VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota basketball takes its two-game road win streak to Brookings, South Dakota to face South Dakota State Saturday for the Interstate Series, presented by First Interstate Bank at 5 p.m.

Quick Hitters

• South Dakota and South Dakota State renew its rivalry for the first time this season for the game of the Interstate Series, presented by First Interstate Bank on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Brookings, South Dakota.
• The Coyotes will look to snap a 10-game skid against the Jackrabbits. The last South Dakota win was during the 2020-21 season in Brookings with USD taking a 64-56 win.
• The Coyotes made it two straight years with 10 or more wins in the SCSC 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 picked up their second straight win on the road Thursday vs the Roos.
• Wednesday's win at KC was the fourth time this season the Coyotes scored over 80 points on the road. Three of those instances have occurred during the conference season (at North Dakota and St. Thomas).
• 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 each of the last three games. He's averaged 23.7 points during that stretch and has made nine or more free throws in each of the last five contests.
• After a streaky start to the year scoring the ball, Jordan Crawford has found his footing in the Coyote offense with eight straight games in double-digit scoring. Crawford's poured in 22 or more points in four of the last seven 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 17.5 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while shooting 61.3% from the field.
• Fens notched his eight double-double of the year Wednesday night with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Fens has five double-doubles in league play and has four 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.
• The trio of Crawford, Fens and Buntyn combined to score 136 of the Coyotes 161 points in the two games last week with all three players averaging over 20.0 points per game.
• South Dakota goes to the line frequently, ranking No. 8 in the NCAA in free throw attempts per game (26.8) and are No. 7 free throw makes per game (20.0). Through 10 Summit League games, USD is averaging 19.4 makes and 24.3 attempts.
• Eric Peterson is in year four as the head coach of the South Dakota men's basketball team and holds a 56-65 overall record.

How to Follow

• Saturday's matchup between the Coyotes and the Jackrabbits will be available on CBS Sports Network.
• The radio call by John Thayer can be found on the Coyote Sports Network on the Varsity Network app.

Series History

• South Dakota State enters Saturday's game with a 10-game winning streak over the Coyotes.
• The Jackrabbits won 90-71 over the Yotes in Brookings a season ago behind a 49-32 first half lead.
• The second meeting between the two teams was a high scoring affair inside the SCSC with the Jacks escaping with a 94-91 win.
• The last Coyote win in the series was on February 5, 2021, when the Yotes took the first of back-to-back games against SDSU 64-56 in Brookings.

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 4-5 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 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.
• The trio of Cameron Fens, Uzziah Buntyn and Jordan Crawford have increased their scoring output over the last five games and have combined to score on average 60.0 of USD's 77.8 points per game over that stretch.
• Crawford's paced the Yotes over the last five with a 21.8 points per game average with 20 3-pointers on 44.4% from deep.
• Buntyn's role continues to evolve in his freshman season and is averaging 20.2 points over the last five. He's 50-of-55 from the free throw line during this stretch.
• Fens has added 18.0 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 60.7% 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 two weeks ago. 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.
• 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.
• The Yotes picked up their second straight road win in another grinder of a game 82-75 at Kansas City Wednesday in overtime.
• The Yotes trailed 31-23 at the half, with 23 being the least amount of points scored in a half this season by USD but answered with 41 second half points to force overtime.
• The Yotes scored 18 points in the five-minute extra period with a pair of 3-pointers and went 8-for-8 from the free throw line.

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 four of nine Summit League games, shooting over 40.0% in those three games.
• Jordan Crawford has been on a heater lately, knocking down 33 triples on a 48.5% shooting percentage from deep over the last seven games. Crawford paces the team with 59 3-pointers and has 36 in conference games.
• 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 17.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 61.3% from the floor in Summit League play.
• Fens has scored 10+ in 17 of the last 19 games with eight 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 (206) and is No. 31 in double-doubles (8).