SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—A first-half blitzkrieg in which Purdue Fort Wayne made 11 triples and doubled up South Dakota on the scoreboard led to a 96-70 Mastodon victory in the first round of the Summit League Tournament Sunday night at the Sanford PREMIER Center.
USD head coach
Todd Lee's first season at the helm of his alma mater concludes with a 13-17 mark. PFW (18-14), the No. 3 seed, advances to the semifinals for the first time since 2016. The Mastodons will face second-seeded Omaha in a semifinal matchup Monday at 8:30 p.m.
The Coyotes, winners of four of their previous five games, entered as one of the hottest teams in the league, while the Mastodons had lost four in a row. That didn't seem to matter at all as PFW made 12 of its first 19 shots, half of them 3's, and led 32-13 near the midway point of the first half.
Kason Harrell scored 11 of his game-high 21 points during the first stretch, though all-Summit guard John Konchar shared assists throughout his team. Matt Holba was 4 of 5 from downtown en route to 13 first-half points. PFW shot 59 percent in the first half (19-for-32) and 58 percent (33-for-57) for the game.
South Dakota got 21 points from
Stanley Umude and 15 from
Tyler Peterson, but 28 percent shooting in the first half (10-for-35) kept the Coyotes off the pace.
Triston Simpson added 12 points and a career-high eight assists. Senior
Trey Burch-Manning was injured in the second half chasing down a loose ball and did not return. His final stat line included four points, nine rebounds and a steal.
Konchar recorded his first collegiate triple-double and the first triple-double in Summit League Tournament history. He had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists before exiting with 7:35 left.
PFW finished 16-for-30 from beyond the arc. Holba and Konchar were a combined 8-for-13. South Dakota, which had made 3's at a 43-percent clip over its last seven games, was 6-for-29.
