The Key Road Trip Begins Tonight in Western Illinois
The game
The South Dakota Coyotes (10-7) are aiming for their fourth consecutive conference victory Thursday night at Western Illinois (12-6). The Coyotes and Leathernecks share identical 3-3 Summit records and are tied for fourth in the Summit League standings.
The game will be streamed live for free on goleathernecks.com. Fans can tune into the game on the Coyote Sports Network with John Thayer on KVHT 106.3 FM in Yankton/Vermillion or using The Varsity Network app.
The series
South Dakota holds a 16-9 series advantage with Western Illinois, including a 7-5 mark at Macomb. USD have won the last four encounters, including both regular-season meetings at Vermillion last year and a quarter-final victory at the Summit League tournament last March.
Coyotes
USD rolled over Omaha on Saturday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center 105-70. Mason Archambault led the way for the Coyotes with a career-high 25 points, 15 of which came from the free throw line. Tasos Kamateros and Kruz Perrott Hunt added in 15 each while Keaton Kucher and Erik Oliver added 11 each on the bench. Kamateros also dropped from a career high for assists with eight in the afternoon. Hunter Goodrick recorded his second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Perrott-Hunt is averaging 16.3 points per game in Summit League play, which ranks eighth, while Archambault is 14and with an average of 14.0. Hunter Goodrick has averaged a remarkable 15 boards over that three-game streak and is the second-best rebounder at the top at 8.6 per game.
The Leathernecks
Western Illinois added two difference makers from a year ago who are trying to turn last year’s seventh-place finish into a spot in the league’s top echelon. Trenton Massner, of Wapello, Iowa, is a junior who competed at Northwestern State in Louisiana last season. Luka Barisic is a 6-10 Croatian forward and transfer graduate from Texas-San Antonio (UTSA). These two combined for 59 points in last week’s 90-79 overtime win over North Dakota State. The win took the Leathernecks down to .500 in the Summit game with those crucial home games against South Dakota and South Dakota State (Saturday) on the horizon.
One last thing
USD’s defense has improved since the start of the second half of the season. The Coyotes are allowing just under 70 points per game, which puts them fourth in the conference standings and will be tested this weekend against two of the Summit’s top four scorers in the West. Illinois at St. Thomas (Saturday).