VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota basketball returns to the Sanford Coyote Sports Center fresh off its third straight road win to host North Dakota Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

Quick Hitters

• The Coyotes snapped a 10-game skid against South Dakota State Saturday with a 68-67 win in Brookings. It was the Yotes second win over the Jacks in Brookings in the Dl era (2020-21 season).
• The Coyotes have won 10 or more games in the SCSC for consecutive seasons following last Thursday's win over Oral Roberts. The Yotes posted a 14-2 mark at home a season ago.
• The Coyotes have been exceptional at home with a 10-4 record in the SCSC and have now won three straight games on the road. South Dakota has three remaining games in the SCSC, this Wednesday vs UND and against Omaha and South Dakota State (Feb 25 & 28) to close out the regular season.
• South Dakota's seen its fair share of adversity this season, but despite that the Yotes are No. 4 in the Summit League standings with a 6-5 record. The Coyotes have won three of their last four games, with all four games decided by seven points or fewer including two overtime games.
• The Coyotes average 86.2 points per game while holding visiting teams to 76.9 points in the SCSC while shooting 46.8% from the field. The Yotes have scored 80+ in six of the last eight home games including a pair of 90-point performances.
• Uzziah Buntyn has continued to step into larger roles as the season has progressed in his freshman season and has scored 20+ in three of the last four games. He's averaged 21.5 points during that stretch and has made nine or more free throws in five of the last six games.
• After a streaky start to the year scoring the ball, Jordan Crawford has found his footing in the Coyote offense with nine straight games in double-digit scoring. Crawford's poured in 22 or more points in four of the last eight games, including a career-high effort of 33 points with seven 3-pointers against the Bison last Saturday.
• Since the start of league play, Cameron Fens has been dominant down low averaging 17.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 61.0% from the field.
• Fens notched his ninth double-double of the year Saturday night with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Fens has six double-doubles in league play and has five games with multiple blocked shots.
• After playing in only four conference games a season ago, Cameron Fens has been one of the best 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.
• South Dakota goes to the line frequently, ranking No. 13 in the NCAA in free throw attempts per game (26.3) and are No. 11 free throw makes per game (19.6). Through 10 Summit League games, USD is averaging 18.4 makes and 23.3 attempts.
• Eric Peterson is in year four as the head coach of the South Dakota men's basketball team and holds a 57-65 overall record.

How to Follow

• Wednesday's matchup between the Coyotes and the Fighting Hawks will be available on Midco Sports, 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

• North Dakota won the series opener on January 17 over the Coyotes 96-80 in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
• The Coyotes will look to split the regular season series Wednesday. The Yotes swept the regular season in 2024-25.
• Jordan Crawford paced USD with 24 points and six 3-pointers, while Isaac Bruns had 21 points. The Yotes have been without their leading scorer, Bruns, since the January 17 game against UND.
• Greyson Uelmen paced the Fighting Hawks with 26 points. UND shot 54.8% from the field with 12 3-pointers in the win.
• In what was just his fourth game as a Coyote, Silas Bennion added 10 points (season high) with three assists.

Coyote Country

• For just the second time in the Dl era, the Coyotes picked up a win over South Dakota State in Brookings Saturday 68-67.
• The win also snapped a 10-game skid against the Jackrabbits.
• The trio of Jordan Crawford, Cameron Fens and Uzziah Buntyn combined for 48 of 68 points. Crawford led the way with 19 points and five 3-pointers, while Fens secured his ninth double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
• The Coyotes connected on 10+ 3-pointers for the 12th time this season, while their 13 free throw attempts are the lowest amount they've attempted in a game this year.

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 6-5 conference mark.
• Jake Brack made his return to the court for the first time since December 18 (vs. Dakota State) in the Jan. 21 game at Omaha.
• 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 28.5 minutes per game while Hudgens is averaging 15.1.
• Bennion was inserted into the starting lineup in each of the last six 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. Buzelis has started the last three games and matched a career-high of 12 points in last week's win over Kansas City.
• The trio of Cameron Fens, Uzziah Buntyn and Jordan Crawford have increased their scoring output over the last six games and have combined to score on average 58.0 of USD's 76.2 points per game over that stretch.
• Crawford's paced the Yotes over the last five with a 21.3 points per game average with 25 3-pointers on 42.4% from deep.
• Buntyn's role continues to evolve in his freshman season and is averaging 19.3 points over the last six. He's 51-of-58 from the free throw line during this stretch.
• Fens has added 17.3 points and 9.5 rebounds while shooting 60.3% from the floor.

Gritty

• 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 three weeks ago.
• It was the first road win of the season for USD. Since then, the Coyotes have won three straight road games.
• 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.
• That game also marked just the second time this season the Yotes won after trailing at halftime.
• 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.

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.
• Last Thursday against ORU 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 five of 11 Summit League games, shooting over 40.0% in three of those games.
• Since the January 17 game where Jordan Crawford knocked down six 3-pointers on eight attempts, the junior guard has 4.4 made 3-pointers per game on a 46.3% from deep.
• Crawford rewrote his career highs for points with 33 and 3-pointers with seven Saturday's game vs NDSU.

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 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 17.2 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 61.0% from the floor in Summit League play.
• Fens has scored 10+ in 18 of the last 20 games with nine 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.
• Fens ranks No. 31 in the NCAA and leads the conference in total rebounds (218) and is No. 30 in the country with nine double-doubles.