Men’s basketball prepares for Summit League

With the regular season over, the Coyotes have secured the fifth seed in the Summit League Tournament and will now play Fort Wayne in the quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament March 7 in Sioux Falls at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center at 6 p.m.

The Coyotes split their two games with Fort Wayne during the regular season and look to avenge their last meeting with Fort Wayne where the Coyotes were defeated at home.

Head coach Craig said his team is ready for the upcoming challenge.

“Your players need to know that there is no tomorrow, they need to understand that it is important to play with the same relaxed confidence that we ended the year off with,”  Smith said. “Having the momentum from our last game going into the tournament is huge for us as well.”

The University of South Dakota’s 80-64 win against rival South Dakota State marked the sixth win in the Coyotes’ last eight games. Smith said the basketball team is playing the best they have all year.

Smith also said his team progressed throughout the season to get to this point.

“This is my first year as head coach here, and since the beginning of the season it has been difficult trying to get everyone on the same page starting in a 3-7 hole at the beginning of the season,” he said. “We finished 9-7 in conference play, splitting with every team besides Western Illinois, who we beat twice, and our guys know that we can beat anyone in our conference.”

Junior guard Sekou Harris said the team has recovered from the deficit at the beginning of the season.

“At the beginning of the season we didn’t play well together,” he said. “Our chemistry started to become great when we all started to gel at a tournament in California.”

First-year guard Dejon Davis said that halfway through the season the team had a different feel.

“Everyone on the team, whether it is the scout team or the starters, started practicing harder, which helped the team play harder,” Davis said. “Nobody gets a day off, especially when you’re going as hard as you can every day in practice making your team better.”

Harris also said there was one thing Smith wanted them to remember as they started to play better.

“The most important thing that comes with success is to have a little prosperity when you’re playing as well,” Harris said. “If not, then teams can take advantage of you.”

Smith he and his team are approaching the tournament games with their own strengths.

“Every team in our conference is different with their certain strengths and weaknesses,” he said. “When we play according to our game plan and show up with a chip on our shoulder our team feels like we can beat anyone.”