SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Denver duo of Tuoko Tainamo and Tommy Bruner have delivered a pair of wins for the Pioneers are they are off to a 2-1 start. The Tainamo-Bruner combo is the only pair of Summit League teammates averaging 20-plus during the opening 10 days of the college basketball season.
Their latest exploits came in a 91-85 victory over Nicholls State that saw DU erase an 18-point deficit to win its opener at the Jaguar Classic. Tainamo went for 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Bruner added 19 points and four assists in the comeback-win.
Tainamo has a pair of double-doubles, which is tied for the League lead with South Dakota newcomer Lahat Thioune, who is having an immediate impact for head coach Eric Peterson and the Coyotes. Thioune had 24 points and 10 rebounds in USD's win over UTRGV at the Sanford Pentagon and added 21 points and 10 more rebounds in a loss at DePaul.
Those are just a few of the top performances in the early going with plenty more to come as teams continue to mesh.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Thursday, Nov. 16
Denver vs. SIUE# | 5 p.m. CT
Valley City State at North Dakota (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Omaha vs. William & Mary# (MWC) | 8 p.m. CT
NDSU at Montana# (ESPN+) | 8 p.m. MT
Friday, Nov. 17
South Dakota vs. VMI# | 1 p.m. CT
Denver at South Alabama# | 3 p.m. CT
Omaha vs. Lindenwood# (MWC) | 3 p.m. CT
Cal Poly vs. St. Thomas# (YT) | 4:30 p.m. PT
Oral Roberts at Texas A&M (ESPN+) | 7 p.m. CT
Kansas City at Colorado State (MWC) | 7 p.m. MT
Saturday, Nov. 18
South Dakota vs. TBD# | TBA
St. Thomas vs. Cal Baptist# (YT) | 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, Nov. 19
Omaha at Air Force (MWC) | 2 p.m. MT
St. Thomas vs. Portland State# (YT) | 2:30 p.m. PT
SDSU vs. UCF# (PTB) | 6 p.m. PT
Monday, Nov. 20
South Dakota State vs. TBD# (PTB) | TBA
Wisconsin-Stout vs. NDSU (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
North Dakota at Pacific (ESPN+) | 8 p.m. PT
Tuesday, Nov. 21
Texas Southern at Oral Roberts (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Rankings: (AP/Coaches)
All times local to site
# Multi-Team Event
Key: PTB (PassTheBall Live), ESPN+ (ESPN Plus), MWC (Mountain West Conference Live), SLN (Summit League Network), YT (YouTube)
TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (2-1; 0-0 SL) | @DU_MensHoops
Next Up: vs. SIUE (11/16; 5 p.m. CT); at South Alabama (11/17; 3 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: at UC San Diego (L, 95-87); Cal Poly (W, 97-76); vs. Nicholls (W, 91-85)
After dropping their season opener at UC San Diego, the Pioneers have won two straight including a 91-85 victory over Nicholls Wednesday in the opener of the Jaguar Classic in Mobile, Ala ... DU was down six at the break and trailed by as many as18 in the opening 20 minutes ... Junior Touko Tainamo logged his second double-double of the young season, scoring a game-high 23 points to go with 11 rebounds and three blocks ... He opened the season with career-highs in points (31) and rebounds (18) in the loss to the Tritons ... Tainamo is averaging 12.7 rpg, which is tied for fifth nationally entering Thursday’s action against SIUE ... Tainamo and senior Tommy Bruner are only Summit League duo averaging 20-plus in the early going ... Bruner is scoring a League-best 23.3 ppg and went 14-for-14 from the foul stripe and finished with 28 points in a 97-76 win over Cal Poly ... Denver’s offense is churning out 91.7 ppg in the early going, which tops all League teams.
