VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota basketball welcomes NAIA's Dakota State to the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
 
Quick Hitters

• The Coyotes look to make it two in a row Wednesday night in the SCSC when they host Dakota State.
• Isaac Bruns has scored 20+ in each of the last five games and increased his scoring average to 20.5 points per game which ranks No. 2 in the conference and No. 25 in the NCAA.
• Bruns ranks No. 14 in the NCAA with 79 field goals made, No. 6 in free throws made (75) and No. 10 in free throw attempts (90).
• Bruns and Cameron Fens each set new career highs in Saturday's win over PVAMU. Bruns poured in 29 points, while Fens tallied a 22-point, 14-rebound double-double. It was Fens' second double-double of the season
• The Coyotes pace the Summit League with an 84.3 points per game average. The Yotes have scored 80 or more points in seven games this season.
• Cameron Fens' first double-double of the season was an 18 point, 11 rebound performance in last Saturday's game at Northern Colorado.
• The Coyotes have been among the best in the NCAA so far this season in crashing the offensive glass, ranking No. 16 in the country with 14.7 offensive boards per game. USD has secured 10+ offensive rebounds in 10 of the first 12 games.
• South Dakota has gone to the line frequently through the first 12 games, ranking No. 6 in the NCAA in free throw attempts per game (29.0) and are No. 5 free throw makes per game (21.4).
• Bruns ranks No. 10 in the NCAA in free throw attempts (90) and is converting at an 83.3%.
• 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.
• 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 49-59 overall record.

How to Follow

• Wednesday's matchup between the Coyotes and Trojans will be available on Midco Sports Plus and the Summit League Network
• The radio call by John Thayer can be found on the Coyote Sports Network on the Varsity Network app.

Series History

• South Dakota holds a 14-0 record over Dakota State.
• The series history dates back to 1908-09 when the Coyotes won 28-22 in the first ever meeting between the two teams.
• Wednesday will be the first meeting since the 2022-23 season when USD won 82-64 in the SCSC.

Career Days

• A pair of Coyotes in Isaac Bruns and Cameron Fens had career days for the Yotes in Saturday's 97-85 win over Prairie View A&M.
• Bruns set another new career high point total, a common theme lately, with 29 points on 9-of-17 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers. Bruns also grabbed eight rebounds and went 9-of-12 from the free throw line.
• Fens notched his second double-double of the season with new career highs of 22 points and 14 rebounds. Four of his boards were off the offensive glass. He connected on 10-of-13 field goal attempts and was 2-for-3 from the free throw line.

Ice is Heating Up

• Isaac Bruns has filled up the scoring column over the past five games with five straight 20+ point performances.
• In three of those five games, Bruns has rewrote his career-high point total most recently against PVAMU Saturday with 29 points.
• Bruns is averaging 26.2 points per game in the last five and is shooting 46.6% from the field.
• Bruns has taken advantage of his trips to the charity stripe going 44-for-51 (86.3%) over the last five.
• Bruns is among the best in the NCAA at getting to and converting at the free throw line as he ranks No. 6 in the country in free throw makes (75) and No. 10 in attempts (90).
• He ranks No. 14 in the NCAA in field goals (79) and No. 2 in field goal attempts (186).
• During the current five-game stretch, he has also averaged 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.
• Bruns ranks No. 2 in the conference and No. 35 in the NCAA at 20.5 points per game.

PPOTW for Isaac

• Isaac Bruns became the first Coyote this season to be named a Kwik Star Summit League Peak Performer of the Week Tuesday.
• Bruns poured in a then career high 24 points against Air Force Saturday and had six rebounds (four offensive).
• Bruns was key to holding off a second half run by the Falcons, as he scored 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting in the final 20 minutes to lead the Yotes to an 80-63 win in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Crashing the Glass

• Behind six players with 10+ offensive rebounds on the season, the Coyotes rank No. 16 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the conference in offensive rebounds per game (14.7).
• Cameron Fens pulled down six offensive boards in the loss at Northern Colorado and leads USD with 24 on the season. Fens also secured his second double-double of the season with 22 points and 14 rebounds (both career highs) in Saturday's win over PVAMU.
• Isaac Bruns and Jake Brack are second and third on the team with 23 and 17 offensive boards, respectively.
• Vince Buzelis (15), Evan Anderson (15) and Uzziah Buntyn (14) are the other Yotes with double-digit o-boards.
• The Yotes have pulled down 10+ offensive rebounds in 10 of 12 games to start the season.

Freebies

• South Dakota ranks in the top-10 in the NCAA in both free throw attempts per game (6th) at 29.0 and free throw makes per game (5th) at 21.4.
• Bruns has converted 75 of his 90 attempts at the charity stripe, while Uzziah Buntyn is second on the team and is 39-of-50.
• Five Coyotes with 20+ free throw attempts on the year are shooting at a 72.0% clip or higher.
• The Yotes have attempted 30+ free throws in five games this season, including a season-high 37-of-46 in the win over Southern Indiana. USD has made 20+ in six contests.

We've Got Options

• South Dakota has had a different leading scorer in five games so far this season.
• Isaac Bruns has led the Yotes in scoring seven times and in each of the last five games.
• Jordan Crawford is the only other Coyote to lead the team in scoring on multiple occassions. Crawford did that in back-to-back games with 18 points at Missouri and 25 against South Carolina State, which was a new career-high.
• The Coyotes have been led in scoring by a true freshman in two games this season with Jesse McIntosh scoring 20 in a win over Ozark Christian College (11/9) and Uzziah Buntyn pouring in 19 points and five 3-pointers in the 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.
• South Dakota had five players score in double-figures for the first time this season in last Saturday's game at Northern Colorado.

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 and has a Summit League leading 84.3 points per game average.
• South Dakota has scored over 80 points in seven of the last 10 games, including a 121 point outburst against Ozark Christian.
• The Yotes pace the Summit League in points per game.

Feed the Big Fella

• Cameron Fens has scored in double-figures in five of the last six games, and broke out for a career-high 22-point, 14-rebound game against PVAMU.
• It was Fens' second double-double of the year.
• His first double-double of the season was against Northern Colorado as he scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds.
• He has seven games this season with 10+ points and is shooting 53.1% from the field.