The Game
The regular season comes to an end on Saturday. South Dakota and Oral Roberts will square off in Tulsa in a potential preview of a first-round Summit League Tournament game.
 
A free stream of the game will be provided on ORUathletics.com. Fans can tune into the game on the Coyote Sports Network with John Thayer on KVHT 106.3 FM in Yankton/Vermillion or by using The Varsity Network app.
 
The Series
Oral Roberts has won 10 of the 18 matches against South Dakota with eight of those being played in Tulsa. The Coyotes and Golden Eagles last met in Vermillion on Dec. 20 to open conference play. ORU's Max Abmas scored 32 points, but it was Oral Roberts' supporting cast led by transfer guards Issac McBride and Trey Phipps that made the difference in an 82-73 win against South Dakota.
 
 
The Coyotes
USD saw its four-game win streak come to an end Thursday night in Kansas City. The Roos managed to get out to an early lead and hold off a late push by the Coyotes who trimmed the lead down to six points with 2:47 left in the game. Tasos Kamateros recorded 15 points and Hunter Goodrick scored 12 points to pace the Coyote offense.
 
In the last meeting in Vermillion, South Dakota got 21 points from Kruz Perrot-Hunt, 20 from Kamateros, and 19 from Xavier Fuller. The Coyotes committed just three turnovers and surrendered just two offensive rebounds in that game back on Dec. 20.
 
The Golden Eagles
Oral Roberts is led by one of the nation's premier scorers in Abmas, who is averaging 24.6 points per game in Summit play. McBride and Phipps are averaging 14 and nine points, respectively, to keep defenses honest. The Golden Eagles live on the arc. They take 30 three-pointers per game on average and make nearly 12. Both numbers help fuel the nation's fourth-best offense at 83.7 points per game.
 
Oral Roberts nearly gave South Dakota State their first conference loss Thursday night in Tulsa. The Golden Eagles and Jackrabbits combined for 208 points in an overtime battle inside the Mabee Center. ORU shot nearly 50 percent from the field and had four scorers in double-digits led by Abmas' 34 points.
 
One Last Thing
After Thursday's results, South Dakota locked themselves as the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Summit League Tournament. The Coyotes will play either Kansas City, Oral Roberts, or North Dakota State in a first-round game at 6 p.m. Sunday, March 5.