The South Dakota men's basketball team plays the first of its final two road games of the nonconference season Sunday at Colorado State. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. (CST) in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The Game
South Dakota and Colorado State have identical 5-5 records with CSU holding a 4-2 record at home. Besides holding the same record, the two squads also boast head coaches that are in their first year at the schools. South Dakota head coach
Todd Lee is a 1986 graduate of USD while Colorado State head coach Niko Medved was an assistant at CSU from 2007-13.
The game can be viewed on the Mountain West Network, including CSURams.com/live. Live audio is available on the Coyote Sports Network, including KVHT 106.3 FM (Flagship) in Yankton/Vermillion. Audio is also available at GoYotes.com/watch or on the TuneIn app.
The Rams
Colorado State snapped a four-game skid with a 71-65 victory over Sam Houston State in its last game on Dec. 8. J.D. Paige totaled 23 points while Nico Carvacho grabbed 19 rebounds in the contest.
Paige leads a quintet of Rams in double-digit points at 16.1 points per game. Carvacho averages a double-double with 12.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.
CSU and USD currently have one common opponent between them and that is against Colorado. The Rams fell 86-80 to the Buffaloes on Dec. 1.
Sunday's contest is not the Coyotes' first against a Medved coached team as USD topped Drake last season 93-65 in Vermillion. Medved led Drake to a 17-17 record in his one season with the Bulldogs.
The Coyotes
South Dakota got back into the win column with a 78-52 victory over Bellevue on Dec. 12. Making his first start since Nov. 18, junior
Cody Kelley tallied a game-high 18 points. Juniors
Tyler Peterson and
Triston Simpson joined him in double digits at 17 and 11 points, respectively. The Coyotes shot a season-high 59.3 percent from the field, sinking 32-of-54 shot attempts.
In that game, Bellevue did not attempt a free throw. It was the first time since at least the 2000-01 season that a Coyotes' opponent did not attempt a free throw.
As he has all season, senior
Trey Burch-Manning leads the team with 13.9 points per game. However, after swiping five steals against Bellevue, he now leads the team in points, rebounds, steals, 3-point field goal percentage, and when taking into account NCAA minimums, field goal percentage. His 7.1 rebounds per game mark him fifth in the Summit League.
Simpson averages 13.1 points while Peterson, coming off his best shooting performance of the year, adds 12.1 points per game. Against Bellevue, Peterson went 8-of-10 from the field as part of his 17 points.
The Series
Sunday's contest is the first meeting between the two schools. The contest is the second this season against a Mountain West Conference opponent
Looking Ahead
Following Sunday's contest, the Coyotes travel to No. 1 Kansas for a Tuesday match-up with the Jayhawks. If KU holds onto its No. 1 ranking after Monday's poll comes out, it will mark the second-straight season USD has faced the No. 1 team in the nation after playing at Duke last season.
One Final Thing
There are 55 new head coaches in NCAA Division I this year and Sunday's contest pits two of those 55 against one another. South Dakota has already faced another first-year head coach this season. That game was Nov. 16 against Tubby Smith's High Point squad.
