VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota basketball picked up its second straight win with an 89-74 victory over Southern Indiana Wednesday night in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. 
 
Shey Eberwein, making his fourth career start, poured in a career-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and had one rebound and two steals. He went 6-of-8 from the free throw line on a night where the Coyotes were 37-of-46 (80.4%) from the charity stripe. The Yotes' 46 free throw attempts are the most in a game since January 4, 2025 when they shot 51 against Denver in the SCSC. 
 
Isaac Bruns scored in double-figures for the fourth straight game with 18 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Cameron Fens added 12 points, four boards and a pair of blocks, while Jesse McIntosh had 11 points on an efficient 4-of-5 shooting with a pair of steals off the bench.
 
On a night where the Yotes attempted a season-low eight 3-pointers, they scored over half their points from the paint with 46 and connected on a season-high 37 free throws. The Coyote bench scored 33 points behind a combined 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting from McIntosh, Bince Buzelis and Jake Brack. 
 
The Screaming Eagles jumped out to the early lead, but the Yotes would weather the storm and take their first lead of the night off five straight points from McIntosh at 11-10. USI would regain the lead at the midway point of the first half, but an 8-0 Coyote run that saw four different Yotes score would give USD a 23-16 lead, a lead they wouldn't surrender for the rest of the game. Six straight points from Eberwein, capped off by a steal and slam dunk, pushed the advantage to double-digits for the first time at 29-18 with just over five minutes to go in the half. The Screaming Eagles responded and cut the deficit to four with 1:53 left, but an and-one 3-pointer from Bruns closed out a 9-1 run to end the half and USD led 44-32. 
 
Eberwein and Bruns led the way in the second half with 11 and 10 points, respectively, as South Dakota held onto a 10+ point lead for the entire final 20 minutes. A pair of free throws from Fens gave USD its largest lead of the night 19, 58-39, with 13:34 left in the game. Uzziah Buntyn dished out three of his five assists in the second frame, including a pick-and-roll alley-oop to Fens with five minutes remaining to take a 78-63 lead. Eberwein closed out the night scoring the final six Coyote points as USD won 89-72.
 
South Dakota closes out its three-game homestand Sunday when they welcome Western Michigan to the SCSC at 1 p.m.
 
Notes

• South Dakota moves to 2-2 on the season and 2-1 at home
• Shey Eberwein set a new career-high with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting
• The Coyotes eight 3-point attempts was a season-low and the first time attempting single digit triples since the 2023-24 season when they attempted nine at North Dakota (3/2/24)
• Isaac Bruns scored in double-figures for the fourth straight game to start the season and led the Yotes in rebounding with seven
• Jesse McIntosh has scored in double-figures in each of the last two games
• Cameron Fens and Vince Buzelis each recorded multiple blocks for the second time this season
• With five assists tonight, freshman Uzziah Buntyn has 13 helpers over his last two games
• Jake Brack had seven points and finished a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, had four rebounds, one assists and a steal in 18 minutes