Reaching for the top of the Summit, Coyote men shoot for victory against No. 4 Denver Pioneers
There’s no denying that the University of South Dakota men’s basketball stumbled to the finish line of the regular season. They lost their final two games of the season by a walloping 42 points and don’t have momentum on their side.
By closing out the season with a 75-61 loss to South Dakota State, the Coyotes punched in their ticket to the Summit League Tournament as the five seed.
All South Dakota will have to do is travel right up I-29, as the tournament will be held in the Sioux Falls Arena.
Interim head coach Joey James said it’s definitely nice being able to play so close to home.
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South Dakota, who finished the season with a record of 12-17 (6-8), will be facing the Denver Pioneers. The Pioneers go into the tournament as the four seed with a record of 15-14 (8-6). James said the game presents a good matchup for his team.
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The University of South Dakota men’s basketball team lost its final two games of the season by a combined 42 points and doesn’t have momentum on its side as it heads into the Summit League Championship.
By closing out the season with a 75-61 loss to South Dakota State, the Coyotes punched its ticket to the Summit League tournament as the fifth seed.
Interim head coach Joey James said it’s nice being able to play so close to home.
“I’m hoping we have a great crowd in Sioux Falls and make it feel like a home court,” James said. “Our largest alumni base is in Sioux Falls so we hope we get a lot of red and white out there supporting us, hopefully to a victory.”
South Dakota, who finished the season with a record of 12-17 (6-8), will face the Denver Pioneers. The Pioneers go into the tournament as the fourth seed with a record of 15-14 (8-6). James said the game presents a good matchup for his team.
“We split season series with them and both games were really good, so we’re looking forward to it,” James said.
Denver also closed out its season with losses to SDSU and North Dakota State, so Denver will be looking to turn things around against a team it went 1-1 to this season.
The teams’ first head-to-head meeting came all the way back Jan. 11 when the Coyotes won 59-54. That matchup was each team’s first conference game of the season. Their next meeting came in Denver, and the Pioneers went on to win 75-67.
With a point differential of just three points, senior center Trevor Gruis said he knows the game will be up for grabs.
“These games are going to come down to the 50-50 balls and rebounding,” Gruis said. “Obviously some team might shoot it great, but for the most part it’s going to come down to the little things. That’s what separates the good teams from the bad teams.”
Gruis is coming off a rough road trip. He was held to five points in the loss to NDSU and scoreless for the first time all season against SDSU, largely because of being in foul trouble. Gruis, the team’s second leading scorer committed four fouls and was only on the court for 13 minutes.
“The last couple games have been pretty frustrating. Hopefully I get out of the slump,” Gruis said. “But I’ve moved past it and I think I’ve had a good last couple of practices.”
In the Coyotes’ victory against Denver, Gruis had a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds and looked comfortable imposing his will.
“He’s a very good player, it definitely wasn’t a fluke,” James said. “We’ll put a bigger guy on him this time and hopefully make it more difficult for him to come off the ball-screens and score.”
Denver’s leading scorer is junior guard Brett Olson, who averages 14.7 points per game. He gave South Dakota a headache in both meetings this year, going off for 52 points in the two games, including a season-high 30 points Feb. 8.
James has said throughout the season Olson is one of the top players in the conference, and it’ll be especially important to zone in on him if they want to win.
“I talked with coach and he wants me to be more aggressive and get the team where it needs to be quicker,” Norris said. “The last couple of games we’ve gotten off to horrible starts and dug ourselves in a big hole and we can’t let that happen.”
When Norris transferred to South Dakota from the North Texas, one of the things he said intrigued him was the opportunity to play in the Summit League tournament. After sitting out a year, he’ll finally get that chance.
“I wasn’t in Sioux Falls last year so I’m really excited for the opportunity to be there this year,” Norris said. “We just got to get ready and take it one game at a time and get off to a good start.”
Norris, Gruis and the rest of the Coyotes will have two more practices in the DakotaDome before heading off to Sioux Falls Saturday. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Sunday. The winner of the game will take on NDSU, who received a first-round bye for winning the regular season conference title. If the Coyotes are still alive, that game will tip-off at 6 p.m. Monday.
The championship game is set for 8 p.m. March 11.
