OMAHA, Neb.—South Dakota led by 27 points in the first half, got 17 points off the bench from Erik Oliver and scored a 91-69 road win at Omaha Thursday night inside Baxter Arena. The Coyotes have won the last six matchups in the series.
 
Tasos Kamateros led five Coyotes who scored in double figures with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting. He also had eight rebounds and six assists and truly set the tone the first half. South Dakota (14-10, 7-6 Summit) pounded the paint for 48 points and it was 12 first-half points from Kamateros that helped the Coyotes build their lead.
 
Felix Lemetti made a three-quarter court shot at the halftime buzzer for Omaha (4-21, 3-11) that made it 49-29 at the break and the Mavericks worked the lead down to 62-53 with 11 minutes to go. But Oliver and Xavier Fuller combined for 15 points during a 17-4 run that rebuilt the lead and South Dakota closed it out from there.
 
Lemetti had 18 points and Frankie Fidler led the Mavs with 22. No other Omaha player had more than seven. UNO shot 42 percent from the field including a 4-of-14 effort from 3-point range.
 
"It was a really great response from our guys after that game at North Dakota State Monday," said USD head coach Todd Lee. "When it got a little bit close and Lemetti got going, I thought X (Fuller) and Eric Oliver were huge for us. Eric really carried us for a while and X made some big shots and did a better job defensively during that stretch."
 
South Dakota made 20-of-35 shots in the first half in one of its highest scoring halves of the season. Kruz Perrott-Hunt made two of the Coyotes' four triples in the stanza and scored 11 of his 15 points. Oliver made all three shots he took and had seven points by the break. Defensively, USD forced 10 turnovers.
 
"Omaha is a completely different team at home than they are on the road, and they've played a lot of close games recently," said Lee. "Even on the road, they almost beat North Dakota State and they beat Kansas City the last time they were home. But we came in and really did a great job and to win by that many says a lot for our guys."
 
Hidden in the box score, but caught by Lee and praised after the game was the play of another non-starter, Damani Hayes, who played 30 minutes Thursday, but didn't take a shot and chased down five rebounds.
 
"He doesn't need the ball to affect the game," said Lee. "He doesn't force anything. He's going to rebound, he defends one through four and he's our defensive captain out there."
 
"Offensively, it was really good to see Eric have that kind of game because I think his confidence has waned at times and that's going to happen when you're in the first year with a new program. But we know he has the ability to score the ball. He's strong, he's got that fadeaway or step back he can make. Hopefully, he gains more confidence down the stretch."
 
South Dakota will play its fourth game in eight days Saturday in a 3 p.m. (CT) tip against Denver in Colorado.