Box Score VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota sophomore point guard
A.J. Plitzuweit tied his career-high of 37 points including two free throws with 2.8 seconds left to lead the Coyotes to an 86-84 win against Oral Roberts Saturday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
The win stops a three-game skid for USD (12-9, 10-3 Summit), which had opened Summit League play with a 9-0 record. It moves the Coyotes two games ahead of Oral Roberts (11-10, 8-5) in the standings with three games to play. The two teams meet again Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Oral Roberts' sophomore point guard Max Abmas entered as the nation's second-leading scorer and did not disappoint. Abmas had 36 points on 13-of-18 shooting including a 7-of-9 effort from behind the arc. His look at a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced just off the rim and out.
"We talked about finding a way to win and we did that today," head coach
Todd Lee said. "We might have seen two of the best guards in the country with Max Abmas and
A.J. Plitzuweit going for 37 and 36 points. It was fun to win a game like that against a very good Oral Roberts team and it was great to be back in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in front of our fans and our Coyote Crazies."
Plitzuweit, though, made 8-of-11 from 3-point range and was 13-of-23 from the field. He scored 13 of the Coyotes' 15 points in the last 4:06.
It was a game that featured the top four scorers in Summit League play. Plitzuweit and Abmas were part of that quartet. South Dakota's
Stanley Umude and Oral Roberts' Kevin Obanor were the others. Umude sat the final nine minutes of the first half with two fouls and never got going. His last field goal came with 15 minutes to go and his line was 11 points, five boards and five assists. Obanor had 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting and led the Eagles with eight boards.
South Dakota's
Xavier Fuller was the "X" factor. He scored 13 of his career-high 22 points in the first half and helped stake the Coyotes to a 40-34 lead at the break. He was 8-of-13 from the field, 3-of-4 from the 3, and had seven rebounds to go with three steals.
Plitzuweit hit back-to-back 3's to give South Dakota its largest lead of the game at 55-42 with 13:50 left. Less than four minutes later, an Abmas three cut ORU's deficit to 57-56.
Oral Roberts' Carlos Jurgens tied the game at 71-71 with a pair of free throws with 4:20 to go and hit a 3 moments earlier. Jurgens scored 10 of his 14 points in the final five minutes as the teams went back and forth.
Plitzuweit hit a 3 and scored a driving layup that gave USD a 79-75 advantage with 2:57 showing. Abmas countered with a layup and then a deep pull-up 3 that gave Oral Roberts its first lead of the half at 80-79 with 2:18 on the clock.
Tasos Kamateros and D'Mauria Jones exchanged buckets before Plitzuweit hit his eighth 3-pointer that put USD ahead 84-82 with 1:28 to go.
Jurgens answered on the other end to tie the game at 84-84, and Plitzuweit had a layup roll off the rim on the other end. That gave ORU what turned out to be two tries for the lead.
Abmas missed a jumper near the right elbow, but the Eagles rebounded, and Jurgens had a good look for 3, but couldn't connect. Plitzuweit drove the length of the court, reached the paint, and was fouled by Jones who was trying to defend the play. The winning free throws followed.
USD was 12-of-20 from beyond the arc while ORU was 13-of-31. Both teams shot close to 51 percent from the field. South Dakota was 8-for-8 from the line, while the Eagles were 9-of-10.
Plitzuweit has scored at least 34 points in three of his last six games. He's averaged 29 points in that stretch. Abmas has averaged 29.5 over his last six games. He's made at least five 3-pointers in his last five.
