Official Athletic Web Site of the University of South Dakota CoyotesMen's Basketball

Junior scores 17 points to push first-place Coyotes' record to 19-3, 12-2 NCC.

Feb. 9, 2001

VERMILLION, S.D. - The No. 6 ranked South Dakota men's basketball team (19-3, 12-2 in the NCC) turned on the offensive juices in the second half to grab a 65-51 win over the North Dakota State Bison (13-8, 5-8 in the NCC) at the DakotaDome Friday night before 3,221 in attendance.

After scoring a season low 19 points in the opening half, South Dakota outscored NDSU, 46-27 in winning their fourth straight NCC game. The win moved South Dakota to 12-2 in the NCC and a one and one-half game lead over idle South Dakota State (18-3, 10-3 in the NCC), who face Augustana in Brookings on Saturday night. In the 155th meeting between USD and NDSU, the Coyotes' win cut the Bison's series lead to 81-74. South Dakota coach Dave Boots improved his record at South Dakota to 268-103 (.723) and his Coyotes are 161-31 (.838) at the DakotaDome during his tenure. His career record improved to 383-166 (.698).

Clearly the Coyotes struggled in the opening half against NDSU. The Coyotes hit just eight of 27 first half shots for 29.6 percent and were just three of 12 from three-point range as the Bison led 24-19 at halftime.

A three-point basket by South Dakota senior point guard Nate Tibbetts gave the Coyotes a 5-3 lead with 17:45 to play in the first half. However, NDSU's Joe Hedin, who scored 10 points on the night, had five straight points to give the Bison an 8-5 lead at the 16:08 mark. A lay-up by senior forward Jeremy Kudera gave the Coyotes a 9-8 lead with 13:59 to play. Two foul shots by NDSU's Scott Majkrzak moved the Bison in front 14-12 (10:34) but Kudera hit a three-pointer as South Dakota led 15-14 at the 10:17 mark. Junior shooting guard Paul Marshall hit consecutive baskets to give the Coyotes a 19-14 lead with 7:03 to play. But that was all the scoring for the Coyotes in the first half. NDSU went on a 10-0 run in the final 7:03 to grab the halftime lead (24-19). Still, the Coyotes had to be happy trailing by just five after going through their longest scoring drought of the season.

While South Dakota was cold in the opening stanza, the Bison also had trouble scoring. They hit just nine of 26 field goals for 34.6 percent and were four of 12 from three-point land. They made both of their free throws while the Coyotes did not have any free throw attempts in the first half. Tibbetts and Hedin had eight points to lead their respective teams.

In the second half, South Dakota was a different team. The Coyotes hit 17 of 31 field goals for 54.8 percent in the final 20-minutes to grab the victory. They were four of 11 from three-point range and eight of 13 from the foul line. The eight free throws tied a season low for South Dakota, which had just eight in their 79-40 win over Regis University on December 2.

After the Coyotes and Bison traded baskets in the first six minutes of the second half, the Coyotes took off on a 9-0 run to grab a 39-30 advantage at the 12:09 mark. Junior forward Jimmie Foster, who had 17 points and eight rebounds, had five points during the run. It gave the Coyotes an advantage they would not relinquish.

A three-point basket by junior forward Eric Hickenbottom gave the Coyotes a 42-32 lead with 9:23 left to play. Then after a jumper by NDSU's Ben Nemmers whittled the lead to 44-38, senior center Jason Barrow scored inside and hit a pair of free throws as the Coyotes moved ahead 47-38 at the 5:55 mark. Two foul shots by Kudera and a jumper by Marshall increased the lead to 55-41 at the 3:14 mark of the second half. A lay-up by Kudera kept the lead at 12 points, 57-45, with 2:28 to play. When Foster had a dunk with 1:11 to play, the Coyotes had a 61-48 lead and their 19th win of the season. Foster hit another shot with 25 seconds left for a 65-48 lead, their largest of the game, before NDSU's closed the scoring with a three-pointer (:22) by Marc Forbush.

Kudera, who was named the NCC Player of the Week on Feb. 5, had another outstanding game for the Coyotes, He had 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. It was his second double double of the season. Barrow had 10 points and six boards while Marshall had 12 points and a career-high six rebounds. Tibbetts had seven assists to move his Coyote record assist total to 640 on the season. Overall South Dakota hit 25 of 58 field goals for 43.1 percent. They were just seven of 23 from three-point range for 30.4 percent. South Dakota won the rebound battle, 36-35.

Meanwhile the Bison were 18 of 50 from the field for 36 percent and seven of 27 from three-point range for 25.9 percent. They were eight of 10 from the free throw line. Sophomore Denver TenBroek had 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead NDSU.