VERMILLION, S.D.—
Stanley Umude scored a game-high 27 points and
Tyler Hagedorn added 19 to lead South Dakota to a 91-81 win over Omaha Saturday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
The Coyotes (11-7, 2-2 Summit) improved to 2-0 at home in conference play while handing the Mavericks (10-9, 3-1) their first setback inside the Summit, and snapping Omaha's season-best, four-game win streak. The Mavericks were the lone remaining undefeated team inside the Summit entering the weekend.
Umude and Hagedorn led a USD starting five that all scored in double figures.
Tyler Peterson scored 14 points,
Cody Kelley added 12 and
Triston Simpson chipped in 10. Simpson (1,007) and Peterson (1,001), both seniors, each recorded their 1,000
th career point at USD during the contest.
KJ Robinson came off the bench to lead Omaha with 20 points. He made half of the Mavericks' eight 3-pointers. Omaha also had five players score in double figures. Wanjang Tut had 13, JT Gibson 12, Marlon Ruffin 11 and Matt Pile 10.
"I think it's a wide open conference, but you need to win your home games, and steal some on the road," said USD head coach
Todd Lee. "Playing a team that's in first place, and they've beaten two of the better teams in the league in Oral Roberts and South Dakota State, for us to beat them was a big win for us and a much needed win."
It was a back-and-forth game throughout until Umude took over down the stretch. Omaha took its largest lead of the game at 66-61 on a 3-pointer from Ruffin with 9:58 left. It forced a USD timeout, but it's also when the Coyotes made their move.
Umude scored 17 of the Coyotes' next 19 points, including 14 straight at one point, to flip the script. It started with a traditional 3-point play out of the break, included a monster slam dunk on another drive in which he was fouled, and two of his three 3-pointers. His free throw with 3:33 left gave South Dakota an 80-74 advantage.
Omaha countered with two free throws from Ruffin and a bucket by Zach Thornhill to close within two points, but Hagedorn made a pair of free throws, Simpson drove for a layup and Kelley made a pair at the line to make it 86-78 with a minute left. More free throws from Kelley and Simpson sealed the deal.
"When you win a game like that, sometimes guys just take over," said Lee. "You run offense, but you don't get anything because teams know exactly what you're doing, and eventually it comes down to guys stepping and making shots and that's exactly what Stan did today. To win a big game, guys got to step up sometimes and just knock down shots and that's what Stan did.
"He got on a roll, got the crowd into it, made some tough shots, made a couple 3's, and he hadn't been shooting the three very well, so that was good to see."
For as good as Umude was down the stretch, it was Hagedorn's play in the first half that kept the Coyotes close. Omaha shot 68 percent in the opening stanza behind 10 points each from its two top guards in Gibson and Robinson. But Hagedorn scored 14 first-half points including three triples and a 5-for-5 effort from the stripe. USD shot 44 percent in the first half, but only trailed 45-43 at the break.
Hagedorn, the nation's leading 3-point shooter entering the contest, made 4-of-5 from downtown and finished with game highs of eight rebounds and five assists. He also drew some fouls on Maverick big man Pile, the Summit's leader in rebounds and blocked shots. Pile had 10 points, eight boards and two blocks, but was limited to just 16 minutes – eight in each half – due to foul trouble.
The Coyotes won by shooting 55 percent from beyond the arc (10-of-18) compared to 31 percent for Omaha (8-for-26), and by out-scoring the Mavericks at the free-throw line 27-9. Hagedorn was 7-for-7 and has made 16-of-17 over his last two games. Kelley was 6-for-6. Omaha went to the line once in the first half where Gibson made a pair, and was 9-for-12 for the game.
South Dakota is inside a stretch in which they are playing five of six at home, but the one road trip comes Wednesday when the Coyotes travel to Fargo to take on North Dakota State (11-6, 2-1). The Bison are coming off a 79-73 loss at Oral Roberts Thursday, but have won six of their last eight overall.
