VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota basketball and Oral Roberts will meet for the first time this season Thursday night in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. The Coyotes have won five of their last six games in the SCSC, while the Golden Eagles are searching for their first Summit League win.

Quick Hitters

• The Coyotes have been exceptional at home with a 9-3 record in the SCSC and picked up their first road win last Wednesday 68-64 over Omaha. The Yotes are 1-0 in neutral site games. 
• The Coyotes average 87.2 points per game while holding visiting teams to 76.5 points in the SCSC while shooting 47.1% from the field. The Yotes have scored 80+ in each of the last five of the last six home games with a pair of 90-point performances. 
• USD has started to find the range over the last nine games, averaging 9.0 3-pointers per game at a 40.3% clip. South Dakota connected on average 6.0 triples per game in the first 13 games of the season. Jordan Crawford's been money over the last five games, knocking down 21 treys on a 52.5% connection rate. 
• Trent Hudgens and Silas Bennion were added to the Coyote roster in the first week of January. Bennion has averaged 25.5 minutes per game and has started the last two games, while Hudgens plays 18.5 minutes per game.
• After playing in only four conference games a season ago, Cameron Fens has been dominant in the paint to open the Summit League slate. He is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double in Summit League games at 15.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game while shooting 62.5% from the field.
• Junior guard Isaac Bruns was named to the Lou Henson Player of the Year Award Early Season Watch List in December. The award recognizes the top player in mid-major college basketball.
• Bruns has scored 20+ in 11 of his last 13 games played and increased his scoring average to 20.8 points per game which ranks No. 1 in the conference and No. 17 in the NCAA. 
• Bruns is No. 48 in the NCAA with 134 field goals made, No. 20 in free throws made (118) and No. 43
• in free throw attempts (140). 
• The Yotes lead the conference with an average of 12.14 offensive rebounds per game but have been held to under 10 offensive boards in six of seven Summit League games.
• South Dakota goes to the line frequently, ranking No. 16 in the NCAA in free throw attempts per game (26.1) and are No. 15 free throw makes per game (19.5). Through seven Summit League games, USD is averaging 17.3 makes and 21.1 attempts.
• 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 is in year four as the head coach of the South Dakota men's basketball team and holds a 54-64 overall record.  

How to Follow

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

Series History

• Oral Roberts holds a 14-12 lead all-time against the Coyotes, but South Dakota swept the series in 2024-25. 
• In last year's matchup in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center, the Coyotes a 10-point first half lead (43-33) on their way to a 92-82 win. 
• Isaac Bruns had 15 points and five rebounds on 5-of-11 shooting. 
• The Yotes shot 51.7% from the field and converted 25-of-30 attempts from the free throw line. 
• Oral Roberts was held to 43.3% from the field and was 12-of-21 from the free throw line. Only one player that played against the Coyotes a season ago is on this year's roster in Luke Gray who had seven points in 14 minutes of action in the SCSC a season ago.

Gritty Win

• Playing without one of the NCAA's top scorers in Isaac Bruns for the first time this season, the Coyotes picked up a gritty road win at Omaha 68-64 last Wednesday night. It was the first road win of the season for USD. 
• In the absence of Burns, Jordan Crawford let it fly on his way to a career high 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting with five 3-pointers. Uzziah Buntyn and Cameron Fens had 17 and 16 points, respectively as the trio combined to score 60 of USD's 68 points.
• Silas Bennion made his first career start as a Coyote and had a team-high four assists in a season-high 32 minutes of action.
• Wednesday also marked just the second time this season the Yotes won after trailing at halftime. 
• The Coyotes scored just six points in the first 10 minutes of the game but held their own defensively allowing just 13 for the Mavs.
• South Dakota held Omaha to 1-for-19 (5.3%) from the 3-point line in the game.
• The trio of Crawford, Fens and Buntyn scored 39 of the 40 second half points.

Next Man Up

• South Dakota has seen eight players go down and miss extended time with injuries this season. 
• Despite that the Coyotes still find themselves in the middle of the Summit League standings with a 3-4 conference mark.
• Jake Brack made his return to the court for the first time since December 18 (vs. Dakota State) in last Wednesday's game at Omaha and played 15 minutes. He scored two points, had a rebound and an assist. 
• Silas Bennion and Trent Hudgens were added to the roster prior to the first meeting with St. Thomas and have plugged right into the rotation. Bennion's averaging 25.2 minutes per game while Hudgens is averaging 20.0. 
• Bennion was inserted into the starting lineup in each of the last two games.
   

