LINCOLN, Neb. — South Dakota basketball dropped a road matchup to Big 10 foe Nebraska Wednesday night in Pinnacle Bank Arena 96-79.
Chase Forte led the way for the Yotes, as he scored all 20 of his points in the second half while going 7-for-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from deep in the closing 20 minutes.
Dre Bullock added 16 points and three rebounds off the bench for the Yotes, while Isaac Bruns was the other Coyote in double-figure scoring with 12. Ashton Smith had a team-high six rebounds and was followed by Paul Bruns and Kaleb Stewart who had five each.
South Dakota put up 79 points on a Nebraska team that entered the contest allowing just 65.0 points per game. USD is just the second team this season to score 70 or more points against the Huskers.
Paul Bruns and Stewart got the Coyote offense going early with back-to-back 3-pointers to knot the contest at 6-6 early. The Huskers answered with a trey on their next possession and would stay out in front of the Yotes for the remainder of the night. The Coyotes stayed within single-digits of the UNL lead until three straight Husker 3-pointers gave UNL a 25-14 advantage eight minutes into the game. A 7-0 run with 6:57 left in the half saw USD bring the Husker lead back to single-digits, 31-25, after a Stewart paint bucket. Nebraska responded with 10 straight points and would take a 54-35 into the break on an Ahron Ulis half court heave at the buzzer.
Forte scored 10 of the first 12 points for the Coyotes out of the halftime break but the Husker offense countered Forte’s efforts with multiple scorers, holding a 64-57 lead five minutes into the second half. The Yotes cut the deficit down to 12 twice halfway through the half, once on a Forte free throw and the other on a monster jam from Bullock. The Huskers, however, responded with a Braxton Meah dunk both times the Yotes brought the lead down to 12. The Huskers kept the Yotes at an arm’s length the rest of the way, as they earned a 96-79 win on their home floor.
The Coyotes will return to action next week at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center when they host Idaho State at 7:00 for the first matchup of the Big Sky – Summit League Challenge.
Notes
- South Dakota moves to 6-3 on the year and 1-3 in road contests
- Chase Forte scored all 20 of his points in the second half and went 7-for-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from deep in the closing 20 minutes.
- It was Forte’s second 20-point effort of the season (23 pts vs. East Texas A&M 11/6/24)
- The Yotes leading scorer on the season, Isaac Bruns added 12 points, his eighth game this season in double-figures
- Dre Bullock scored 18 points, his second-highest scoring output of the season (21 pts vs Western Michigan 11/20/24)
- Ashton Smith had one block on the night and has seven over the last five games
- Cameron Fens and Bullock each had two offensive rebounds
- The Yotes shot .520 percent from the floor in the second half, but .433 for the game and was 8-for-28 from deep
- The Huskers shot .485 from the field and connected on 13-of-33 3-point attempts
- South Dakota had more points off turnovers (18-12) and second chance points (13-7) but the Huskers held the edge in fast break points (12-8) and points from the bench (51-35)