Jake Thomas

Grand Forks, N.D. – Freshman guard Jake Thomas posted 27 points and senior forward Tyler Cain earned his fifth consecutive double-double to help the South Dakota men’s basketball team claim a regular-season sweep of North Dakota with an 82-64 win on Saturday night at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. The victory moved the Coyotes to 10-9 on the season and 2-1 in the Great West Conference.

Thomas (Racine, Wis.) earned 27 points courtesy of five threes and a 12-of-12 showing from the free throw line, while Cain (Rochester, Minn.) had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Roman Gentry (Sioux City, Iowa) contributed 19 points and sophomore guard Louie Krogman (White River, S.D.) had a team-high five assists. USD shot 54 percent (27-of-50) from the field, including 68 percent (17-of-25) in the second half, to UND’s 38 percent (23-of-60) for the game.

Neither team found the basket easily in the first five minutes, as the teams went a combined 2-of-13 to open the game. Gentry got the Coyotes on the board and senior center Steve Smith (Sioux Falls, S.D.) hit a three to put USD up at the 14:34 mark, but UND hit back-to-back treys to spark a 14-6 run and took a 16-11 lead with 9:45 left. A Thomas trey and Cain layup tied the game at 16, before the two squads exchanged the lead three times over the next four minutes.

Smith knocked down two free throws and back-to-back deep threes from Thomas put the Coyotes on a 10-3 run in the last 4:12 to give USD control with a 29-23 halftime lead. Thomas had 14 points in the first half thanks to four threes, while Smith added five points and Cain had nine rebounds. USD shot 40 percent (10-of-25) from the field in the first frame compared to 25 percent (8-of-32) for UND. The Coyotes hit 67 percent (4-of-6) from the charity stripe, but committed 11 turnovers.

UND (3-16, 1-2 GWC) hit a quick three to open the second half and pull within three, but a Cain basket and back-to-back buckets from Gentry put the Coyotes up 35-26 with 16:03 left. Another Sioux trey broke South Dakota’s run, before Cain made a layup and free throws from Thomas ran the USD advantage to as many as 10 twice in the first six minutes of the half.

An improved USD defensive effort forced 12 UND turnovers in the second period and Gentry capitalized with the next seven points to lead USD on a 14-3 run at put the Coyotes in commanding control at 55-34 with 9:58 left. South Dakota pushed its lead to as many as 23 in the final seven minutes behind 17 points from Gentry in the second half. Cain and Thomas both had 13 in the second.

The Coyotes return to action at 7:30 p.m. CT on Thursday at Houston Baptist.