The South Dakota men's basketball team takes the short trip to Sioux Falls for the Sanford Pentagon Showcase with three games in three days.
 
The Tournament
The round-robin format features the Coyotes along with the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, Northern Colorado Bears and Youngstown State Penguins.
 
Friday and Saturday's games will be shown on the Sanford Pentagon's Facebook Live feed, while Sunday's contest against Youngstown State will be shown regionally on Fox Sports North and the Fox Sports Go App.
 
The Golden Eagles
Southern Miss enters the tournament 2-1 after defeating a pair of non-Division I squads and falling to Michigan. Tyree Griffin, a transfer from Oklahoma State, leads the team with 17.7 points per game and sinking shots at a 54.3 percent rate. Dominic Magee is second on the team with 10.3 points per game.
 
Southern Miss was tabbed to finish 10^th in the preseason Conference USA poll. The Golden Eagles posted a 9-22 record last year with a 6-12 conference record.
 
The Bears
Northern Colorado is 2-2 on the season after winning back-to-back games. The Bears claimed an 84-82 victory over Pepperdine and a 99-60 win over Northern New Mexico. Andre Spight leads a trio of Bears in double-digit scoring with 18.8 points per game. Jordan Davis scores 12.3 points while Anthony Johnson tallies 10.5 points a game.
 
The Bears were picked to finish fourth in the preseason Big Sky Conference coaches poll. Northern Colorado posted an 11-18 overall record and 7-11 Big Sky record last season.
 
The Penguins
Youngstown State has opened the season 2-2 overall, claiming victories over Franciscan and Westminster. Braun Hartfield has started 3-of-4 games for YSU and leads the team with 18.3 points per contest. Three others average double figures as the Penguins have averaged 96.8 points per game with Cameron Morse tallying 14.5 points, Garrett Covington 12.0 and Michael Akuchie 10.5.
 
The Penguins were picked to finish seventh in the Horizon League preseason poll with Cameron Morse tabbed preseason all-conference. YSU went 13-21 overall in 2016-17 with a 5-13 record inside the Horizon League.
 
The Coyotes
South Dakota has won back-to-back games after dropping a 76-71 heartbreaker to TCU. The Coyotes defeated Grambling State 84-55 followed by a victory against Mount Marty this past Monday. Matt Mooney leads the team with 18.8 points per game with Tyler Hagedorn scoring 15.8 points per game. Hagedorn shoots 54.7 percent from the field and ranks in the top-20 nationally with his 11 blocks.
 
The three games in the Pentagon concludes a run of five-straight games inside the State of South Dakota.
 
The Series'
The opponents at the Sanford Pentagon Showcase are a mixture of familiarity for the Coyotes. South Dakota has never faced Friday's opponent Southern Miss. Saturday's opponent is former North Central Conference foe Northern Colorado, who the Coyotes are 31-20 against all-time. However, the last meeting was the 2002-03 season. Sunday's opponent is Youngstown State, who the Coyotes played back-to-back years in 2013-14 and 2014-15. USD is 0-2 against Youngstown.
 
One Last Thing
A "Game Day Party" will be held prior to the Coyotes game against Northern Colorado on Saturday. Howling Pack members and USD Alumni are invited to Will's Training Table, across the street from the Pentagon, to watch a stream of the Coyote football team in the FCS Playoffs. The fun begins at 2 p.m. with kickoff at 3 p.m.  The Coyote basketball team tips-off at 6:30 p.m.