Halfway through the Summit League schedule, the South Dakota men's basketball team begins its second tour through league play at Purdue Fort Wayne Wednesday night.  
 
The Game
South Dakota leaves the state of South Dakota for just the second-to-last time in the regular season with the 6 p.m. (CST) contest inside Gates Sports Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Purdue Fort Wayne concludes a three-game home stand that began with a loss to Omaha on Jan. 24.
 
The Mastodons
Purdue Fort Wayne sits 5-3 in Summit League action with a 13-10 overall record. The Mastodons just snapped a three-game losing streak, which began with a loss to South Dakota on Jan. 13, in a 91-81 victory over Denver on Saturday. Matt Holba tallied a career-high 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Mastodons to the win. John Konchar had 15 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals in the contest.
 
Konchar, a first-team all-Summit selection, leads Purdue Fort Wayne in points (18.9), rebounds (8.6), assists (5.1) and steals (1.6) as one of the top players in the league and mid-major ranks. Kason Harrell and Holba join him in double-figure scoring at 16.4 and 10.7 points per game, respectively.
 
The Coyotes
South Dakota, 9-12 overall and 3-5 in league play, dropped its contest to Western Illinois on Saturday 65-59. The Coyotes held a 12-point advantage early in the second half before a nearly seven-minute scoreless drought hit the Yotes. Junior Triston Simpson led USD with 17 points and six rebounds while senior Trey Burch-Manning had 14 points, aided by four 3-point baskets. Junior Tyler Peterson tied a career-high of 12 rebounds.
 
For the season, sophomore Stanley Umude leads the Coyotes with 13.1 points per game with Simpson at 13.0 points. Burch-Manning and Peterson also tally double-digit scoring at 12.4 and 11.4 points per game, respectively. Burch Manning tops the team with 6.4 rebounds per game and currently ranks 22^nd in USD history with 569 rebounds in his Coyote career.
 
The Series
South Dakota took the series lead at 9-8 with its win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Jan. 13. The Coyotes have now won five-straight games in the series dating back to Jan. 14, 2017. The Mastodons hold the series lead at 4-3 in games played in Fort Wayne.
 
One Last Thing
After spending most of the month of January on the road, the Coyotes play a neutral-site contest to open February with a Summit League game against Omaha in the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7. Tickets for that game can be purchased through Ticketmaster or at the Pentagon Box Office.