VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota basketball got back to its winning ways at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Wednesday night with a 91-87 win over the Summit League leading Omaha Mavericks. The Yotes trailed by 15 with 15 minutes to go in the second half before flipping a switch and outscoring Omaha 42-23 to close out the 11th win in the SCSC this season.
 
Making his second career start as a Coyote, Dre Bullock erupted for a career high 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting with a career high six 3-pointers. Bullock also grabbed six boards and had two steals. Isaac Bruns followed Bullock with 23 points on an efficient 9-of-14 shooting, while Chase Forte and Ashton Smith rounded out the double-figure scorers with 14 and 13, respectively. Smith also grabbed a team high seven boards and rejected two Maverick shot attempts.
 
The Coyote offense ignited in the second half, connecting on 19-of-30 field goal attempts (63.3%) and 5-of-7 from deep. Bullock and Isaac Bruns connected on a combined 5-of-5 attempts from beyond the arc in the second half. Bruns was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field in the final 20, leading the Yotes with 15 points in the half.
 
The Yotes began to chip away at the Mavericks lead near the 10-minute mark of the second half but would finally breakthrough for their first lead of the second half off a 10-0 run. Smith got the run started with an and-one and Bullock would knock down back-to-back triples to put USD up 74-73 with 5:38 remaining. The lead would change hands seven times in the second half, but the advantage would remain in USD's favor at the 4:15 mark and beyond following a triple from Isaac Bruns that gave USD a 81-79 edge. Bullock knocked down a clutch trey, his third of the second half, with 42 seconds left to put the Yotes up 89-85 lead. Bullock would knock down a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds to close out the 91-87 win.  
 
Omaha controlled the first half and took a 50-37 lead into the halftime intermission behind a .633 shooting percentage. South Dakota shot .382 percent from the floor in the first 20 and were led by Bullock's 18 first half points. The Mavericks scored over half (28) of their points from the paint while also knocking down five 3-pointers. The Yotes grabbed the early lead on the first possession, but Omaha would take the edge back with seven straight and would stay out in front of the Yotes for the rest of the first half.
 
The Coyotes have the weekend off and will hit the road for their next game against Denver next Thursday in Denver, Colorado.
 
Notes

• South Dakota moves to 13-10 on the season, 11-1 at the SCSC and 4-4 in Summit League play
• Dre Bullock set a new career high with 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting. His six made 3-pointers were also a new career high
• Isaac Bruns matched his career high with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting
• Ashton Smith's 13 points were a career high and marks the third time in the last four games that he's scored in double-figures
• It was also Smith's seventh game of the season with multiple rejections
• Chase Forte had four steals on the night, his sixth game of the season with 3+ takeaways
• The Yotes outscored Omaha 54-37 behind a .633 shooting percentage in the second half
• It was the eighth home game of the season where the Yotes scored 90+ points and 10th time overall
• USD forced 16 Maverick turnovers and have turned opponents over 10+ times in five straight games and 20 times