VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota men’s basketball opened the 2024-25 campaign with a 93-79 win over Southern in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Eleven players took the floor for the Yotes tonight, and all 11 players recorded points for the South Dakota offense.
Five Coyotes reached double-figures, led by Paul Bruns’ 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting with three 3-pointers. In his first game in the red and white, Chase Forte put together a 13-point, six-assist, four-steal and two-rebound stat line.
In 21 minutes off the bench, Max Burchill poured in 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting with a pair of treys, four boards and four assists. Isaac Bruns was the team’s leading rebounder with six and added 12 points off the bench, while Dre Bullock knocked down three triples and was the fifth Yote in double-digits with 11 points.
On the night, the Coyotes shot .516 percent from the floor, .417 from deep and scored 42 points in the paint. The Coyote defense forced the Jaguars into 17 turnovers, which would translate into 18 points. USD received 49 points from its bench unit, led by Burchill and Isaac Bruns’ production.
The Coyote offense got red-hot in the middle of the second half, as they outscored Southern 37-21 over a 10-minute stretch of play starting at the 13:35 mark. Bullock started the Yotes run with one of his three treys of the night and USD shot 12-for-13 from the field and 5-for-5 from deep during the streak. Burchill gave the Yotes their largest of the night, 88-67, with 3:58 remaining with his second triple and USD would carry a double-digit lead the rest of the way to a 93-79 win.
South Dakota got off to a rumbling start, holding a 12-2 lead five minutes into the contest. Forte started the scoring off with a layup in the opening possession, and Bullock drilled a 3-pointer to grab the 10-point early advantage. Southern would settle in, however, cutting the Coyote lead to as little as three points, but South Dakota would hold the lead for almost 39 minutes in the game. Forte was a one-man wrecking crew at the 8:27 mark of the first half, as he scored a tough bucket in the paint, came away with a steal in the Coyote full-court press and finished over the defender to put the Yotes up double-digits, 26-16. USD built its lead up to 14 near the end of the half and would carry a 40-30 edge into the halftime intermission.
The Coyotes continue their season-opening home stand on Wednesday night when they welcome Texas A&M Commerce to the SCSC.
Notes
- South Dakota won its season-opening game for the second straight year
- Five Coyotes reached double-digit scoring in the win in Paul Bruns (14), Chase Forte (13), Max Burchill (12), Isaac Bruns (12) and Dre Bullock (12)
- Isaac Bruns was the Yotes leading rebounder with six
- All 11 players that took the floor for the Coyotes scored tonight
- Forte’s six assists was one shy of his career-high of seven that he set last season
- Paul Bruns and Bullocks each knocked down three 3-pointers, while Burchill connected on two
- Five Coyotes recorded four of rebounds on the night, while three had two or more steals and four dished out multiple assists
- The Yotes held shooting splits of .516/.417/.594 on the night and held Southern to .438 from the field and .250 from deep