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

Coyotes stun Minnesota-Morris 117-58 as Scott Hansen scores a career-high 25 points.

Nov. 18, 2000

MORRIS, Minn. - It isn't hard to figure why the the University of South Dakota Coyotes men's basketball team has opened the 2000-01 season with two victories. The Coyotes, ranked No. 10 by a national publication earlier this year, are making shots at a dizzying rate, especially in their 117-58 non-conference win over Minnesota-Morris Saturday night at the Quad State Classic.

USD (2-0) opened the game by hitting 21-of-30 (.700) first-half shots and then made 19-of-35 (.540) second-half shots for a total of 40-of-65 shots on the night for a sizzling .615 percentage. Junior forward Scott Hansen was especially hot, as he scored a career-high 25 points by making 9-of-10 field goals, including 5-of-5 from three-point range.

Overall, the Coyotes had six players in double figures. Besides Hansen, freshman Richard Ross had 19, junior Paul Marshall added 15, senior Jeremy Kudera had 15 and senior Jason Barrow tallied 13. In addition, junior Jimmie Foster had eight points, freshman Steve Anderson had five and senior point guard Nate Tibbetts had four points to go with six assists.

"Tonight I went out with a better attitude and knocked the shots down when I got the opportunity," said Hansen, in a post-game interview.

By scoring 117 points, the Coyotes registered the second-highest point total in a single game in Coyote history. The Coyote record is 128 points held by the 1977-78 squad. USD's 59-point win Saturday night also represents one of the largest margins of victory in Coyote history.

"Everyone who played did a good job tonight," said USD head coach Dave Boots, whose overall record at USD improved to 251-49. "It is good to see the team play all the way out. I thought our players gave a good effort."

The Coyotes raced to an early lead 12-4 lead and continued to pad their margin, moving to a 29-13 lead on a three-pointer by Tibbetts. The Coyotes increased the margin to 36-15 on a jumper by Kudera and then extended the lead to 46-19 off a foul-shot by Barrow. When Marshall hit a three-point field goal with two seconds to play in the half, the Coyotes owned a 57-31 lead. In the opening half, Hansen, who had two three-point shots, and Marshall, who had four three-pointers, each scored 12 points as the Coyotes converted 8-of-13 three-point field goals. The second half was a lot like the first 20 minutes of action as the Coyotes continued to score inside and from the perimeter.

A three-pointer by Ross gave the Coyotes a 65-35 lead with 18:18 to play and another three-pointer by Ross made the score 76-36 with 14:58 to play in the game. Consecutive three-pointers by Hansen and Foster gave the Coyotes a 94-42 lead with 9:55 to play, and the Coyotes cruised for the victory.

Overall, USD made 17-of-29 three-point field goals for a blistering .586 percentage while also converting 20-of-27 free throws for a .741 percentage. The Coyotes out-rebounded Minnesota-Morris 43-20 paced by 11 boards from Barrow. USD also had 10 steals, three blocks and committed 14 turnovers.

Minnesota-Morris (0-2) hit just 22-of-63 field goals including 3-of-22 three-point shots, as they hit only .349 from the field. They were led in scoring by Deon Tolliver with 21 points and Milton Taylor, who had 12.