GRAND FORKS, N.D. ? The University of North Dakota men's basketball team dropped a 98-77 decision to South Dakota on Saturday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. It was the first meeting between the two teams in their transition year to the Division I level.
USD junior guard Roman Gentry scored a game-high 26 points, while freshman guard Louis Krogman added 20 for the Coyotes who made 39-of-62 (62.9 percent) shots from the floor in the victory.
The Sioux had five players reach double figures and shot 48.1 percent (26-of-54) from the floor themselves, but that was not enough to overcome a quick start by the Coyotes. With the loss, UND falls to 10-7 on the season, while USD improved to 16-5 and extended its winning streak to 13 games.
Junior G Travis Bledsoe (Minneapolis, Minn.) and senior G Daniel Harkins (Portage, Wis.) each had 17 points to lead UND. It was the second-straight game Bledsoe came off the bench to lead the squad in scoring. Senior F O.J. Harrison (Danville, Ill.) scored 10 of his 16 points after the break for the Sioux.
The Coyotes built an early advantage behind their strong field goal shooting. The visitors made 10 of their first 12 shots from the floor to go ahead 23-10 at the 11:32 mark. The lead grew to as many as 19 at 29-10 before the Sioux mounted a comeback to pull within seven.
“South Dakota is a good team and they have come out strong at the start of games all year,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “They have been getting good separation in the opening 10 minutes all year and they did that to us tonight.
Gentry came off the bench and made his first five shots from the field for the Coyotes to help spark the opening run.
Things began to even out as Bledsoe scored 11 of UND's next 20 points to pull the Sioux within seven at 37-30 with just over two minutes to play in the half. Unfortunately for UND, that would be as close as the home team would get after USD closed out the half on a 7-2 run over the final 1:58 to take a 44-32 lead into halftime.
“We clawed back in it to get within seven points with two minutes and some change left in the half,” Jones said. “But, we relaxed on defense and they were able to stretch the lead back out to 12 before halftime. I thought that was a key part of the game.”
The Coyotes continued their strong shooting after intermission to keep UND from pulling within single digits the rest of the game. Gentry and company made 21-of-33 attempts after the break to win the first of a home-and-home series with the Sioux this season.
Krogman had 17 of his 20 points in the second half, including a 3-for-4 effort from behind the arc. Senior G Dylan Grimsley added 19 points for USD in the win.
Senior G Darius Joseph (Tacoma, Wash.) was perfect from the floor, making all four of his shots to finish with 11 points for the Sioux. Junior F Travis Mertens (Devils Lake, N.D.) added 13 points to round out the double-figure scores for the home team.
USD held the rebounding advantage at 38-18, while the Sioux made 28 trips (made 19) to the foul line compared to 11 for the Coyotes.
UND saw its seven-game home winning streak come to a close with the loss to the Coyotes. The team will look to start a new streak on Tuesday night when the Sioux play host to Upper Iowa at 7 p.m.
These same two teams will meet in Vermillion next Saturday on the Coyotes' home court with tip set for 3 p.m.
GAME NOTES: Junior G Travis Bledsoe has scored 36 points in the last two games, the most in a two-game stretch for the Minneapolis native since the 2007-08 season when had 15 against U-Mary and a career-high 24 vs. South Dakota ... The 98 points were a season-high allowed by the Sioux ... Minot State scored 93 in an overtime-loss to UND on Jan. 2 ... With 13 points, junior F Travis Mertens reached double figures for the sixth-straight game ? the longest active streak on the team.
