The Game
South Dakota begins the final road trip of the season with a Thursday night battle against the Omaha Mavericks. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. from Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb.

The game will be streamed for free on OMavs.com. Fans can also 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 leads the all-time series 64-50 after winning the first matchup in Vermillion in late January. The Mavericks have won 29 of the 51 matchups in Omaha, though the Coyotes have not lost in Omaha since 2019.

USD had a hot shooting day the last time these two teams met in Vermillion. The Coyotes shot 58.5 percent (31-53) from the floor and 55 percent (11-20) from three in that game. It still is the highest field-goal percentage for South Dakota this season. South Dakota has won seven consecutive games over the Mavericks. The last time the Coyotes lost to Omaha was in 2019 in a neutral site game at the Sanford Pentagon. It was a 107-102 overtime thriller that saw UNO pick up its second straight win over USD at the time. It was also the last time the Coyotes had scored 100 or more points and lost a game. Since then, it's been all South Dakota in the series as they own the all-time series over Omaha 64-50.

The Coyotes
The Coyotes dropped their second straight game with a 72-67 loss at South Dakota State last Saturday. USD had the lead with three minutes to go but were never able to find the hoop again as SDSU scored late baskets to take the second round of the South Dakota showdown series. Four Coyotes scored in double-figures in the game at SDSU. A.J. Plitzuweit led the team with 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Kruz Perrott-Hunt scored 15 points, Tasos Kamateros had 13, and Mason Archambault recorded 10 points. Damani Hayes had a team-high eight rebounds.

South Dakota had better percentages than South Dakota State in the game in Brookings on Saturday. USD went 24-for-54 from the floor (44.4 percent) and 10-of-22 from the three-point line (45.5 percent). The Jacks shot 37-of-62 from the field (43.5 percent) while making 7-of-26 three-point attempts (26.9 percent). It was just the second time this season that USD had better shooting percentages than its opponent and lost the game. The first time it happened was against Coastal Carolina in the final non-conference game. South Dakota shot 50 percent from the floor while Coastal Carolina shot 46 percent.

The Mavericks
It's been a rough month for Omaha as they have been on a losing skid since mid-January. After defeating North Dakota by six at home, the Mavericks have since lost their last nine contests and recently lost by three in overtime to the Fighting Hawks in Grand Forks. UNO has had some close games during this stretch including three losses by three points. They also went to Oral Roberts and fell by nine points and kept it close with St. Thomas in a six-point loss. The game against South Dakota in Vermillion was the third loss of the streak.

Sophomore forward Frankie Fidler has been consistent despite the wins not piling up. Fidler has scored in double-digits in 15 of his last 16 games including a season-high 33 points against St. Thomas earlier this month. The one time he did not score in double-figures was the game at South Dakota when he was held to four points. Fidler is coming off a 25-point performance in 42 minutes of play in the game at North Dakota. He went 8-of-14 from the field and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Luke Jungers, who went off for a career-high 27 points at South Dakota, has since seen his numbers fall down. The highest point total he's had since the game at South Dakota is nine at Oral Roberts and did not score in the recent game against North Dakota.

One Last Thing
It's the last two road games for South Dakota this season. The road has not been great to USD this season as they are 2-9 on road games this season. The Coyotes average 59.9 points and allow 74.6 points in road contests. They also shoot 39.7 percent from the floor and opponents shoot 45.8 percent from the field.