The Game
After a week off from play, South Dakota is set for round two of the Showdown Series. The Coyotes and Jacks meet in Brookings at 6 p.m. inside Frost Arena.

The game will be televised on Midco Sports with Tom Nieman and Brad Newitt on the call. There is a paid stream available on GoJacks.com as well. 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
South Dakota State leads the all-time series 134-98 and have dominated on its home floor with an 82-24 margin at home. However, USD's last win in the series came at Frost Arena in the 2020-21 season. The Coyotes won 64-56 in the first game of two that weekend.

The Jacks turned up the defensive effort in the previous meeting as they held South Dakota to 37 percent shooting and 33 percent from three. Matt Dentlinger tied a career-high of 26 points in that meeting, initially set against South Dakota as well in 2020.

The Coyotes
It has been an up-and-down stretch recently for South Dakota. In their last seven games, the Coyotes have gone 3-4. When they lose a game, they bounce back with a win. Coming off a loss in its last game, USD looks to keep that pattern going with a win Saturday at State. Kruz Perrott-Hunt and Tasos Kamateros were the two Coyotes in double-figures in the previous game. Perrott-Hunt led the team with 18 points on 5-of-14 shooting while Kamateros added 16 points on 6-of12 shooting and a team-high nine rebounds.

After scoring 18 points against North Dakota, Perrott-Hunt has now scored in double figures in 13 consecutive games. He has 18 such performances this season and 52 in his career. He also has five 20-point performance this season and 10 in his career. He has the most double-digit scoring outings and 20-point efforts on the team this season. On his second basket of the game, Perrott-Hunt surpassed 1,000 points in his Coyote career.

The Jacks
South Dakota State has won its last three games heading into Saturday's game including two of their best performances of this season. In their 96-73 win over UND, the Jacks shot 61.7 percent from the floor, 58.3 percent from three, and made 37 field goals. Those marks were the highest for the team this season. In the 90-85 win over NDSU, Zeke Mayo recorded a career-high 41 points. SDSU currently stands alone in second place in the Summit League standings at 9-4.

Mayo, who leads the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists, has been on a recent three-game tear. It started with a 24-point performance at Kansas City followed by a double-double effort of 14 points and 10 rebounds against North Dakota and capped by the 41-point performance versus NDSU. Mayo has shot 50 percent from the floor and 52 percent from three in his last three outings. He was recognized with the Summit League Peak Performer of the Week and the Lou Hensen Award National Player of the Week.

As if Frost Arena wasn't difficult enough to play in, the Jacks are 8-1 on their home floor this year. SDSU lost its home opener to Stephen F. Austin and have not lost since in Brookings. The last time South Dakota State lost a conference game at home was to South Dakota on Feb. 5, 2021.

One Last Thing
The season is coming down the stretch as there are only five games left in the year. Saturday's game marks the beginning of three-straight games on the road. The Coyotes travel to Omaha and Denver next week for the final pair of road games this season before closing out the regular season at home versus Oral Roberts and Kansas City. It's a tight race in the league standings heading into the final three weeks of the regular season. South Dakota enters Saturday's game in seventh place but are only one game behind from fourth place in the Summit League standings.