KANSAS CITY ROOS (2-1; 0-0 SL) | @KCRoosMBB
Next Up: at Colorado State (11/17; 7 p.m. MT); vs. UNC Greensboro (11/25; 11 a.m. ET)
Previous Game: Avila (W, 79-48); Saint Mary (W, 95-42); at Baylor (L, 99-62)
The Roos opened with a pair of wins over non-Division I opponents before falling 99-62 at (15/13) Baylor ... Newcomer Jamar Brown has reached double figures in each of his first three career starts for the Roos ... Brown leads the team in scoring at 15.0 ppg with Anderson Kopp following close behind with a 14.0 ppg average ... Brown’s 18 points in the win over St. Mary were the most by a Roo in a game this season ... Kopp has also reached double-digit scoring in all three games for Kansas City, including a team-best 15 in the loss to the Bears ... Kopp is shooting 42.9 percent (6-for-14) from 3-point range while Brown is knocking down 55.6 percent (5-for-9) of his attempts from distance ... The Roos are forcing a League-best 21.0 turnovers per game and are only committing 11.7.
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (1-1; 0-0 SL) | @UNDMBasketball
Next Up: Valley City State (11/16; 7 p.m. CT); at Pacific (11/20; 8 p.m. PT)
Previous Games: at Iowa (L, 110-68); Elon (W, 85-68)
The Fighting Hawks have split their opening two games of the season, falling in the season opener at Iowa before rebounding with an 85-68 victory over Elon in their home opener ... Sophomore B.J. Omot reached 20-plus in both of those contests, including a career-high 24 against the Hawkeyes when he went 10-for-21 from the field ... Omot added 21 in the win over Elon and also pulled down 10 rebounds to record his first career double-double ... Treysen Eaglestaff led all scorers with a career-high 26 against The Phoenix and he made five 3-pointers for the second time in his career as well ... Tsotne Tsartsidze chipped in with 16 against Elon after going for nine in the opener vs. Iowa ... Tsartsidze is shooting 57.1 percent from the field in the early going.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (2-2; 0-0 SL) | @NDSUMBB
Next Up: at Montana (11/16; 8 p.m. MT); Wisconsin-Stout (11/20; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: Mount Marty (W, 93-66); at (8/8) Creighton (L, 89-60); vs. UC Davis (L, 68-53)
The Bison have split their opening four games, winning the first two, including an overtime thriller at Western Michigan to start the campaign ... Senior Boden Skunberg is the lone NDSU player averaging in double figures through four contests, posting a 14.5 ppg clip but Jacari White (9.8), Damari Wheeler-Thomas (9.5) and Andrew Morgan (9.0) are putting up 9.0-plus or better in the scoring column ... NDSU was down 10 at halftime against the Broncos before coming all the way back to force the extra session ... Skunberg went for a season-high 25 in the opener, while Morgan added a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive glass ... Skunberg once again led the Bison in scoring with 17 during the home-opening win over Mount Marty.
OMAHA MAVERICKS (1-2; 0-0 SL) | @OmahaMBB
Next Up: vs. William & Mary (11/16; 7 p.m. MT); vs. Lindenwood (11/17; 2 p.m. MT); at Air Force (11/19; 2 p.m. MT)
Previous Game: Doane (W, 85-63); at TCU (L, 82-60); at North Texas (L, 75-64)
The Mavericks opened their season with a 85-63 drubbing of Doane before dropping back-to-back games in the Lone Star State ... Omaha’s leading returning scorer, Frankie Fidler, had 11 in the win over Doane and added a team-high 20 to go with seven rebounds in the loss at TCU ... The Mavericks fell behind by 16 at the half in their last outing and could not over that deficit despite outscoring North Texas 38-33 after the break ... Marquel Sutton led Omaha with 15 against the Mean Green and Grant Stubblefied added 11 off the bench, which was the best production of the freshman’s young career ... The Mavericks will start a stretch of three games in four days at the Air Force Classic where they will play William & Mary, Lindenwood and the host Falcons in Colorado Springs.
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (1-2; 0-0 SL) | @ORUMBB
Next Up: at Texas A&M (11/17; 7 p.m. CT); Texas Southern (11/21; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: at UT Arlington (L, 75-71); MACU (W, 74-69); at Missouri State (L, 84-69)
The Golden Eagles are off to a 1-2 start with a matchup at Texas A&M looming on Friday in College Station as they return to the Lone Star State where they opened the season with a 75-71 loss at UT Arlington ... Issac McBride is averaging a team-best 19.3 ppg and his scoring output has increased game-by-game through ORU’s first three contests ... He opened with 12 against the Mavericks before adding 19 in a 74-69 win over MACU and poured in a game-high 27 in a loss at Missouri State Monday ... McBride is 20-for-21 from the foul stripe early on (95.2 percent) ... DeShang Weaver is producing on both ends of the floor for the Golden Eagles, scoring at a 15.3 ppg and leading the team in rebounding (6.3/g) and blocks (3.0/g) ... Weaver’s nine total blocks rank are tied for sixth nationally ... Kareem Thompson (13.0 ppg) and newcomer Jailen Bedford (10.7 ppg) give ORU four players averaging in double figures through three games.
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (2-1; 0-0 SL) | @TommieMBBall
Next Up: vs. Cal Poly (11/17; 4:30 p.m. PT); at Cal Baptist (11/18; 5 p.m. PT); vs. Portland State (11/19; 2:30 p.m. PT)
Previous Games: at California (L, 71-66); Idaho State (W, 54-53); North Central (W, 100-54)
The Tommies nearly pulled off a Power-5 win in their season opener at Cal before the Bears pulled out a 71-66 victory ... UST will be back in the Golden State for its next three games at The Lancer Joust hosted by Cal Baptist ... The four-team field also features Cal Poly and Portland State ... Before heading west again, the Tommies did pick up home wins over Idaho State and North Central to improve to 2-1 on the campaign ... Graduate student Parker Bjorklund is pacing the Tommies in scoring so far with a 13.7 ppg clip ... Bjorklund had a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds in the win over the Bengals, including two go-ahead free throws in the waning seconds of the home victory ... Graduate student Raheem Anthony, a Division III All-America a season ago at Saint Mary’s, was held scoreless in 18 minutes against the Bears but averaged 15.5 ppg in those two home wins for the Tommies ... He had 19 against Idaho State.
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (2-1; 0-0 SL) | @SDCoyotesMBB
Next Up: vs. VMI (11/17; 11 a.m. PT); vs. TBD (11/18; TBA); Northland (11/22; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: Mount Marty (W, 85-53); vs. UTRGV (W, 100-79); at DePaul (L, 72-60)
The Coyotes won their first two games before falling on the road at DePaul, which was the on-campus portion of the Arizona Tip-Off which resumes in Tucson with the Coyotes playing VMI Friday and either Northern Arizona or Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday ... Newcomer Lahat Thioune, a transfer from UCF who also played for current head coach Eric Peterson at Utah, has made his presence felt early on, averaging 20.0 ppg and 7.7 rpg ... Thioune has back-to-back 20-10 double-doubles after scoring 24 in the win over UTRGV and adding a team-high 21 in the loss at DePaul ... He is shooting 64.9 percent from the field and has made 12-of-14 from the foul stripe ... Kaleb Stewart, a Louisiana Tech transfer, and Bostyn Holt, a Utah transfer, give the Coyotes three newcomers scoring in double figures ... Stewart is averaging 13.3 ppg, while Holt is scoring at an 11.7 ppg clip ... Stewart had 19 points in the win over UTRGV and is shooting 44.4 percent from 3-point range.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (1-2; 0-0 SL) | @GoJacksMBB
Next Up: vs. UCF (11/19; 8 p.m. ET); TBD (11/20; TBA); at Southern Mississippi (11/22; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: Akron (L, 81-75); Dakota Wesleyan (W, 83-55); at Kansas State (L, 91-68)
The Jackrabbits dropped a matchup of top-five Mid-Major programs in the season opener as Akron posted a rare win at Frost Arena, defeating SDSU 81-75 ... Junior Zeke Mayo went for 28 in that contest and matched that total in a 28-point win over Dakota Wesleyan ... He reached double figures for the third straight game but was held to just 11 in a 91-68 loss at Kansas State ... Charlie Easley led the Jacks with 21 points against the Wildcats, going 9-for-13 from the field and adding a career-high six steals, which are the most by a Summit League player in a game this season ... Post men William Kyle III (14.0 ppg/6.3 rpg) and Luke Appel (13.0/6.0 rpg) are both producing double figures for SDSU ... Appel is the only other Jack to reach double figures in all three games besides Mayo ... SDSU travels to the Sunshine State to take part in the Jacksonville Classic where they will play UCF (Nov. 19) and either Charlotte or George Mason (Nov. 20) on its trip south.
#SUMMITMBB
