited Thursday's game against Omaha, but returned to the court and scored 12 consecutive points for the Coyotes at one point. He is the team's second-leading scorer and top rebounder with averages of 13 and seven, respectively. If he can't go tonight, expect
Austin Sparks to earn his second consecutive start with sophomores
Dan Jech and
Tyler Hagedorn providing depth in the front court.
Sophomore guard
Matt Mooney is the team's top scorer at 15 points per game. All four of his 20-point efforts this season have come in true road games and he had 22 points in Saturday's loss in Brookings. Point guard
Trey Dickerson has scored in double figures in each of the last six games. Forward
Trey Burch-Manning is coming off a 15-point, 8-rebound performance against SDSU.
South Dakota made 10 of 18 from 3-point range against Omaha and got 24 points off its bench. Against South Dakota State, the Coyotes received four bench points and made 8 of 30 against SDSU's zone defense. Three-point percentage and bench points have been key numbers in USD wins this season.
One Last Thing
Denver was 7-9 in the Summit a year ago, but clipped the Coyotes twice with unusual numbers included in both boxes. In game one in Denver, the Pioneers made 10 of 20 3-pointers while USD hit 2 of 13. In Vermillion for game two, the Pioneers made 15 of 18 free throws while USD made 1 of 1.
