The South Dakota men's basketball team edged Dakota State on Saturday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. With the win, the Coyotes closed out the first week of the season with a 2-1 record.
 
It was the third game in six days for a team looking to build chemistry with their new pieces. One of those new pieces came off the bench and produced 16 points on seven-of-13 from the field. Paul Bruns, the transfer from North Dakota, finally found his rhythm offensively to provide a spark off the bench.
 
"These are games that sometimes can get people going that need to get going and Paul was one of those guys," said USD head coach Eric Peterson. "I thought he was a lot better on defense and he has been and gave us a huge spark off the bench."
 
That spark was needed after self-inflicted wounds inhabited the Coyotes and found themselves down one at the break. Bruns scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and scored a driving layup at the 11:16 mark of the second half to put the Coyote lead up to double digits the remainder of the way. After shooting 34 percent from the field in the first half, South Dakota started to see shots fall and recorded a 56 percent shooting effort in the second half. USD built its lead to as much as 19 after an and-one conversion from Bruns at the 6:48 mark en route to an 82-64 win on Saturday.
 
A.J. Plitzuweit tied Bruns for the team-lead in points with 16 points. Plitzuweit continued to shoot the ball well with a five-of-nine mark from the floor including a four-of-five effort from downtown. Kruz Perrott-Hunt added in 15 points of his own on four-of-16 from the field and three three-pointers. Tasos Kamateros was the fourth Coyote in double-figures with 11 points and hauled in a team-high eight rebounds.
 
For Dakota State, Deshawn Kelly and Sam Muller led the offensive effort. Kelly scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-15 from the floor and knocked down three of his six three-point attempts. Muller was second on the Trojans with 19 points on nine-of-16 shooting. Muller recorded a double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds on the night as well.
 
South Dakota finished the game shooting 46 percent and 39 percent from three-point land. The Coyotes converted 15 of their 18 free-throw attempts for an 83 percent mark from the charity stripe. USD scored 33 points off the bench with the help of Bruns' 16 points. Felix Broström, Jeremiah Coleman, Max Burchill, and Mihai Carcoana each contributed multiple points off the bench.
 
South Dakota will get a break before its next contest next week. The Coyotes travel to Starkville, Mississippi, for a Thursday night game at 8 p.m. as part of the Fort Myers Tip-Off tournament. The team will then make the trip to Fort Myers for the two-day tournament the following week.