And down the stretch they come!
The final quarter of the Summit League regular season slate will determine the winner of the three-horse race for the conference title and a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the league tournament, which means a coveted day off between the quarterfinal round on Saturday and Monday’s semifinals.
South Dakota State (11-2) leads North Dakota State (10-2) by a nose, with South Dakota (9-4) needing to pick up steam to catch one of them to earn a Top-2 seed.
The Coyotes’ first opportunity comes tonight in a home game against NDSU at 7:00. The next chance will be Sunday afternoon at SDSU.
Tonight’s game will be televised on MidcoSN2 and can be heard in the Sioux Falls area on Q-95.7 FM with a 6:30 pregame.
Likely Summit League first-team forward Tyler Hagedorn is expected to play despite turning his ankle in Saturday’s loss at Oral Roberts.
USD coach Todd Lee told the Argus Leader that Hagedorn practiced Monday.
“He should be fine,” Lee said. “We just have to keep it warm and loose when he’s not in the game or in practice, because if he stands very long, it becomes stiff.”
The Yotes are looking to avenge a 72-70 loss at NDSU on Jan. 15, when guard Cody Kelly was called for a charge with seven seconds remaining and the game tied, which led to Bison senior Tyson Ward’s winning layup with two seconds left.
If USD wins, it will be within a half-game of the Bison, who host SDSU in the regular season finale on Thurs., Feb. 27.
The Jackrabbits tonight are also playing a rematch of a Jan. 15 game, an 87-66 home win over North Dakota. Round 2 in Grand Forks will be televised on MidcoSN and ESPN+.
The Fighting Hawks are 6-6 in league play under first-year coach Paul Sather and are in a four-way jam between fourth and seventh place with Oral Roberts (7-6), Omaha (6-6), and Fort Wayne (5-8).
