SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - It seems like as each week of Summit League men's basketball passes - there is plenty to learn about each team. In the case of Oral Roberts, that lesson was do not count the reigning champs out.

The Golden Eagles, who started the week 2-4 and staring up at eight teams ahead of them in the League standings, won a pair of home games to reposition themselves right in the middle of the pack and now have only four teams ahead of them.

The second of those wins came against League-leading South Dakota State, who now holds just a one-game lead on a trio of teams tied for second at 4-3 overall. That trio includes North Dakota, winners of four straight, St. Thomas and Denver. ORU and Omaha have both reached the midway point of their respective League slates with 4-4 records and sit just a half-game behind that trifecta of 4-3 squads and within a game-and-a-half of the Jackrabbits, who start a three-game homestand this week.

Kansas City (3-4), North Dakota State (2-4) and South Dakota (2-5) make up the lower third of the standings but as ORU can attest, need just one good weekend to put them right back in the mix of what has already proven to be a season where you cannot count anybody out.

As the Coyotes can attest following their 111-110 double-overtime heartbreak at Denver, the margin of victory or defeat can be as slim as one point and they have a chance to right their ship with those hot Fighting Hawks visiting Vermillion Thursday and the League-leading Jackrabbits awaiting in Brookings for a Sunday afternoon tilt at CBS Sports Network.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
Thursday, Feb. 1
Denver at Kansas City* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
St. Thomas at Omaha* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
North Dakota at South Dakota* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
NDSU at SDSU* (MS/SLN) | 7 p.m. CT

Saturday, Feb. 3
NDSU at North Dakota* (MS/SLN) | 3:30 p.m. CT
Denver at Oral Roberts* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
St. Thomas at Kansas City* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT

Sunday, Feb. 4
South Dakota at SDSU* (CBSSN) | 4 p.m. CT

Rankings: (AP/Coaches)
All times local to site
*Summit League game

Key:  MS (Midco Sports), CBSSN (CBS Sports Network), ESPN+ (ESPN Plus), MWC (Mountain West Conference Live), SLN (Summit League Network), YT (YouTube)

TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (13-9; 4-3 SL) | @DU_MensHoops
Next Up: at Kansas City* (2/1; 7 p.m. CT); at Oral Roberts (2/3; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: South Dakota* (W, 111-110; 2OT); Omaha* (L, 91-72)    
The Pioneers split a pair of home games last week and now sit in a three-way tie for second in the League standings entering a three-game road trip ... DU’s victory last week was of the “instant classic” variety as the Pioneers outlasted visiting South Dakota 111-110 in double-overtime ... Isaiah Addo-Ankrah buried a 3-pointer with .7 seconds to play to provide the game-winning basket but it was the Tommy Bruner-Kaleb Stewart Show in the Mile High City for the first 50 minutes ... Bruner poured in a career-high 49 points - the most by a DI player in a game this season and fifth most all-time by a Summit League player - and added eight assists ... Bruner scored 12 points in the closing minutes of the first overtime to force the second extra session ... He was named the Oscar Roberts National Player of the Week after adding 21 points in DU’s home loss to Omaha - marking the second time in the last three weeks a Summit League player garnered that award ... Touko Tainamo went for 22 points and 13 rebounds against the Coyotes to record his sixth double-double of the season - second most among League players ... DU hits the road for games at Kansas City and Oral Roberts this week.

KANSAS CITY ROOS (9-13; 3-4 SL) | @KCRoosMBB
Next Up: Denver* (2/1; 7 p.m. CT); St. Thomas* (2/3; 7 p.m .CT)
Previous Game: at South Dakota State* (L, 75-66); South Dakota* (W, 81-57)
The Roos rebounded from an 75-66 road loss at South Dakota State to earn a split last week thanks to an 81-57 victory at home over South Dakota ... KC was all square with the League-leading Jackrabbits at 66-66 before SDSU closed out the victory with a 9-0 run over the final 2:46 ... Newcomer Jamar Brown led the way with 17 points and continues to pace KC in scoring at 14.0 ppg ... The win over the Coyotes matched Kansas City’s largest margin of victory against a conference foe since returning to the League prior to the 2020-21 season (77-53 win over UND; 2020-21) ... Freshman Jaylen Petty, making just his fifth start of the season, led KC with a career-high 21 points, more than doubling his previous season best of 10 vs. Brown on Nov. 25 ... Petty went 8-for-11 from the field, including a 5-for-6 effort from beyond the arc in the victory as he logged a season-high 31 minutes ... Brown added 14 and Khristion Courseault chipped in with 17 off the bench ... Kansas City stays at home for both games this week as Denver and St. Thomas travel to play the Roos.    
  
