by Bryan Boettcher, USD Sports Information
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—A total team effort and a partisan crowd propelled South Dakota to a 74-61 win against Kansas City in the quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament Sunday night inside the Sanford PREMIER Center.
All five Coyote starters scored in double figures while holding Kansas City to its lowest scoring output in 13 games. Evan Gilyard, the Roos’ talented all-conference guard, totaled 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting – his second-lowest point tally against a Summit team this season.
South Dakota (19-11) avenged two regular season losses to Kansas City (19-12) included a nine-point road loss in Missouri just 10 days ago. They did it by holding the Roos to zero field goals over the final 5:35, turning a one-point lead into a 13-point victory.
“We turned it over just 10 times and held a very good offensive team to 32 percent shooting in the second half and 1-of-9 from the 3,” said USD head coach Todd Lee. “Gilyard is a really talented player, obviously, and we didn’t have just one guy guarding him. A lot of guys were on him and we did a really good job.”
Mason Archambault (SRST) and Boogie Anderson spent the majority of the time on Gilyard and they combined for 26 points on the offensive end. Anderson was 4-for-4 for eight of his 12 points in the first half and helped South Dakota take a 38-33 lead into the break. Archambault had 14 points to go with six assists and two blocked shots. Tasos Kamateros led the Coyotes with 15 points and 11 rebounds, one carom shy of the most by a Coyote in 10 Summit tournaments.
Kansas City got 19 points, four assists and two steals from Summit Defensive Player of the Year Marvin Nesbitt Jr., who offered 36 minutes while competing with a leg injury. Arkel Lamar chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds. The Roos were outrebounded 39-24 and outscored at the free-throw line 19-10.
“I didn’t want the game to get up and down, we needed to pound it inside and slow the game down,” said Lee. “When we did that, we executed. The other thing is we got to the line 21 times. In the previous two games, they were plus-16 on the free throws.”
Big men Kamateros and Hunter Goodrick aided a great deal in that turnaround. They combined to go 11-of-19 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line. In addition to 14 points and eight rebounds from Goodrick, he blocked three shots and took his turn trying to slow down Nesbitt Jr.
Kruz Perrott-Hunt, the Coyotes’ leading scorer on the season, was saddled with two quick fouls in the first half, but got it going with more freedom in the second. He got 11 of his 13 points past the break and they seemed to come at all the critical moments. He converted a tough 3-point play with 5:04 left that ignited the final rally. His reverse layup with just under a minute to go made it 68-61 to put it out of reach.
