VERMILLION, S.D. – Senior Lahat Thioune scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to record his 12^th double-double of the season and help South Dakota defeat North Dakota State 88-68 in Vermillion Thursday night.
 
Thioune shot 65 percent from the field and went 5-of-5 from the free throw line to help South Dakota (12-18, 5-10 Summit) pick up a win in its last home game of the season. Max Burchill went 5-of-6 from three-point range and scored 17 points as the Coyotes went 10-of-16 from behind the arc as a team. Four of five Coyote starters scored in double-digits and five Coyotes notched double-figures. Bostyn Holt and Isaac Bruns each scored 11 points and Paul Bruns added 10 points with two triples.
 
Andrew Morgan and Jacari White each scored 16 points for North Dakota State (15-15, 8-7 Summit) and White knocked down four three-pointers. Damari Wheeler-Thomas rounded out the double-figure scoring for the Bison with 10 points on 44 percent shooting from the field.
 
Thioune, the lone senior on the Coyote squad, put on a show for his senior night celebration. The big man scored South Dakota's first 10 points to start the game and ended the first half with 20 points, just four points shy of his previous career-high. Burchill's third three of the first half gave South Dakota a nine-point lead and Thioune quickly followed with another bucket to give the Yotes their first double-digit lead of the game at 33-22 with just over five minutes to play until the break. South Dakota took a 45-31 lead into halftime and never looked back, leading by as many as 20 late in the second half.
 
South Dakota committed a season-low two turnovers and didn't allow North Dakota State to score any points off those. Meanwhile the Yotes forced eight Bison turnovers and scored 12 points off those. The Coyotes shot 54 percent from the field and 62 percent from three-point range in their largest margin of victory since the 93-71 win over Waldorf on Nov. 28.
 
The Bison won the rebounding battle 31-28 but both teams were solid in the paint, each scoring 36 points inside.
 
Holt dished out a career-high nine assists and Burchill's 17 points were just one point shy of his career-high. Isaac Bruns went 6-of-6 at the free throw line in racking up his seventh double-digit scoring game of the season.
 
South Dakota travels to Grand Forks to face North Dakota in the final game of the regular season. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. inside Betty Engelstad Sioux Center and the game will be streamed on the Summit League Network available via the Midco Sports Plus app.