The Game
Conference play in The Summit League has arrived and it begins Monday night in Vermillion where South Dakota hosts last year's Player of the Year Max Abmas and the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.
 
Tip inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center is 7 p.m. A FREE stream of the game is available here. You can also watch the game on Midco Sports. Fans can tune into the game on the Coyote Sports Network with John Thayer on the call. The radio broadcast carried on KVHT 106.3 FM in Yankton/Vermillion or by using The Varsity Network app.
 
The Coyotes
South Dakota is 6-0 at home this season and 13-2 at home over the last two. The Coyotes beat Northern Arizona and Bellarmine to begin this four-game home stand, which concludes Wednesday night against Kansas City. Senior guard Xavier Fuller scored 20 points in both of those games to pace South Dakota.
 
The Coyotes' best win in non-conference play was a 59-53 decision over Air Force in Sioux Falls in the season opener. Fuller and fellow guards Kruz Perrott-Hunt and Mason Archambault all are hovering around 13 points per game. Hunter Goodrick has averaged seven points and seven boards.
 
The Golden Eagles
There is still lots to learn about Oral Roberts this year. The Golden Eagles, of course, ran to the Sweet 16 as a No. 15 seed last March, but lost half of its dynamic duo when forward Kevin Obanor transferred to Texas Tech where he is averaging nearly 10 points for the Red Raiders. Abmas is down from 24 points per game to 20, but the 3's are still raining for the Golden Eagles who average 13 a contest.
 
Half of Oral Roberts' wins are against non-Division I teams. The Eagles have lost some tough road games at Colorado State, Oklahoma State (in OT) and TCU. The loss to Central Arkansas, with a NET of 339, is a head scratcher.
 
The Series
Oral Roberts lead the all-time series 9-8. South Dakota is 5-4 in Vermillion. Abmas' (7-9 3FG) 37 points were trumped by A.J. Plitzuweit's (8-11 3FG) 38 points in South Dakota's 86-84 win against Oral Roberts in Vermillion last season. It was the only meeting between the two teams as game two was wiped out by the pandemic.
 
One Last Thing
South Dakota has been outrebounded just twice this season. The Coyotes have also committed single-digit turnovers in three of their last four games.