VERMILLION, S.D. — The No. 4 seed South Dakota basketball team opens the Summit League Tournament Friday night against No. 5 Omaha at 6 p.m. at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Coyotes enter postseason play on a two-game win streak after beating both Omaha and South Dakota State at home last week.
 
Quick Hitters

• South Dakota and Omaha met on the hardwood in the final week of the regular season, with USD completing the regular season sweep of the Mavs with an 89-72 win in the SCSC.
• Jordan Crawford was another level in the two meetings with the Mavs this season, as he averaged 26.5 points on 18-of-28 shooting (64.3%) and knocked down 10-of-17 from beyond the arc (58.8%).
• The Coyotes capped off the regular season with a 75-70 win over SDSU last Saturday, marking the first time since the 1996-97 season where the Yotes swept the regular season over their rivals.
• The Yotes played just one neutral site game in the regular season. South Dakota and Air Force met in Rapid City, South Dakota with the Yotes picking up an 80-63 win.
• Since joining the Summit League, the Yotes are 7-13 at the conference tournament and 1-3 under head coach Eric Peterson. As the No. 5 seed last year, USD won 85-84 over North Dakota State but fell in the semifinals to the eventual champions No. 1 seeded Omaha.
• Cameron Fens was as dominant as anyone in the conference during league play and was named to the All-Summit League First Team and All-Defensive Team.
• Fens averaged 17.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game while shooting 60.9% from the field in league play. He had a double-double in nine conference games. He was the only player in the conference to average a double-double.
• Fens notched his 12th double-double of the year at Oral Roberts (Feb. 21) with 25 points and 13 rebounds and has nine in league play. His streak of five straight games with a double-double ended last as he battled foul trouble throughout Wednesday's game. Fens averaged 21.2 points and 11.8 rebounds over that five game stretch.
• Jordan Crawford was named to the All-Summit League Second Team after averaging 17.0 points per game (No. 9 in SL) and led the league with 51 made 3-pointers on a 41.1% clip. Crawford scored in double-figures in 13 of 16 league games and had five 20+ games and set his career high of 33 points with seven treys against NDSU (Jan. 17).
• Uzziah Buntyn's role expanded as the season progressed in his freshman season and had three 20+ point games in conference play. After a pair of single-digit scoring games, Buntyn's averaged 16.5 points in the last two games and was a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line.
• In conference play, the trio of Fens, Crawford and Buntyn rank inside the top-12 in scoring with Fens at No. 7 (17.6), Crawford at No. 9 (17.0) and Buntyn at No. 12 (14.0).
• South Dakota goes to the line frequently, ranking No. 8 in the NCAA in free throw attempts per game (26.5) and are No. 6 free throw makes per game (19.6). In league play, the Yotes averaged 18.9 makes and 24.7 attempts from the charity stripe.
• Eric Peterson is in year four as the head coach of the South Dakota men's basketball team and holds a 59-68 overall record.      

How to Follow

• Friday's matchup between the Coyotes and the Mavericks will be available on Midco Sports 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

• The Coyotes swept the regular season series over the defending Summit League Regular Season and Tournament Champions Omaha Mavericks.
• Jordan Crawford averaged 26.5 points against Omaha in the regular season on a 64.3% shooting clip with 10 3-pointers.
• Paul Djobet paced Omaha with a 20.0 points per game average in the two meetings.
• Friday's game will be a rematch of last year's semifinal round when the Mavs got the better of the Yotes to advance to the championship round.

All-League Yotes

• Cameron Fens and Jordan Crawford by the Summit League Tuesday with Fens being named to the All-League First Team and All-Defensive Team, while Crawford was a All-League Second Team honoree.
• Fens was the only player in the conference to average a double-double during league play at 17.6 points and 10.3 rebounds.
• Crawford established himself as one of the top marksmen in the conference as he led the league with 51 made 3-pointers and was ninth in scoring at 17.0 points per game.
• Fens was the top shot blocker in the conference with 25 rejections (45 overall on the season).

Recapping the Final Week

• In the final week of the regular season, the Coyotes secured a pair of regular season sweeps over Omaha and South Dakota State
• The Coyotes entered the week 2-0 on the season against both Omaha and South Dakota State and won by a combined five points in those wins. The Yotes put together one of their most impressive 40-minute showings Wednesday and cruised to an 89-72 win over a surging Mavericks team.
• Behind all five starters in double-figures, who accounted for 70 of the Yotes 75 points, USD swept SDSU in the regular season for the first time since the 1996-97 season.

Man in the Middle

• Cameron Fens battled foul trouble in Wednesday's game and saw his double-double streak end at five games. The Coyote center averaged 21.2 points and 11.8 rebounds during that stretch. Fens scored 20+ points in four of the five double-doubles.
• 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 averaged 17.6 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 60 .3% from the floor in Summit League play.
• Fens has scored 10+ in 22 of the last 25 games with 12 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. 34 in the NCAA and leads the conference in total rebounds (266), No. 27 in field goal percentage (59.0%) and is No. 22 in the country with 12 double-doubles.

Next Man Up

• South Dakota has seen eight players go down and miss extended time with injuries this season.
• Despite that the Coyotes still secured the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament with an 8-8 mark.
• The Coyotes began to get healthy at the right time with Jake Brack, Vince Buzelis and Jesse McIntosh making their returns during league play, while the Yotes added Silas Bennion and Trent Hudgens as mid-year transfers.
• 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.
• Vince Buzelis returned to the court for the first time since the December 28 game against Mount Marty in the Jan. 29 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.
• The Yotes have been streaky from deep during the conference season with six games with 10+ 3-pointers but six games with six or fewer made triples.
• Before last Wednesday's game, the Yotes made just 11 3-pointers over the previous three games but connected on 10-of-25 from deep in Wednesday's win over Omaha behind five from Jordan Crawford.
• Since the January 17 game where Crawford knocked down six 3-pointers on eight attempts, the junior guard has 3.4 made 3-pointers per game on a 42.3% from deep.
• Crawford rewrote his career highs for points with 33 and 3-pointers with seven in the Jan. 31 game against NDSU.

First Half Success

• South Dakota is 10-2 on the season when holding a lead at the halftime break and 5-13 when trailing at intermission.
• In those 10 wins the Coyotes have averaged 47.9 points in the first half while holding opponents to 33.0 points.
• The loss to St. Thomas in the SCSC was the first time the Coyotes have fallen after leading at halftime.
• On the flip side, in the 13 losses the Coyotes have been outscored 43.9 to 33.4 in the first half.
• Three times this season, the Coyotes have trailed at halftime and responded in the second half to force overtime but would ultimately fall in OT to Utah Tech, at Northern Colorado and vs North Dakota State.
• USD trailed at halftime in the regular season finale against SDSU and picked up its fifth comeback win of the season after outscoring the Jacks 37-28 in the second half of last Saturday's contest.