The Game
South Dakota returns home after a three-game road trip to face off against the North Dakota schools this weekend. The Coyotes will host North Dakota State first on Thursday night at 7 p.m. inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.

The game will be televised on Midco Sports 2 with Jay Elsen and Shon Morris on the call. That broadcast can be found on Midco+ and ESPN+ as well. There is a free stream available for tonight's game on GoYotes.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
Thursday's game will be the 187th rendition between these two schools. It's a rematch from earlier in January in which the Bison won 73-61 in Fargo. The last meeting saw the Bison make a characteristic late-game push to down South Dakota 73-61. USD ended the first half on fire as a 12-0 run put them ahead 33-25 at the break. However, NDSU ended the game on a 12-0 run to win its third of five straight wins. Kruz Perrott-Hunt led the team with 26 points in that game.

The Coyotes
South Dakota closed out the road trip with a loss at Oral Roberts Monday night. The team is right back at it with two more games in a small stretch and is set for its fourth game in eight days. The Coyotes enter the final month of the season looking to jump into the top-half of the Summit League standings.

Mason Archambault has continued to show up offensively and defensively in recent games. Archambault has scored in double figures in five of the last six games highlighted by a 16-point effort at Western Illinois on Jan. 26. The 16 points were his second-most of the season behind a 19-point performance against LIU in Fort Myers. Archambault led the team in scoring Monday with 11 points on 4-of-11 from the field. He now has seven double-digit scoring outings this season and 37 in his career. He continued his five-game steal streak with one steal Monday night against Oral Roberts and now has 19 games under his belt in which he recorded at least one steal.

The Bison
David Richman's young Bison squad head into Vermillion off a win over rival North Dakota last Friday in Fargo. The win snapped a quick, two-game skid for the Bison with losses to Oral Roberts and Kansas City at home. Junior forward Grant Nelson had one of his best performances as a Bison in the win over UND. Nelson scored 36 points on 13-of-20 shooting and made 2-of-5 from the arc. Boden Skunberg, NDSU's second-leading scorer, scored 17 points against North Dakota. Skunberg went 7-of-14 from the floor and 1-of-5 from the three-point line. He and Nelson both recorded seven rebounds. Tajavis Miller was the third Bison in double-figures with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Nelson continues to lead the charge on offense for North Dakota State. The Devils Lake, North Dakota, native averages 17 points per game, sixth-best in the Summit League. He also averages the second-most rebounds in the conference at 7.8 per game. Of the 19 games he's played this year, Nelson has 16 double-digit performances including three 30-plus point outings. North Dakota State enters the final month of the season in fourth place in the Summit League.

One Last Thing
Perrott-Hunt hit a career milestone in Monday night's game. He has now played in 100 career games as a Coyote. The junior guard is set to accomplish another feat soon as he is 19 points away from 1,000 career points.