Predictability was thrown out the window for South Dakota last week. 
 
The Coyotes zig-zagged across the upper Midwest after their weekday game at Western Illinois was pushed to the following Monday after having already arrived in Macomb. That forced them to drive from Illinois to Minneapolis for a Saturday game against St. Thomas, and then right back to Macomb for the makeup with the Leathernecks two days later. 
 
Three different hotels and 1,700 miles made for one unique trip. 
 
“As a coach, especially in league play, you have that routine,” USD coach Todd Lee said. “You’ve got an itinerary planned down to the minute and then, for us, all of a sudden you don’t know what you’re doing the next day.” 
 
What the Coyotes ended up doing amid that flurry, as they’ve done so frequently recently, was win. USD swept the reshuffled road swing against the Tommies and Leathernecks, making the eight-and-a-half hour drive back to Vermillion holding a five-game winning streak. That run would end on Thursday as the Coyotes fell in overtime to North Dakota State but, despite the loss, USD’s recent charge has positioned it well as the calendar turns to February. 
 
Last week’s extended road trip had the Coyotes adjusting on the fly as Lee said the staff was on and off the phone with their medical team between the churn of temperature checks, COVID-19 tests and influenza tests. Nonetheless, the Coyotes were able to cobble together the pair of road wins, and that experience was slightly fitting for a team that has had to remake itself this year with A.J. Plitzuweit still recovering from injury and Stanley Umude having transferred to Arkansas. 
 
In their absence, a slew of players have stepped up to produce yet another dangerous offense in Lee’s fourth year in Vermillion.
 
The team blistered the nets over its five-game winning streak to the tune of 85 points per game, and its 105-point outburst in a win over Omaha was just the second time the program had topped the century mark in regulation since joining Division I. For Lee, those points have had to come from different places this season. 
 
“We’ve had to adjust the way we’re playing and it took a while to figure that out,” he said. “We knew we’d be a balanced team, and not one that necessarily has someone who is just going to get 20 points every night.”
 
He credited the emergence of junior Mason Archambault (14.5 ppg) and sophomore Kruz Perrott-Hunt (15.2 ppg) in scoring roles, as both guards have assumed more offensive responsibility than at any time in their respective USD careers. Archambault was especially impressive during the streak, scoring a career high 25 points against the Mavs, only to top that the next time out with 27 points against UST. The Rapid City native has been particularly good at getting to the free throw line, and has rarely missed when there (92.7 FT%). He’s one of just five players in the country  to have gotten to the line 80 or more times while converting at a 90 percent or greater clip. For his part, Perrott-Hunt was the team’s most effective player (24 points, 2-4 3FG) against NDSU’s extreme length during the close loss on Thursday. 
 
Lee also pointed to junior Boogie Anderson’s contributions as a ballhandler on a team that has turned it over at one of the lowest rates in the country. Then there’s the post, where USD has been able to put pressure on defenses like few other teams in the perimeter-oriented Summit. 
 
“We’ve gone to the post more to create advantages and every time is different, but we can post up 1 through 5, and we will,” Lee said.
 
That approach has bubbled up through the metrics. Per Synergy Sports, the Coyotes are posting up on 14 percent of their possessions, which is the second-highest rate in the league behind the Leathernecks. That’s also a significant uptick over what they did a year ago (9 percent of possessions), and has seen sophomore big men Tasos Kamateros (9.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Hunter Goodrick (7.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg) each at various times put pressure on opposing defenses with constant feeds into the paint. 
 
The 5-1 stretch has put USD squarely in the mix within the Summit standings. While unbeaten South Dakota State has set the pace, the Coyotes have given themselves a chance. They were a Kamateros tenth-of-a-second quicker release from beating the Bison – who are surging themselves having won three straight – in regulation. Kansas City is riding its own three-game winning streak, but the Coyotes are now nipping at the heels of both.
 
With Sioux Falls on the horizon, Lee said the return of preseason first teamer Xavier Fuller – who has been out since Dec. 22 with a knee injury – would be a boon for the team’s already growing depth, and is something he is hopeful will happen. He’s also stressing more consistency in shooting because that’s simply the way of the world in the Summit. 
 
“Consistently shooting the ball is big, and especially big in the Summit since it’s the best three-point shooting league in the country nearly every year,” Lee said. “We have to make shots, I feel like we’re shooting the same shots and just not making them all the time.” 
 
Whether those things happen or not, the Coyotes weathered their stop-and-start, 30+ hour road trip to put themselves right in the Summit mix.

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