VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota men’s basketball earned its eighth win in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in as many games Saturday morning with an 89-66 win over Western Illinois. The Coyotes complete their home non-conference schedule with a perfect 8-0 record at the SCSC and move to 9-4 on the season.
Chase Forte notched his fourth 20-point performance in the last five games with 21 today. Forte added six rebounds and five assists, his fourth straight game with five or more in both those categories. Cameron Fens was on the receiving ends of a pair of dimes from Forte and Dre Bullock that ended in dunks from the seven-footer, as he set a new career-high with 17 points.
Isaac Bruns added 13 points off the bench, while Ashton Smith was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field to score nine points. In his first start as a Coyote, Dre Bullock scored eight points, grabbed five boards, dished out four assists and had three steals.
The Coyotes won the rebounding battle 42-28 in a group effort with four Yotes grabbing six rebounds each and 10 Yotes grabbed at least one board.
The Yotes were red-hot in the first half, pouring in 53 points on 19-of-32 shooting (59.4%) and went 4-for-10 from the beyond the arc. Forte and Isaac Bruns led the way in the opening 20 with 12 points each on a combined 9-of-17 shooting. The Yotes found over half of their points in the paint and received 23 of 53 points from the bench unit.
South Dakota dominated the opening 10 minutes of play, building up a 29-9 lead behind 11-of-16 shooting with three 3-pointers. USD held Western Illinois to 3-of-11 shooting during that run. Isaac Bruns gave USD its largest lead of the first half with 7:10 remaining, 38-14. The Leathernecks brought the USD lead back down to 16 with 1:42 left in the half, but the Yotes closed with a 6-0 run to head into the locker rooms with a 53-31 advantage.
Fens led the way in the second half, scoring 12 of his 17 points on 3-of-6 shooting while going 6-for-8 from the charity stripe. Fens also helped the Yotes control the glass, as he grabbed five second half rebounds and USD had a 21-14 advantage on the boards. USD took its largest lead of the day (30) early in the second half on a slam dunk by Smith. Other than for one possession late in the half, the Coyotes held a 20+ point lead throughout the second half as they earned win No. 8 at the SCSC and their ninth win on the season, 89-66.
The Coyotes close out the nonconference season next week with a road trip out West when they’ll face Utah Tech on Thursday and Santa Clara Saturday.
Notes
- South Dakota improves to 9-4 on the season and is 8-0 in the SCSC
- Chase Forte scored 21 points to lead the Yotes and has scored 20+ in four of the last five games
- Forte has scored in double-figures in eight straight games
- Forte has had 15+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ assists in each of his last four games
- South Dakota is now 9-0 when holding a lead at the 5:00 and 1:00 minutes marks of the second half
- USD is 7-0 on the year when recording a higher shooting percentage
- South Dakota has forced opponents into double-digit turnovers in 12 of 13 games this season
- USD scored 44 points in the paint and 12 off turnovers
- Four Yotes grabbed six rebounds and five had five or more