VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota basketball welcomes South Carolina State to the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Sunday for the first meeting all-time between the two programs.
 
Quick Hitters

• The Yotes will look to improve to 4-1 on their home floor after falling on the road Thursday to SEC's Missouri.
• In the last home game against Western Michigan, the Yotes ended the game against the Broncos in a flurry with an 11-0 run over the final 4:32 of the second half. Uzziah Buntyn had a career day with 19 points, 14 of which came in the second half on 5-of-6 shooting with four 3-pointers.
• In the Coyotes win over Ozark Christian on Nov. 9, South Dakota set a new program record for points in a first half with 72, breaking the record of 70 points against Westmar in 1977.
• Preseason All-Summit League First Team selection Isaac Bruns ranks No. 5 in the conference at 16.8 points per game this season
• In his first collegiate game, Vince Buzelis recorded his first double-digit rebound game with 11 to lead the Yotes. Buzelis scored in double-figures for the first time in last week's game at Creighton with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and had three blocks.
• Evan Anderson, a redshirt freshman, has started the previous five games and has been a force on the offensive glass. Of his 20 rebounds on the season, 13 have been offensive. Jake Brack and Cameron Fens have also generated extra possessions for the Yotes with 12 offensive boards each.
• Bruns ranked No. 10 in the conference in scoring a season ago, and is the league's leading returner scorer at 14.6 points per game.
• South Dakota averaged 89.3 points per game on its home court a season ago, while holding visiting teams to a 77.3 points per game average. While the Yotes still averaged over 80 points per game on the road (81.6), they surrendered 89.5 points per game to the host teams.
• South Dakota was picked to finish fifth in the Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll and received one first place vote. Isaac Bruns was named to the conference's preseason first team. He was an All-Summit League Honorable Mention a season ago.
• Eric Peterson enters year four as the head coach of the South Dakota men's basketball team and holds a 46-56 overall record.

How to Follow

• Sunday's matchup between the Coyotes and Bulldogs will be available on Midco Sports and the Summit League Network.
• The radio call by John Thayer can be found on the Coyote Sports Network, KVHT 106.3 fm, or 95.7 fm, or on the Varsity Network app.

 
Series History

• South Dakota and South Carolina State will meet on the hardwood for the first time. 

Crashing the Glass

• Led by Evan Anderson's 13 offensive rebounds and Cameron Fens and Jake Brack who each have 12 through four games, the Coyotes rank No. 22 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the conference in offensive rebounds per game (15.5).
• Eight Coyotes have grabbed 6+ offensive rebounds this season and five have 8+.
• In Porter Ihen's 20-point, 13-rebound double-double, seven of his boards were off the offensive glass.
• Ihnen is the first Coyote this season to record a double-double. 

We've Got Options

• The Coyotes have had a different leading scorer in each of the last Five games.
• In two of the last three games, the Coyotes' leading scorer was a true freshman with Jesse McIntosh scoring 20 in a win over Ozark Christian College (11/9). Uzziah Buntyn paced the Yotes with 19 points and five 3-pointers in Sunday's win over Western Michigan.
• Redshirt-sophomore, Shey Eberwein, had a team-high 18 in a win over Southern Indiana, which also set a new career-high.
• Jordan Crawford had a team high and season high 18 points against Missouri, scoring 16 of his points in the first half of the contest.
• Isaac Bruns led the Yotes in scoring in the first two games of the year and averages a team-high 17.4 points per game.

Scoring in Bunches

• The Yotes finished last season ranked No. 3 in the NCAA at 85.2 points per game.
• After scoring in the high 70s in the first two games of the year, the Coyote offense has found its groove over the last four games for a 90.3 points per game average.
• South Dakota has scored over 80 points in three of the last four games games, including a 121 point outburst against Ozark Christian.

Bench Mob

• After ending the 2024-25 season with the No. 10 ranked bench scoring unit (30.88 pts/game), the Coyotes rank No. 27 in the NCAA at 38.0 bench points this season.
• A trio of freshmen in Jesse McIntosh, Uzziah Buntyn and Vince Buzelis are the leaders off the bench for USD.
• Buntyn's averaging 10.0 points per game, after dropping a career-high 19 points in Sunday's win over Western Michigan. He is shooting 52.5% from the field and 47.1% from deep.
• McIntosh, who made one start in the season opener, has averaged 8.0 points per game and has grabbed 4.2 boards per game.
• Buzelis has scored on average 6.8 points per game and grabbed 4.0 boards per game.

72 in a Half

• The Coyotes set a new program record with 72 first half points against Ozark Christian College.
• The Yotes were 28-for-47 (59.6%) from the field in the first 20 minute sand knocked down eight 3-pointers.
• South Dakota had 23 points off turnovers, 25 on second chances and 42 bench points in the opening half.