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (12-10; 4-3 SL) | @UNDMBasketball
Next Up: at South Dakota* (2/1; 7 p.m. CT); North Dakota State* (2/3; 3:30 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: Oral Roberts* (W, 87-77); Denver* (W, 92-78); St. Thomas* (W, 74-64)
The Fighting Hawks pushed their winning streak to four straight with a 74-64 win at St. Thomas, which extracted some revenge for a 70-45 loss to the Tommies in the League opener ... Sophomore B.J. Omot is averaging 24.3 ppg over the four-game winning streak and ranks sixth in League play scoring (18.4 ppg) ... Omot led the way against the Tommies with 22 points, while Eli King contributed a career-high 17 points off the bench as he reached double figures for the sixth time this season ... UND built an 11-point lead at the break and held on for the 10-point win that put the squad in a three-way tie for second place in the League standings at 4-3 ... Tyree Ihenacho has also hit double figures in each of UND’s four consecutive wins, averaging 17.0 ppg in those victories ... The Fighting Hawks play at South Dakota Thursday before returning home Saturday for a tilt with in-state rival North Dakota State.  

NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (9-12; 2-4 SL) | @NDSUMBB 
Next Up: at South Dakota State* (2/1; 7 p.m. CT); at North Dakota* (2/3; 3:30 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: Denver* (L, 78-70); Oral Roberts* (W, 72-67); at St. Thomas (W, 79-66)   
The Bison fell 79-66 at St. Thomas in what was their lone action last week ... The setback dropped NDSU to 2-4 in League play with a pair of road games upcoming for head coach Dave Richman’s squad ... Senior Boden Skunberg scored 19 points in the loss to the Tommies but became the 40th player in program history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau ... Skunberg is one of eight active Summit League players who has reached that threshhold with their current team ... Redshirt freshman Noah Feddersen now has back-to-back games establishing career-highs ... In the home win over Oral Roberts last Saturday, he equaled his career-high with 18 and in Thursday’s loss to St. Thomas, Feddersen went for 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor ... The Bison play at SDSU, a team they beat in last year’s Summit League Tournament semifinals, and UND this week. 

OMAHA MAVERICKS (11-12; 4-4 SL) | @OmahaMBB 
Next Up: St. Thomas* (2/1; 7 p.m. CT); at North Dakota* (2/8; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: at Oral Roberts* (L, 74-67); at Denver* (W, 91-72) 
The Mavericks split a pair of road games last week and sit in a tie for fifth in the League standings at the halfway point of the conference slate ... After falling 74-67 at Oral Roberts, the Mavericks responded by shooting 56.3 percent from the field in a 91-72 win at Denver, which dealt the Pioneers just their second home loss of the season ... Junior Frankie Fidler had 19 against the Golden Eagles and led all scorers with 31 against the Pioneers to push his average to 25.9 ppg in eight League games ... His 31-point effort was his 17th consecutive game in double figures and marked the third time he scored 30-plus in a game ... Marquel Sutton equaled his season-high with 22 points in the win at DU and has three 20-plus point efforts in Omaha’s last four games ... Sutton is averaging 18.1 ppg in League play after averaging 10.3 ppg in 15 non-conference tilts ... Omaha’s lone game this week is Thursday at home against St. Thomas.

ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (10-11; 4-4 SL) | @ORUMBB 
Next Up: Denver* (2/3; 7 p.m. CT); at St. Thomas* (2/8; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Game: Omaha* (W, 74-67); South Dakota State* (W, 87-82)
The Golden Eagles moved into the middle of the pack with back-to-back home wins last week, which evened their League record at 4-4 ... ORU was at the bottom of the standings prior to a 74-67 win over Omaha and an 87-82 triumph over League-leading South Dakota State ... Senior guard Issac McBride played great down the stretch in both victories, averaging 20.5 ppg and making 19-for-19 free throw attempts to earn his third Summit League Peak Performer of the Week nod ... He is scoring at a 21.8 ppg clip in eight League contests, which ranks fourth overall ... In the five-point win over the Jackrabbits, graduate student DeShang Weaver erupted for a career-high 32 points as he went 8-for-15 from beyond the arc ... Weaver’s eight makes equaled the most by a Summit League player in a game this season ...  The Golden Eagles will close out a three-game homestand Saturday when Denver pays a visit to the Mabee Center.

ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (14-8; 4-3 SL) | @TommieMBBall
Next Up: at Omaha* (2/1; 7 p.m. CT); at Kansas City* (2/3; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: North Dakota State* (W, 79-66); North Dakota* (L, 74-64)     
The Tommies split a pair of home games this past week, earning a 79-66 win over North Dakota State before falling to North Dakota by 10 ... In the victory over the Bison, graduate student Parker Bjorklund scored a career-high 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting from the floor but was held to a season-low four points in the loss to the Fighting Hawks ... Raheem Anthony put up 15 against the Bison and led the way for the Tommies with his own career-high of 32 points against the Fighting Hawks ... Anthony is averaging 18.0 ppg over UST’s last five games and has his average up to 12.1 ppg this season ... UST’s defense is the only unit in the Summit League yielding less than 70.0 ppg as they top the defensive scoring charts at 67.4 ppg in League play and 63.7 ppg overall ... The Tommies are part of a three-way tie for second place with road games this week at Omaha Thursday and Kansas City Saturday on their slate.  
 
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (9-13; 2-5 SL) | @SDCoyotesMBB 
Next Up: North Dakota* (2/1; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota State* (2/4; 4 p.m. CT) 
Previous Game: at Denver* (L, 111-110; 2OT); at Kansas City* (L, 81-57)  
The Coyotes were on both ends of the road-loss spectrum last week, falling in 111-110 in double-overtime at Denver before suffering a 24-point loss at Kansas City the next time out ... Louisian Tech transfer Kaleb Stewart did his part in going toe-to-toe with DU’s Tommy Bruner in the one-point loss to the Pioneers ... Those two became the first dueling 40-point scorers in a Division I game over the past three seasons ... Stewart poured in a career-high 44 points, which are the second most in a game by a DI player this season, trailing only Bruner, who had 49 ... Stewart buried eight triples (13 attempts), which were the most by a Summit League player in a game this season and finished 16-for-31 from the field ... Stewart is averaging 22.0 ppg in his six League games this season - a total that ranks third overall ... Lahat Thioune averaged 17.5 ppg and 8.5 rpg during the two-game road swing ... Redshirt freshman Jevon Hill scored 14 points in his first career start against the Pioneers ... The Coyotes return home to play North Dakota Thursday before traveling to SDSU Sunday for a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Net.  

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (12-10; 4-1 SL) | @GoJacksMBB 
Next Up: North Dakota State* (2/1; 7 p.m. CT); South Dakota* (2/3; 4 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: Kansas City* (W, 75-66); at Oral Roberts* (L, 87-82)
The Jackrabbits split two games last week to remain in first place in the League standings with a 5-2 overall record ... SDSU, who begins a three-game homestand this week, closed out a 75-66 victory over Kansas City with a 9-0 run to knock off the Roos before falling at reigning tournament and regular season champion Oral Roberts by five ... In the win over Kansas City, Luke Appel equaled his season-high 19 points to pace the Jacks, while Matt Mims also contributed a season-high 15 points ... Those two combined for six points during the closing 2:46 where the Roos were held scoreless ... Zeke Mayo scored 20 of his team-high 23 points after halftime as SDSU closed a pair of 15-point deficits down to two and three, respectively before ORU held on for the win after the Jackrabbits put up 56 second-half points ... Kalen Garry added 15 off the bench for SDSU to his best-scoring game against a conference foe so far ... SDSU opens the week with NDSU Thursday before hosting in-state rival USD for a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Net.

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