VERMILLION, S.D. – It was all South Dakota Wednesday night as the Coyote men’s basketball team topped South Dakota State 87-68 inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Part of the South Dakota Showdown Series presented by South Dakota Corn, the Coyotes and Jacks are now tied at four points apiece.
Matt Mooney scored his 1,000th point in a USD uniform with a game-high 30 points while Triston Simpson capped a career-night with 20 points. Tyler Peterson totaled 14 points with Nick Fuller coming off the bench for 11 points.
South Dakota, No. 9 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25, improves to a Summit League best 18-5 overall record and 6-1 in league action. The Jackrabbits, No. 6 in the mid-major poll, fall to 17-6 overall and suffer their first league loss with a 5-1 record.
“That’s a heck of a win for the Coyotes,” head coach Craig Smith said. “South Dakota State is very good. They put so much pressure on you and in so many different ways that it is hard to replicate it when you are practicing for it.
“It starts with a mentality and our guy’s had a great mentality. We had excellent practices and really executed our game plan well.”
Down five points at 27-22 with 6:42 remaining in the first half, the Coyotes embarked on a 14-0 run to take a lead they would not relinquish the remainder of the game. The run started with a Mooney jumper and followed Tyler Hagedorn followed with a layup and a trey from Simpson. In a fast break, Simpson found Mooney on the right wing, who then pulled up for a 3-point basket pushing the Coyotes’ lead to five points at 32-27.
The run continued with another layup from Hagedorn as Peterson found him cutting to the basket. Peterson capped 14-straight points with a pair of free throws as South Dakota built a nine-point lead 36-27.
Early in the second half, an 18-3 run lifted the Coyotes to a game-high 25-point lead. Mooney and Peterson capped the run with a 3-point basket and a free throw, respectively, for a 67-42 score with 8:22 remaining in the game.
With over 5,000 fans roaring on every defensive possession, the Coyotes held the Jackrabbits to 68 points, a season-low in the Summit League for SDSU as South Dakota cruised to the 87-68 win. South Dakota State entered the game ranked ninth in the nation averaging 87 points a game.
South Dakota shot 49.3 percent from the field, sinking 35-of-71 field goal attempts and tallied 36 points in the paint. Conversely, the Jackrabbits made 25-of-62 shots from the field for 40.3 percent.
Mike Daum tallied a team-high 18 points for SDSU while grabbing 14 rebounds.
South Dakota won the rebound battle 42-32 led by Trey Burch-Manning with 11 retrieved misses. South Dakota tallied nine offensive rebounds for 10 second-chance points, compared to just four offensive rebounds and two points by the visitors.
Mooney collected his 1,000th point at South Dakota on his first basket of the game, a 3-pointer in the opening 90 seconds of action.
The Coyotes, now atop the leaderboard in the Summit League, travel to Denver Saturday for a 5 p.m. (CST) tip-off.
Courtesy: USD
Courtesy: USD
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