The South Dakota men's basketball team battles North Dakota State at 8 p.m. Thursday night inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
 
The Game
The Coyotes and Bison clash for the second time this season as both teams are fighting for Summit League Tournament positioning. The contest is the second game of a doubleheader with the Coyote women, which tips-off at 5:30 p.m.
 
Thursday's game airs on MidcoSN and will be carried on ESPN+, part of the WatchESPN platform. A free live stream is available at GoYotes.com/Watch. Live audio is available on the Coyote Sports Network, including KVHT 106.3 FM (flagship) in Yankton/Vermillion. Audio is also available on GoYotes.com/Watch or on the TuneIn app.
 
The Promotions

• Bring a kid to the game: Buy one adult ticket at regular price, get a youth ticket free!
• Giveaway: First 500 fans will receive a Midco foam can koozie.

The @SDCoyotesWBB and @SDCoyotesMBB return home tomorrow for a doubleheader! Our game sponsor @Midcontinent and @MidcoSN are bringing it for the fans!

The first 500 fans receive a Midco Basketball koozie!

The contest prizes include a 55" 4k TV & JBL wireless earbuds! #GoYotes pic.twitter.com/bxgRlnoGg3

— South Dakota Coyotes (@SDCoyotes) February 27, 2019

The Bison
North Dakota State enters Thursday's contest with a 14-14 overall record and 8-6 in the Summit League. The Bison are holding steady in the fourth position of the Summit League standings with two games to play and are within striking distance with Purdue Fort Wayne in third.
 
Most recently, NDSU dropped a heart-breaking contest to Omaha, 58-50, after leading by eight points at halftime. The Bison controlled the game for 33 minutes before the Mavericks made their move. Vinnie Shahid led the way with 13 points, including four long-range baskets. Jared Samuelson added 11 points and Deng Geu 10 points.
 
For the season, Shahid leads the Bison with 12.9 points per game but over his last five games, he has averaged 20.4 points per game while shooting at a 57.1 percent clip. The balanced scoring attack for the season has Tyson Ward with 11.5 points and Geu at 10.8 points per game. Ward tops the team with 6.3 points per game.
 
The Coyotes
South Dakota looks to be peaking at the right time, averaging 83 points, 12 made 3-point baskets per game and hitting 44.4 percent of its 3-point attempts over the last five games. The 3-point field goal percentage tops the Summit League in the month of February while the 83 points and 12 long-range makes are second in the league over the same span.
 
The Yotes are 11-16 overall and 5-9 in the Summit League with two games to play. There is a lot to play for as USD can be seeded anywhere from No. 5 to No. 8 in the Summit League Tournament. Simply, the Coyotes can be the No. 5 seed by winning both remaining games coupled with an Oral Roberts loss on Thursday night.
 
As he has for the entire Summit season, sophomore Stanley Umude leads the Coyotes with 14.5 points per game. However, junior Triston Simpson has been pushing Umude with 13.9 points per game, a number that has risen to 15.8 points per game in Summit League action (more on Triston later). Senior Trey Burch-Manning has returned to form and is averaging 11.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Over his last three games, he is totaling 16 points and seven rebounds per game.
 
The Series
North Dakota State leads the overall series 96-80 while the Coyotes hold the series lead in Vermillion at 46-35. Over the past two seasons, the squads have split the series with the road team winning each of the four meetings.
 
One Last Thing
Since moving back to the Coyotes' primary point guard position on Feb. 7, Triston Simpson has totaled 21 assists against two turnovers. He is achieving that while averaging 39.2 minutes per game over the same span. For good measure, the junior also averages a steal a game over those five games.