The Game
The regular season wraps up for South Dakota as they close out the season with the final pair of weekend games inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. The Coyotes take on the league-leader Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. Thursday night.
 
The game will be streamed on GoYotes.com. That stream will be broadcasted on Midco Sports and GoYotes TV. Fans can also tune into 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 and Oral Roberts will meet for the 21st time in series history Thursday. The two teams have split the last six meetings with ORU winning the previous meeting in Tulsa. The series is tied at 5 apiece with games being played in Vermillion.
 
In the previous meeting, South Dakota was coming off a long road trip. The game at ORU was their third game in five days and fatigue became a factor. The Golden Eagles went on to score 100 points for the third time this season while holding South Dakota to 53 points.
 
The Coyotes
The Coyotes end the season with two home games. South Dakota looks to build some momentum heading into the Summit League Tournament and break a four-game skid. USD owns a 7-5 record inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center this season. They have outscored their opponents 78 to 74 in home games and shoot 47 percent from the floor.
 
Three Coyotes scored in double-figures led by Mason Archambault's 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting against Denver. A.J. Plitzuweit had 12 points while Paul Bruns provided 14 points off the bench. Three Coyotes average double-figures in home games this season. Tasos Kamateros averages 15.1 points per game while Kruz Perrott-Hunt averages 15 points at home. Plitzuweit averages 14.6 points per game inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Kamateros (52 percent) and Plitzuweit (51 percent) shoot above 50 percent on the home floor while Perrott-Hunt shoots 44 percent. Bruns is next on the list at 9.4 points in home games this season.
 
The Golden Eagles
The league-leading Golden Eagles are looking to run the table and finish the regular season at 18-0 in conference play. Oral Roberts competed against the North Dakota schools last weekend and completed a perfect 16-0 record at home this season. ORU held off a scrapy North Dakota team for a three-point win before finishing the job against North Dakota State in its home finale. The Golden Eagles won the Summit League title after their victory over North Dakota.
 
Max Abmas is the favorite on earning his second Summit League Player of the Year award. Abmas averages the third-most points in the nation with 22.8 points per game. In the first meeting against South Dakota, Abmas went off for 31 points on 59 percent shooting. He also went 7-of-12 from deep in that game. He is coming off a 19 and 27-point performance in last weekend's games. Not only does Oral Roberts average the third-most points in the nation at 84.7 points, they also hold their opponents to 70 points. Part of that has to do with their rim-protector in Connor Vanover. Vanover, a 7-5 transfer from Arkansas, averages 3.4 blocks per game which is second-most in the country. Vanover averages 12.4 points on offense and stretches the floor with over four three-point attempts per game. Issac McBride, ORU's second-leading scorer with Vanover, had 20 points in the previous meeting against the Coyotes.
 
One Last Thing
The final week of the regular season has seeding implications on the line for the Summit League Tournament next weekend. If South Dakota goes 2-0 on the weekend and Western Illinois loses twice, USD can claim the No. 5 seed. The six seed belongs to South Dakota if USD goes 2-0 and Western Illinois wins once. They can also get the No. 6 seed if South Dakota wins the head-to-head matchup against Kansas City on Saturday and KC loses to South Dakota State. That combined with one North Dakota loss would give USD the No. 6 seed.