Coyote men’s basketball off to 1-2 start
In the past week the USD men’s basketball game played three games in three days.
After falling in the first two (69-77 to Wright State and 65-72 to Northern Illinois), the Coyotes were able to prevail in the third beating California State Northridge 76-72.
The Coyotes led all three games at the half, but were unable to hold on down the stretch.
“We’ve got to learn how to win. We’ve got to finish with a flourish. The first game I over extended our guys and both games the last seven minutes we were just a catastrophe defensively,” said head coach Craig Smith. “We lost all of our discipline. We didn’t guard the ball. I felt like the third night we really tightened that up and were much better and the results showed.”
Smith is in his second season as the USD head coach and knows that his team needs time to mesh.
“You’re always learning your team and this year we’re playing with three Division I transfers sitting out, two of our other big kids are hurt, so we’re really depleted. We’re seeing what everyone can do,” Smith said. “We’re seeing what works, what doesn’t work, what guys do well, maybe what they don’t do so well.
It’s just a work in progress and for us we’re playing four new guys on a regular basis, so you’re doing the best you can to learn who can do what and learn and develop from there. That was the beauty of playing three games in three days.”
One thing the Coyotes saw working well was their senior leaders.
Senior guards Tre Burnette and Casey Kasperbauer are both off to hot starts this year. Burnette has averaged 18 points and 8.3 rebounds through the first three games, while Kasperbauer is averaging 16 points and 1.7 assists and shooting nearly 46 percent from three point range. Both players have increased their scoring averages from a year ago.
“I try to stay aggressive. I know that with the caliber of players we have this year that I’m going to need to be more aggressive not just scoring but looking for other guys to score,” Kasperbauer said. “We’ve got a lot of scorers on this team but we have to be really good at putting pressure on the rim.
Whether that’s with cuts or dribble penetration or post touches. I worked really hard in the off-season to be more versatile with my game and I think I’ve had my time here and I’ve learned a lot and now I’m ready to take on more of a scoring role.”
Becoming older is not just about scoring, but also about the leadership role that comes along with it.
“Last year we had a lot of great leaders and they basically took me under their wing and told me how to do things,” Burnette said. “I just try to go off of what they show me and what the coaches need and what my teammates need. I just try to go out there and lead by example and try to encourage everybody.”
With a trip to Manhattan, Kansas, to take on Kansas State coming up, the Coyotes know their early play may not be indicative of their true potential.
“We can’t panic, it’s early on in the year and these are all learning experiences. We play a lot of new guys, we have a lot of experienced guys too, but like I said the most important thing is that we don’t panic,” Kasperbauer said. “Our body language is not good.
A similar situation happened in the game we won. We kind of got down and they made a run but our body language was better and I think that was a major factor in why we won the game.”
The Coyotes take on Kansas State this Friday, before their home opener Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the DakotaDome against the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.
“It’s early, we’ve got a lot of new guys,” Burnette said.”We’re just trying to work hard every day and it’s a learning process. Every day we’re going to get better and we’re just going to grind through it.”
