Coyote men pull away in final minutes to knock off Kansas City

SIOUX FALLS — The University of South Dakota saved its biggest and best run for last on Sunday night.

A 13-1 run over the final 5 minutes vaulted the Coyotes to the Summit League tournament semifinals with a quarterfinal win over fourth-seeded Kansas City in a 74-61 triumph at the Premier Center.

Waiting in the semifinals will be archrival South Dakota State (28-4) at 6 p.m. on Monday night, with SDSU winning the first two matchups this season.

“They got us twice but we’ll be ready for (Monday night),” USD coach Todd Lee said.

Five Coyotes (19-11) scored in double figures, as the Coyotes made the plays late in the game on the offensive end to pull away, while Kansas City finished the game 1-for-12 from the field and did not make a field goal after a layup from star guard Evan Gilyard II with 5:34 remaining.

That layup cut the margin to 61-60 in favor of USD. On the next possession, Kruz Perrott-Hunt had an off-balance three-point play that put USD up by four points.

Richard Carlson / Inertia

The offense proved harder to come by in the final minutes, but USD managed to convert. Leading by five, Perrott-Hunt had an acrobatic layup to put the Coyotes up 68-61 with 58 seconds left and after a defensive stop, Tasos Kamateros had two free throws. Boogie Anderson converted a quick steal into an exclamation point on the win for USD, converting a steal with 34 seconds left with a big one-handed slam to set the Coyote faithful ablaze.

Kamateros had a team-high 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Coyotes, who improved to 19-11. Mason Archambault and Hunter Goodrick each had 14, with 13 points from Perrott-Hunt. USD was rock solid at the free-throw line, converting 19-of-21 free throws in the victory, including 13-of-14 in the second half.

South Dakota, which led 38-33 at halftime, lost the two prior meetings with the Roos by nine and 11 points, respectively. The Coyotes got a key boost from Goodrick, the 6-foot-7 sophomore Australian, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the first half.

Marvin Nesbitt Jr. had 19 points for the Roos (19-12). Gilyard, who was the conference newcomer of the year, was kept to just 11 points in 39 minutes of game time on 3-for-13 shooting, which was a high accomplishment according to Lee.

“Once we got up, it felt like (Kansas City) pressed and took some uncharacteristic shots,” Lee said.

Lee mentioned the game plan against Roos, trying to hold Kansas City into a half-court offense, rather than running up and down the court. It might be useful tactics against the Jackrabbits, the winners of 19 straight games who score 87.2 points per game.

“Can’t wait,” Goodrick said of the meeting with the Jackrabbits. “It will be fun. It’s that simple.”