VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota basketball closes out a three-game homestand Saturday when they host the Summit League leading North Dakota State Bison in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center at 5 p.m.

Quick Hitters

• South Dakota picked up win No. 10 in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Thursday night 76-69 over Oral Roberts.
• Thursday's win makes it two straight years where the Coyotes have won 10 or more games in the SCSC, after posting a 14-2 mark at home a season ago.
• The Coyotes have been exceptional at home with a 10-3 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 86.4 points per game while holding visiting teams to 75.9 points in the SCSC while shooting 46.8% from the field. The Yotes have scored 80+ in five of the last seven home games including a pair of 90-point performances.
• Thursday night was the first game where the Yotes were held to under seven made 3-pointers since Dec. 18 (vs Prairie View A&M). Prior to yesterday's contest, the Yotes had knocked down on average 9.0 3-pointers per game at 40.3% clip over a nine game stretch (Dec. 20-Jan. 24).
• Uzziah Buntyn filled up the scoring column against the Golden Eagles with a career-high 26 points. It was Buntyn's first game crossing the 20-point mark, and he also connected on a career-high 14-of-15 from the free throw line.
• Since the start of league play, Cameron Fens has been dominant down low averaging 17.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 62.5% from the field.
• Fens notched his seventh double-double of the year Thursday with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Fens has four double-doubles in league play and has four games with multiple blocked shots.
• Trent Hudgens and Silas Bennion were added to the Coyote roster in the first week of January. Bennion has averaged 26.3 minutes per game and has started the last three games, while Hudgens plays 17.6 minutes per game.
• After playing in only four conference games a season ago, Cameron Fens has been dominant to open the Summit League slate. He is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double in Summit League games.
• 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.
• South Dakota goes to the line frequently, ranking No. 13 in the NCAA in free throw attempts per game (26.6) and are No. 12 free throw makes per game (19.7). Through eight Summit League games, USD is averaging 18.3 makes and 23.1 attempts. Thursday's game was the first Summit League game where the Yotes shot 30+ free throws.
• 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 55-64 overall record.  

 
How to Follow

• Saturday's matchup between the Coyotes and the Bison will be available on, Midco Sports, 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

• North Dakota State holds a 108-86 advantage in the all-time series history with the Coyotes.
• The Bison grabbed a 84-61 win in Fargo in the team's first conference games of the season on December 31.
• South Dakota had just seven available players for the first meeting with the Bison and have since added two players to the roster (Bennion and Hudgens) and had two players return from injury (Brack and Buzelis).
• The Coyotes will be without their leading scorer from the December 31 meeting, as Isaac Bruns (17 pts) will be out with an injury.
• NDSU had five players reach double-figure scoring, led by Treyson Anderson's 14 points, while Trevian Carson had 13 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals.
• South Dakota is right in the middle of the Summit League standings at No. 4 with a 4-4 mark, while the Bison are the frontrunner at 8-0.

Our House

• Thursday's win over Oral Roberts was the 10th win in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center this season.
• The Coyotes have now won 10+ games at home in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2016-18 when the team went 13-1 and 13-2 in consecutive seasons.
• With four home games remaining on the schedule, the Yotes have a chance to match last year's home win total of 14 games (14-2 in 2024-25).
• Thursday's win was just the fourth time this season the Coyotes have trailed at halftime in the SCSC.

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 4-4 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.
• Vince Buzelis returned to the court for the first time since the December 28 game against Mount Marty in Thursday's win over Oral Roberts. Buzelis pulled down nine rebounds and had three assists in 26 minutes of action.

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 averaged 9.0 3-pointers per game at a 40.3% clip over the next nine games.
• Thursday night was the first game where the Yotes were held to under seven made 3-pointers since Dec. 18 (vs Prairie View A&M).
• The Yotes have made 10+ 3-pointers in three of eight Summit League games, shooting over 40.0% in those three games.
• Jordan Crawford has been on a heater lately, knocking down 22 triples on a 51.2% shooting percentage from deep over the last six games. Crawford paces the team with 48 3-pointers and has 25 in eight conference games.
• Crawford set a new career-high of 27 points against the Mavericks on 10-of-16 shooting with five 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 five of the last seven games and eight 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 17.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while shooting 62.5% from the floor in Summit League play.
• Fens has scored 10+ in 15 of the last 17 games with seven 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

• Prior to suffering an injury, Bruns was on pace for roughly 644 regular season points, which would have been the third most by a Coyote in a single-season in program history.
• After his last played game on January 17, Bruns ranked No. 3 in the NCAA in total points with 415, trailing only Duke's Cameron Boozer and Hofstra's Cruz Davis at the time.
• Despite missing the last three games, Bruns still ranks top-30 in the NCAA in points and free throws made.