Summit League Preview: South Dakota Men Host Omaha, Oral Roberts

After an underwhelming performance on the road last week, South Dakota returns home this week with five of their last seven Summit League in front of their home fans.

The Coyotes (9-12/3-5 Summit League) first home game of the week comes with a bit of a twist. When they host Omaha Thursday (February 7) the game won't be in Vermillion, but at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.

The Mavericks (13-9/7-2 Summit League) have won six of seven and are coming off of a 57 percent shooting performance against North Dakota.

UNO features the most up-tempo attack in the league, averaging 64 shot attempts per game. They have five double-digit scorers led by senior guard Zach Jackson's 17 points per game.

Tipoff is 7:00 PM, Thursday in Sioux Falls.

Omaha won the first meeting 75-68, despite the USD defense turning them over 13 times, the most in the last 14 games.

The Mavericks rallied from the three-point halftime deficit against the Coyotes, shooting 65 percent in the second half.

South Dakota's homestand continues Sunday (February 10) against Oral Roberts.

The Golden Eagles (8-17/4-6 Summit League) have lost six of seven. Their only win during that stretch was at home against USD.

ORU had been winning games with defense earlier in the year but their opponents have shot it 50 percent or better in three of the last four games.

The team's second-leading scorer and top rebounder Emmanuel Nzekwesi is back in the lineup after missing two games, but he has scored only 20 points and pulled down 15 rebounds total in his last two games.

The Golden Eagles are the number one rebounding team in the Summit, second in blocked shots, and third in opponents field goal percentage.

Tipoff is 1:00 PM, Sunday in Vermillion.

Oral Roberts won the first meeting 77-74 in Tulsa. The Coyotes outshot the Golden Eagles 46 to 39 percent but were outscored by ten points at the free throw line.

ORU also used 15 offensive rebounds to score 17 second-half points.

South Dakota is trying to shake off a lackluster performance on the road last week, losing 102-71 at Purdue-Fort Wayne.

The Coyotes never led and fell behind by double digits five-and-a-half minutes in and allowed 55 points in the first half.

The Mastodons starters shot 61 percent in the game. USD's Stanley Umude scored a career-high 32 points but he got no help as the rest of Coyote starters shot just 28 percent from the floor.

I talked with Coyotes head coach Todd Lee about last week's loss and this week's match-ups with Omaha and Oral Roberts: