SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- With one of the more revamped rosters in the Summit League, South Dakota is off to a 5-3 start under the direction of second-year head coach Eric Peterson. The Coyotes have been cleaning up the glass through the first three weeks of the season thanks in large part to UCF transfer Lahat Thioune.
The 6-foot-10 forward has five double-figure rebounding games to his credit, which is three more than any other Summit League player, and he is the only one averaging a double-double as he is averaging a team-best 14.4 ppg to go along with his 10.0 rpg clip. The Coyotes will look to continue their winning ways Sunday when they travel to face former League-foe Western Illinois in Macomb.
Four teams bring multi-game winning streaks into the back half of the week as North Dakota has reeled off six straight, while Denver, Omaha and South Dakota State have all won back-to-back games. The Pioneers' boast the nation's top-scoring duo, which is led by Tommy Bruner, who tops all Division I players with a 25.6 ppg clip. He has teamed with Touko Tainamo to combine for 44.7 ppg, which is more than half of of DU's league-best 85.0 ppg scoring average.
Oral Roberts nearly pulled off the first Power-5 win of the season for a Summit League team but Kansas State outlasted the Golden Eagles in overtime. ORU senior Issac McBride gives the Summit League two of the nation's top 10 scorers as he is currently tied for ninth with a 22.2 ppg clip.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Wednesday, Nov. 29
Denver at Idaho (ESPN+) | 7 p.m. MT
Thursday, Nov. 30
Bellevue at Omaha (SLN) | 12 p.m. CT
SEMO at Kansas City (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Friday, Dec. 1
St. Thomas at Western Michigan (ESPN+) | 5 p.m. ET
North Dakota at Cal State Fullerton (ESPN+) | 6 p.m. PT
Towson vs. SDSU (SLN) (Sioux Falls, S.D.) | 7 p.m. CT
Saturday, Dec. 2
Colorado College at Denver (SLN) | 1 p.m. MT
Tulsa at Oral Roberts (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Sunday, Dec. 3
South Dakota at Western Illinois (ESPN+) | 1 p.m. CT
North Dakota at UC Riverside (ESPN+) | 4 p.m. PT
Monday, Dec. 4
San Jose State at NDSU (WDAYX/SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Tuesday, Dec. 5
Kansas City at Kansas (ESPN+) | 7 p.m. CT
Kent State at South Dakota State (SLN) | 8:15 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 (4-3; 0-0 SL) | @DU_MensHoops
Next Up: at Idaho (11/29; 7 p.m. MT); Colorado College (12/2; 1 p.m. MT)
Previous Game: vs. Colorado Christian (W, 100-68); at Texas A&M-Commerce (W, 71-61)
The Pioneers are coming off a 2-0 week to move back over .500 mark on the season at 4-3 ... Fifth-year senior Tommy Bruner averaged 29.0 ppg in wins over Colorado Christian and Texas A&M Commerce ... Bruner logged 27 against the Cougars and scored 31 against the Lions ... Bruner’s 25.6 ppg is tops among all Division I players and he has scored 18 or more in all seven games for the Pioneers this season ... Bruner is also shooting 49 percent from 3-point range (25-for-51) ... Touko Tainamo matched his season-high with 31 against CC and added 16 vs. TAMU-Commerce ... Bruner and Tainamo (19.1 ppg) make up the nation’s highest-scoring duo at 44.7 ppg ... The Pioneers are the highest-scoring Summit League team through three weeks of play, averaging 85.0 ppg with more than a quarter of those points coming from the foul stripe (21.6 free throws per game) ... DU travels to play Big Sky-foe Idaho Wednesday.
KANSAS CITY ROOS (2-5; 0-0 SL) | @KCRoosMBB
Next Up: SEMO (11/30; 7 p.m. CT); at (5/6) Kansas (12/5; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: vs. UNC Greensboro (L, 76-64); vs. Brown (L, 93-83, OT); vs. Middle Tennessee (L, 63-59)
The Roos will look to snap a five-game skid Thursday when SEMO visits the Sweeney Center for what will be the program’s first home game since Nov. 11 ... Kansas City came up empty in a three-game run at the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship in the Bahamas over Thanksgiving ... Jamar Brown led the Roos in scoring, tallying 13 points in each of those three contests ... In the 76-64 loss against UNC-Greensboro to open the multi-team event, JUCO-transfer Cameron Faas had his best game of the season, leading the Roos with 18 points ... Anderson Kopp paced the team with a season-high 19 points in a 93-83 overtime loss to Brown, which were his most since scoring a career-high 22 as a sophomore against Spurgeon ... In the 63-59 loss to Middle Tennessee, graduate transfer Artese Stapleton had his first double-digit outing as a Roo, leading the team with 14.
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (6-1; 0-0 SL) | @UNDMBasketball
Next Up: at Cal State Fullerton (12/1; 6 p.m. PT); at UC Riverside (12/3; 4 p.m. PT)
Previous Games: vs. New Orleans (W, 71-69, OT); vs. Eastern Michigan (W, 72-70); Concordia (Minn.) (W, 87-56)
The Fighting Hawks pushed their winning streak to six straight with an 87-56 win over Concordia (Minn.) at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center ... Sophomore B.J. Omot led UND with 21 points and a season-high three 3-pointers ... It marked the third time this season Omot, who is averaging a team-best 17.3 ppg, eclipsed the 20-point plateau ... JUCO-transfer Amar Kuljuhovic has started the past two games and has double-doubles in two of UND’s last three contests ... Against the Cobbers, Kuljuhovic had 10 points and 10 rebounds with five of those boards coming on the o-glass ... Howard transfer Deng Mayar scored a season-high 11 points in the win after averaging 11.5 ppg and 7.2 rpg for the Bison in 30 starts a season ago ... The Fighting Hawks are headed back on the road for a pair of tilts in the Golden State starting Friday at Cal State Fullerton.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (4-4; 0-0 SL) | @NDSUMBB
Next Up: San Jose State (12/4; 7 p.m. CT); Portland (12/7; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: at Grand Canyon (L, 86-71); at San Jose State (L, 78-65)
In their latest action, the Bison dropped back-to-back games on the road, falling 86-71 at Grand Canyon and 78-65 to San Jose State, who is coached by former NDSU head coach Tim Miles ... The Bison and Spartans will complete a home-and-home series Monday in Fargo, which is a true back-to-back for NDSU, while the SJSU plays at Cal Poly (Nov. 29) and at Montana (Dec. 2) before heading to the Peace Garden State ... Boden Skunberg matched his season-high with 25 points in the loss to the Lopes, while Damari Wheeler-Thomas added 19 ... Wheeler-Thomas led the Bison with 18 against SJSU and is averaging 18.5 ppg over his last four contests after scoring 9.5 ppg in NDSU’s first four games ... Skunberg (15.3 ppg) and Wheeler-Thomas (14.0 ppg) are carrying the scoring load for the Bison, who are averaging 75.1 ppg and yielding 75.5 ppg through a 4-4 start to the campaign.
OMAHA MAVERICKS (4-4; 0-0 SL) | @OmahaMBB
Next Up: Bellevue (11/30; 12 p.m. CT); at Texas Tech (12/6; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: MACU (W, 76-59); York (W, 104-68)
The Mavericks moved back to the .500 mark with home wins over MACU and York ... Freshman Grant Stubblefield scored his collegiate-best 14 points to lead Omaha against MACU ... The Mavericks went 10-for-21 from beyond the arc in the victory over the Evangels ... Marquel Sutton (13) and Frankie Fidler (12) also reached double figures against MACU ... In the 104-68 rout of York, Tony Osburn set a Mavericks’ single-game program record by making nine 3-pointers on 17 attempts ... Osburn, who had combined for just 11 triples in Omaha’s first seven games, finished with a career-high 32 points ... Omaha finished 14-for-33 as a team from distance with Osburn leading five Mavericks in double figures ... Fidler had 13 against York and is averaging a 14.4 ppg and shares the team-rebounding lead with Nick Davis at 5.1/g ... Davis is the only other Maverick scoring in double figures with a 10.1 ppg clip ... The Mavericks close out a three-game homestand Thursday against Bellevue before traveling to face Texas Tech on Wednesday, Dec. 6.
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (2-4; 0-0 SL) | @ORUMBB
Next Up: Tulsa (12/2; 7 p.m. CT); Ozark Christian (12/9; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: at (13/15) Texas A&M (L, 74-66); Texas Southern (W, 65-63); at Kansas State (L, 88-78, OT)
The Golden Eagles rallied to force overtime at Big 12-foe Kansas State but the Wildcats outlasted the visitors by outscoring them 16-6 in the extra session ... Issac McBride scored 20-plus for the fourth consecutive game and increased his average to 22.2 ppg, which was tied for ninth nationally after Tuesday’s loss to the Wildcats ... During that four-game stretch, McBride is averaging 25.5 ppg ... JUCO-transfer Jailen Bedford had the best game of his young Golden Eagle career, scoring 23 points on the strength of 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc ... Oral Roberts went 10-for-21 from 3-point range, connecting on double-digit 3-pointers for the third time this season ... Sir Issac Herron matched his point total from the first five games by dropping nine off the bench at KSU, including the game-tying dunk in the closing seconds to force overtime ... ORU will return to action Saturday against crosstown rival Tulsa in a battle for the Mayor’s Cup that the Golden Eagles currently hold after winning the last two against the Golden Hurricane.
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (3-4; 0-0 SL) | @TommieMBBall
Next Up: at Western Michigan (12/1; 5 p.m. ET); Milwaukee (12/6; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: vs. Portland State (W, 76-70); at Green Bay (L, 64-51)
The Tommies fell 64-51 at Green Bay last Saturday in what was their only game in a 12-day stretch ... Graduate student Raheem Anthony was one off his season-high, finishing with 18 in the loss to the Phoenix ... Parker Bjorklund added 11 but the Tommies shot a season-low 31 percent from the field as they could never get the offense on track ...Carter Bjerke chipped in with eight off the bench, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers ... Bjorklund is averaging a team-best 13.9 ppg while Anthony is scoring 11.1 ppg in his first season with the Tommies after transferring from the Division III level where he played at Saint Mary’s (Minn.) ... UST will return to action at Western Michigan Friday.
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (5-3; 0-0 SL) | @SDCoyotesMBB
Next Up: at Western Illinois (12/3; 1 p.m. CT); Cal State Bakersfield (12/9; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: Northland (W, 100-48); Air Force (L, 58-57); Waldorf (W, 93-71)
The Coyotes rebounded from a 58-57 loss at home to Air Force to rout Waldorf 93-71 ... The Bruns brothers combined for 35 points with Paul going for 18 and Isaac adding a career-high 17 off the bench in the win over the Warriors ... Bostyn Holt and Jake Brack were both one rebound shy of a double-double after going for 11 and 10 points, respectively ... Those two helped USD hold a plus-22 advantage on the glass as the Coyotes are top rebounding team in the Summit League so far, averaging 46 boards per game ... In the one-point loss to the Falcons, Paul Bruns led the way with 16 and Holt added 15 but the Falcons held off a late charge by the home team to pick up the victory ... Bruns has three straight double-figure scoring games to his credit after averaging just 7.2 ppg in USD’s first five contests ... UCF transfer Lahat Thioune continues to pace the League in rebounding, pulling down 10.0 rpg ... Thioune had 15 boards against Air Force and his five double-digit rebounding games are three more than the next closest player in the League ... The Coyotes travel Monday to take on former Summit League-foe Western Illinois in Macomb before returning home to face Bakersfiled on Dec. 9.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (3-4; 0-0 SL) | @GoJacksMBB
Next Up: vs. Towson (Sioux Falls) (12/1; 7 p.m. CT); Kent State (12/5; 8:15 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Southern Mississippi (W, 65-54); vs. Mount Marty (W, 92-70)
After a 1-4 start to the season, the Jackrabbits have won back-to-back games including a 65-54 road win at Sun Belt-foe Southern Miss ... Junior Zeke Mayo scored 16 points to go with eight rebounds and four assists to lead the Jackrabbits in the win over the Golden Eagles ... Wyoming transfer Nate Barnhart added 10 points and is averaging 9.0 ppg since moving into the starting lineup vs. George Mason on Nov. 20 (three games) ... In his first four games, Barnhart averaged 4.3 ppg ... The Jackrabbits returned to Frost Arena Monday to post a 92-70 win over Mount Marty in a game that was tied 41-41 at halftime ... Luke Appel led five Jacks in double figures with 16 points as SDSU shot 53. 6 percent from the field ... Freshman Bubz Alavarez added 14 points in his first career start ... SDSU is tops among Summit League teams with a 38.9 3-point field goal percentage and have made 63 triples, which is good for sharing the top spot among Summit League teams with 9.0 makes per game ... The Jackrabbits play Towson at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls Friday before taking on Kent State back in Frost Arena Tuesday.
#SUMMITMBB
