VERMILLION, S.D.—In a game with plenty of offense, it was a defensive highlight by Carlton Hurst that served as the catalyst for South Dakota's 85-74 win against IUPUI Saturday inside Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
 
Trailing 70-63 with less than seven minutes to go, Hurst chased down IUPUI guard Darell Combs and blocked what was supposed to be an easy layup. The Coyotes chased down the loose ball, and then finished the game on a 22-4 run, making six of their final seven shots and holding the Jaguars without a bucket the rest of the way.
 
Hurst scored a career-high 19 points on 7 of 9 shooting and pulled down eight rebounds. He led five South Dakota players who scored in double figures. Matt Mooney and Trey Burch-Manning scored 16 points apiece, Triston Simpson came off the bench to post 12 points and Trey Dickerson had 11.
 
Combs scored a game-high 27 points for the Jaguars (7-10, 1-2 Summit) on 10 of 19 shooting. Matt O'Leary had 14 points and seven rebounds, and Evan Hall finished with 11.
 
"We made a couple adjustments late that I thought really helped us, and it all started with Carlton Hurst's blocked shot," said USD head coach Craig Smith. "We were in a bit of a funk. I think they had gone on a quick 7-0 run and it looked like 9-0, and then Superman came in out of nowhere and just blocked that off the back board. Boy, did we close the game and finished with a flourish."
 
All seven of Hurst's second-half points followed the block. He also grabbed half his rebounds in that stretch including two offensive boards that turned into points. Mooney scored half his 16 points in the final five minutes including a deep 3 with four minutes to go that put USD ahead for good at 72-70.
 
Combs was the only Jaguar who recorded a field goal in the final 10 minutes. He scored 10 straight Jaguar points to give his team the seven-point lead, but IUPUI missed its final four shots and committed five turnovers after Hurst's rejection.
 
South Dakota (12-7, 3-1) improved to 8-0 in its home venue and equaled its best start to Summit League play. Only North Dakota State (10-5, 2-0), which USD hosts at home Wednesday, remains unbeaten in conference play.
 
The Coyotes played their third consecutive game without starting center Tyler Flack, but got good minutes off the bench from sophomore Tyler Hagedorn in the post. Hagedorn scored a season-high eight points, grabbed four rebounds and blocked three shots. USD outrebounded IUPUI 29-27, its first win in that category without Flack.
 
"Hags has had a few good practices in a row, and you're going to play how you practice," said Smith. "He really, down the stretch, altered a bunch of shots. He made some big time plays for us."
 
Dickerson scored seven points in a three-minute span towards the middle of the second half that helped the Coyotes regain the lead after they lost their 39-37 halftime advantage. Simpson subbed in and played the last six minutes, switching off with Hurst on the defensive end against Combs. It was Simpson who found Mooney for the go-ahead 3. He also had a steal and converted a 3-point play in the closing minutes. Simpson was 4 of 5 from the field and had four assists with no turnovers in 24 minutes.
 
South Dakota shot 56 percent from the field (30-53), its best performance of the season, while IUPUI finished at 47 percent (26-55). The Coyotes made just four 3's, but outscored the Jaguars 21-14 from the charity stripe. USD improved to 9-2 this season when it gets at least 20 points from its bench.