VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota basketball heads West to face Air Force Saturday at The Monument in Rapid City, South Dakota at 3 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. MT.
 
Quick Hitters

• The Coyotes improved to 4-3 on the season and 4-1 at the SCSC Sunday afternoon with an 82-81 win over South Carolina State behind a career high 25 points from Jordan Crawford.
• USD has won four of its last five games and have scored 80+ points in all four wins. The Coyotes are averaging 85.4 points per game which paces the Summit League through the early part of the season.
• In the Yotes home win over 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 16.4 points per game this season
• The Coyotes have been among the best in the NCAA so far this season in crashing the offensive glass, ranking No. 6 in the country wiht 16.3 offensive boards per game.
• Four Coyotes have over 10 offensive rebounds this year with Jake Brack leading the way with 14. Cameron Fens and Evan Anderson have 13 each, while Vince Buzelis has 11.
• 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

• Saturday's matchup between the Coyotes and Bulldogs will be available on Midco Sports and the Summit League Network.
• The radio call by Rod Pattison can be found on the Coyote Sports Network, KVTK 101.5 fm, or 1570 fm, or on the Varsity Network app.

 
Series History

• South Dakota and Air Force will meet for the 11th time with the Yotes looking to end a two-game winning streak for the Falcons over the Yotes.
• The Coyotes and Falcons last met in the 2023-24 season with Air Force taking a 58-57 win over the Yotes in the SCSC. Jake Brack and Isaac Bruns saw the floor in that contest combining for 10 minutes of playing time.

 
Crashing the Glass

• Led by Jake Brack's 14 offensive rebounds, the Coyotes rank No. 6 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the conference in offensive rebounds per game (16.3).
• Cameron Fens and Evan Anderson each have 13 o-boards, while Vince Buzelis (11) is the fourth Coyote with 10+.
• 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 five of the last six games.
• Jordan Crawford had a team high and then season high 18 points against Missouri, scoring 16 of his points in the first half of the contest.
• Crawford followed that performance up with a 25-point outburst against SC State Sunday, which was a new career-high.
• 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.
• Isaac Bruns led the Yotes in scoring in the first two games of the year and averages a team-high 16.4 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 five games for a 88.6 points per game average.
• South Dakota has scored over 80 points in four of the last five 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. 36 in the NCAA at 35.3 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 made his first career start Sunday and is averaging 9.9 points per game, after dropping a career-high 19 points in the win over Western Michigan. He is shooting 51.1% from the field and 47.7% from deep.
• McIntosh, who made one start in the season opener, has averaged 6.9 points per game and has grabbed 3.7 boards per game.
• Buzelis has scored on average 5.9 points per game and grabbed 4.1 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.