The Game
South Dakota looks to bounce back after a hard-fought overtime defeat with a Saturday matinee against North Dakota. The Coyotes went to Grand Forks and beat the Fighting Hawks 75-68 in their last matchup on Jan. 10.
 
The game will be streamed for free at GoYotes.com. Fans can tune into the game on the Coyote Sports Network with John Thayer, carried on KVHT 106.3 FM in Yankton/Vermillion or by using The Varsity Network app.
 
The Series
Saturday's game will be the 197th all-time meeting between UND and USD. South Dakota has won nine of the last 11 matchups in Vermillion, though this is the first meeting inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center since 2020. The Coyotes' win in Grand Forks earlier this season stopped the Hawks' four-game win streak in the series.
 
The Coyotes
South Dakota saw a season-long, five-game win streak end in an overtime loss to North Dakota State at home Thursday, 74-62. Tasos Kamateros' game-winning 3 came a split second after the second-half horn sounded and the Bison ran away in overtime to claim third place in the Summit League. Kruz Perrott-Hunt led the team with 24 points – his fifth 20-point effort of the season – while Mason Archambault dropped in 19.
 
Archambault and Perrott-Hunt scored 19 points apiece while Hunter Goodrick grabbed 19 rebounds in the earlier meeting between the two teams. Boogie Anderson, making his first collegiate start in place of the injured Xavier Fuller, had 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Kamateros added 10 points.
 
The Fighting Hawks
The young roster has stepped up for Paul Sather after losing players to injury this season. Freshman Paul Bruns, a native of nearby Jefferson, S.D., ranks 13th in the conference with 13.7 points per game and leads all freshmen in the Summit League. Sophomore transfer Matt Norman has provided a second scoring option with eight double-digit performances on the season. and connecting on 36 makes from deep.
 
North Dakota is coming off a 96-61 loss to South Dakota State in Brookings Thursday. Bruns was limited to seven points, but Ethan Igbanugo provided a spark off the bench with 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Caleb Nero (10.8 ppg) returned to the lineup recently for UND. He did not play in the first matchup against South Dakota. Bruns led North Dakota with 21 points and eight rebounds in the Jan. 10 game.
 
One Last Thing
Mason Archambault ranks seventh nationally in free-throw percentage with 93.7 percent from the line. He has made 25 straight from the charity stripe.