Men's Basketball | 02.06.2019

The South Dakota men's basketball team takes its show on the road for a neutral-site contest with Omaha inside the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls Thursday night.
 
The Game
South Dakota returns to the state of South Dakota for six of its final seven regular season games while Omaha sandwiches Thursday's contest between a pair of home games. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. inside the Sanford Pentagon, a facility that USD boasts a 3-2 record in. The contest is the 25^th Division I game in the building, dating back to 2013.
 
Tickets are available via Ticketmaster or at the door while South Dakota season ticket holders receive the game as part of their season ticket package. The game will be carried on MidcoSN2 with an additional broadcast on ESPN+, part of the WatchESPN platform. 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

• USD Networking Opportunity: Students from USD are invited to attend an exclusive networking event prior to the game. Sanford Health, in partnership with USD, will host the event beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Pentagon's Three-Point Lounge. Students will have the opportunity to meet with HR staff from Sanford Health in both clinical and non-clinical fields.
• Be Social: Use the hashtag #SanfordSports during the game to be part of the conversation. Your posts could be featured on the Pentagon video boards during the event. 

The Mavericks
Omaha has won six of its last seven games and sits in second place in the Summit League with its 7-2 league mark. The only hiccup in the Mavericks' last seven games was a 10-point loss at South Dakota State. In its last game, Omaha toppled North Dakota 90-72 on Sunday behind 22 points from Zach Jackson and 20 points from JT Gibson.
 
Tabbed eighth in the preseason Summit League poll, Omaha has been a surprise team with its 7-2 record in the league. This was aided by a 5-1 month of January where the Mavericks shot 48.4 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from 3-point land, as part of averaging 82.5 points per game. Over the nine league games played, the Mavericks average 84.4 points per game, ranking third.
 
Jackson, a preseason first-team all-Summit selection, leads Omaha with 18 points per game as a total of five Mavericks reach double-digits. Gibson is second on the team with 14.4 points. Matt Pile tops the team with 7.3 rebounds, adding to his 10.4 points per game.
 
The Coyotes
South Dakota looks to find its winning ways against Omaha, holding a 9-13 overall record and a 3-6 league mark. The Coyotes are coming off a setback at Purdue Fort Wayne, which saw a bright spot of sophomore Stanley Umude pour in a career-high 32 points last Wednesday. 
 
Umude leads the team with his 14 points per game average and is joined in double-figure scoring by Triston Simpson (13), Trey Burch-Manning (12.1) and Tyler Peterson (11). Burch-Manning tops the team with 6.3 rebounds per game while Peterson is averaging a career-best 5.7 rebounds per game.
 
Simpson, a junior, has kept his assists per game right in line with his career average this season but has increased his scoring by 4.6 points per game. Last season he tallied 8.5 points per game but has seen that increase to 13.0.
 
The Series
South Dakota leads the overall series 57-49, while in neutral-site contests, it is even at 3-3. Omaha snapped USD's three-game series win streak earlier this season, 75-68, on Jan. 20. The two teams met in the Summit League Tournament quarterfinal round last season, with USD claiming an 87-73 victory, marking the last neutral-site game. 
 
One Last Thing
Since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, just three Coyotes have scored at least 30 points in a game. Umude tallied a career-high 32 points against Purdue Fort Wayne, joining Matt Mooney and Casey Kasperbauer in the high-scoring category over the past six seasons.