Press Conference: South Dakota | Western Illinois
The Basics
Score: No. 2 South Dakota 86, No. 7 Western Illinois 69
Records: South Dakota (13-10), Western Illinois (7-14)
Location: The Sanford Pentagon - Sioux Falls, S.D.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Second-seeded South Dakota used a quick start and a strong finish in dismissing seventh-seeded Western Illinois 86-69 in the second quarterfinal of The Summit League Men's Basketball Championship Saturday at the Sanford Pentagon.
Senior Stanley Umude led all scorers with 24 and Xavier Fuller added 20 and recorded his first career double-double after grabbing 10 boards, while also going 12-for-15 from the foul line.
The Coyotes shot 55.8 percent from the field while holding the Leathernecks to a 36.7 percent clip.
Umude had a quiet start, scoring just three points before back-to-back baskets late in the first half helped stake the Coyotes to a 43-30 lead at halftime.
Tamos Kamateros and Kruz Perrott-Hunt did a lot of the early scoring for South Dakota as those two combined for 20 first-half points and were a big part of a 14-3 to open the contest.
The Coyotes continued to blister the nets and shot 61.5 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Will Carius trimmed the Leathernecks deficit to 65-58 early in the second half after his first 3-pointer of the game, but the Coyotes used a quick 9-2 spurt to push their lead back to double figures.
WIU flirted with making a run multiple times after that, but the Coyotes always had an answer and never let their lead get smaller than seven points.
Umude had 17 second-half points and Fuller added 15 after the break to aid the cause. Fuller, a JUCO All-American a year ago, had his second 20-plus point game in his last four outings.
Kamateros finished with 17 points and Perrot-Hunt added 12 and a game-high seven assists to round out four Coyote starters in double figures. That helped compensate for the absence of Summit League Newcomer of the Year A.J. Plitzuweit, who is out for the season with an injury.
The Leathernecks also had four starters reach double figures as Colton Sandage led that quartet with 16 points.Carius added 12, Anthony Jones chipped in 13 and Ramean Hinton finished with 11.
The Coyotes will take on the winner of the No. 3 North Dakota State/No. 6 Kansas City matchup in Monday's second semifinal at 8:45 p.m. CT.
Turning Point
After Western Illinois opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, South Dakota reeled off the next 14 points to take control of the game.
Inside the Box Score
- The teams combined for 42 fouls with the Coyotes committing 24 of them and WIU accounting for 18
- South Dakota shot 61.5 percent from the field in the opening half
- The Coyotes and Leathernecks both committed single-digit turnovers with nine a piece
- All five South Dakota starters connected on at least one 3-pointer as the quintet finished 8-for-17 from beyond the arc
News & Notes
- The Coyotes won a tournament game for the first time since reaching the title game back in 2018 when they were also the No. 2 seed
- Summit League Coach of the Year Todd Lee picked up his first career win at the tournament after dropping his first two appearances in 2019 and 2020
- The Leathernecks returned to the tournament under the direction of first-year head coach Rob Jeter after missing it last year
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