Finding the Range

• After averaging just 6.0 3-pointers made in the first 13 games of the year on a 32.4% rate, the Yotes are averaging 9.0 3-pointers per game at a 40.3% clip over the last nine games.
• The Yotes have made 10+ 3-pointers in three of seven Summit League games, shooting over 40.0% in those three games. 
• Jordan Crawford has been on a heater lately, knocking down 21 triples on a 52.5% shooting percentage from deep over the last five games. Crawford paces the team with 47 3-pointers and has 24 in six conference games.
• Crawford set a new career-high of 27 points against the Mavericks on 10-of-16 shooting with five 3-pointers. 
• While Isaac Bruns does most of his work in the midrange and in the paint, the junior guard has connected at a 60.0% clip over his last seven games with 15 made 3-pointers. 

Man in the Middle

• Cameron Fens had a monster night in the Coyotes home win over Kansas City. The Coyote center set new career highs of 31 points and 15 rebounds on 10-of-14 shooting.
• Fens' 15 rebounds are the most by a Coyote since Lahat Thioune's 19 rebounds against North Dakota State (12/29/23).
• Fens has secured double-digit rebounds in four of the last six games and seven times this season.
• Fens has now set career highs in both points and rebounds in the same game twice this season, as he scored 22 points and had 14 rebounds earlier this season against Prairie View A&M.
• After playing in just four Summit League games a season ago due to injury, Fens has averaged 15.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks while shooting 62.5% from the floor in Summit League play.
• Fens has scored 10+ in 14 of the last 16 games with five double-doubles.
• He had three straight double-doubles (1/10-1/17) where he averaged 22.3 points and 13.7 rebounds per game while shooting 75.8% from the field.

Bruns by the Numbers

• Isaac Bruns is one of the NCAA's elite scorers in his junior season, ranking No. 17 in the nation and No. 1 in the conference in points per game (20.8).
• Bruns is among the best in the NCAA at getting to and converting at the free throw line as he ranks No. 20 in the country in free throw makes (118), No. 43 in attempts (140) and is converting at an 84.3% clip.
• Bruns has scored in double-figures in every game he's played this season and has 12 games with 20+ points.
• He ranks No. 48 in the NCAA in field goals (134) and No. 24 in field goal attempts (300).
• Bruns rewrote his career-high point total with a 29-point performance in the win over Prairie View A&M.
• Over a stretch of six games (11/29-12/18), he scored 20+ points in all six games, averaging 25.7 ppg.
• Through the five Summit League games he's played in, Bruns is averaging 20.8 points per game on .486/.563/.885 shooting splits.  

The New Guys

• Reinforcements arrived last week for a Coyote squad dealing with a number of injuries in Trent Hudgens and Silas Bennion.
• Bennion has started the previous two games and has seen in uptick in minutes played. He's been on the court for 32 minutes in each of the last two contests.
• Hudgens was second on the team with 17 points in his debut against St. Thomas. He scored all 17 points in the second half of the contest on 5-of-7 shooting with one 3-pointer. He also led the team with four assists on the night. 
• Hudgens was a 2023-24 Third Team NAIA All-American at Arizona Christian (2022-25) where he helped the Firestorm to three regular season GSAC Championship. In his sophomore season at ACU, Hudgens and the Firestorm advanced to the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Tournament.
• Hudgens' previous stops also included Northern Colorado (2020-21) and Santa Clara (2021-22).
• Bennion spent two seasons at Jamestown (2023-25) and Lewis - Clark State (2021-23). 
• He was a 2024-25 NSAA First Team All-Conference selection and a 2023-24 First Team All-GPAC honoree for the Jimmies. 
• Bennion led Jamestown in scoring a season ago at 16.5 points per game to go with 3.5 assists and 3.7 rebounds. He scored a career-high 38 points against Dickinson State in his junior year (2023-24).
• Bennion scored a season-high 10 points against North Dakota Saturday, with all 10 points in the first half, and dished out three assists. 
• Bennion dished out a team-high and season-high six assists in Saturday's loss to St. Thomas.
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