Overview
North Texas will take their young group up to South Dakota for some post season basketball.
- Wednesday, March 14 2018
- 7:00 p.m. CT
- Sanford Coyote Sports Center , Vermillion, S.D
- TV: www.goyotes.com/Watch
- Radio: MGRN – 88.1 KNTU-FM
- Line: USD -13
What You Need to Know About South Dakota
Record: 26-8 (7-11)
Coach: Craig Smith 4th season at USD (79-54)
Last Game: L South Dakota St 97-87
Scoring Margin: 13
Summit League Scoring Margin: 9.5
Season Story: South Dakota began the season with hopes of taking down reigning Summit League champs South Dakota St. Close losses at TCU and UCLA signaled that the Coyotes were going to be one of the best teams in the Summit League again. They even put up 80 points on Duke. The Coyotes were solid in their league, they beat South Dakota St in their first match-up at home. It was a 19 point beat down. When the Coyotes traveled to Brookings they only lost by 4. USD lost by 10 to SD St in the conference championship game. The Coyotes could never recover from their 12 point deficit in the first half.
South Dakota will be one of the best teams that North Texas has faced all year. The Coyotes are extremely balanced. They play well on the offensive and defensive end. South Dakota had one 1st team All-Summit League player (G Matt Mooney), and two 2nd team All-Summit League players ( F Trey Burch-Manning, and F Tyler Hagedorn). This game will be a great challenge North Texas.
Projected Starting Lineups
North Texas
| Player | Position | Stat |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan Woolridge 6-3 | G | 5.5 A/pg |
| Roosevelt Smart 6-3 | G | 18.9 PT/pg |
| A.J. Lawson 6-5 | G | 9.9 PT/pg |
| Allante Holston 6-7 | F | 3.5 PT/pg |
| Zach Simmons 6-9 | F | 5.8 PT/pg |
South Dakota
| Player | Position | Stat |
|---|---|---|
| Triston Simpson 6-2 | G | 8.6 PT/pg |
| Matt Mooney 6-3 | G | 18.6 PT/pg |
| Tyler Peterson 6-4 | G | 7.9 PT/pg |
| Trey Burch-Manning 6-6 | F | 8.5 PT/pg |
| Tyler Hagedorn 6-10 | F | 13.2 PT/pg |
Scouting Report
South Dakota
- Defense – Man
- Best Offensive Weapon – Matt Mooney
- Best Shooter – Matt Mooney
- Best Defender – Matt Mooney
- Rim Protecter – Not Really
- Primary Offensive Scoring Way – Inside/Driving to the Basket
- Secondary Offensive Scoring Way – Mid Range
- Offensive Weakness – Don’t Really Have One. They are balanced and can score well at all levels.
- Defensive Weakness – If you’re good at getting to the free throw line, they will put you on the line. They give up a lot of mid range shots. Their mid range shooting % is good, but if you can knock down the mid range shot, you’ll find great success against them. They don’t have a true rim protector, and don’t block shots.
- Defensive Strengths – 3 Point Defense, Forcing Turnovers.
Go To Guys
Player Match-ups
Simpson is an athletic young point guard. He does a great job running the show for USD. He gets the ball to the right people at the right time. He has above average quickness, and will push the ball every chance he gets. Simpson is also a good outside shooter. In conference play he was shooting 41% from behind the 3pt line. Simpson is a solid defender as well. As good as Simpson is, he still isn’t as good as Ryan. Ryan should be able to get to the rim on Simpson. The biggest concern for UNT is if Simpson is able to speed Woolridge up. That’s where Ryan gets into trouble with TO’s.
Tyler Peterson is a versatile guard for USD. Peterson can play 1 through 4 for the Coyotes. Peterson does most of his damage near the basket, he isn’t much of a threat from downtown. He is though a solid rebounder on the offensive end. We predicted this match-up because Smart doesn’t really match-up with well with Mooney. If Peterson is matched up with Smart then, Smart should be able to get his on the offensive end, because Peterson isn’t one of those long wings that has given Smart trouble all year. When USD has the ball Peterson’s ability to get to the basket and draw fouls could be bad for UNT. The Mean Green don’t tend to fair well when Smart is in foul trouble.
Now when Mooney guards Smart, that will be a fun match-up to watch. Mooney is 6’3 210, Smart 6’3 185. Mooney is still quicker than Smart. Roosevelt is going to have a tough time finding his shot against Mooney.
Mooney is such a special player. He does everything well. He has great ball handling skills, gets his teammates involved, solid shooter, and a good defender. Mooney is who makes the Coyotes backcourt so good. Lawson is going to have trouble staying in front of Mooney. When UNT has the ball Mooney will most likely be matched up Smart. That will leave Peterson guarding Lawson, which would still favor USD. Peterson has 15 lbs on Lawson, and should be able to keep Lawson from getting to the rim.
Trey Burch-Manning is another versatile player in the USD lineup. Trey is the leading rebounder for USD. He can finish around the rim, doesn’t shoot much from outside, gets to the stripe at a good clip, and is a good defender. Burch-Manning was 6th in Summit league play for steals per game at 1.4. You have to give Burch-Manning a major advantage over Holston.
This match-up is intriguing. Hagedorn is a skilled big man that can shoot the outside shot very well. He is probably more of threat from the outside then down in the post, and that’s what makes this match-up intriguing. This is the kind of player that Temara would normally be guarding. Hagedorn is going to take Simmons out away from the rim. When UNT has the ball Simmons should be able to get some good looks. Hagedorn at 6-10 isn’t a great rim protector.
Other Match-ups to Watch for
Draper vs Mooney
Draper is probably going to be that 1st sub for Lawson. Hopefully Draper can be scrappy enough to give Mooney some troubles.
Tope vs Hagedorn
If Zach can’t handle Hagedorn’s outside game, then UNT will turn to Tope, who is a little bit more versatile as a defender.
USD 6th Men Possibilities
Nick Fuller 6-7 F, 8.7 points, 4 rebs. Not sure he will play since he was a graduate transfer.
Carlton Hurt 6-3 G, 6.3 points, 4.4 rebs
Inside the Advanced Stat Match-up
3 Points
- Tempo – USD averages 15.8 seconds per possession. The Coyotes like to get up as many shots as possible. They speed their opponents up, and that’s where turnover’s happen. North Texas has to keep this game at their pace.
- Motivation – USD just lost in their conference championship game. Their whole season was about beating South Dakota St in the Summit League Championship, so how motivated will they be? A motivated USD team might be too much for UNT to handle.
- Free Throws – If your a team that can get to the line, USD will put you at the stripe. North Texas must be in attack mode, and they have to stay strong when finishing around the basket. Refs don’t reward weak inside shots. If North Texas can get to the line and MAKE those shots then the Mean Green have a chance.
Prediction
CUSA flexed some of its muscle last night with WKU and Middle dominating. It proved that CUSA was a really good league this year. UNT’s best non-conference win was against San Diego who finished 4th in the WCC. WCC is a really good league. CUSA is ranked as the 12th best league, but the Summit league were South Dakota resides is ranked 13th. So if you were thinking that North Texas may have the upper hand based on conference supremacy you can throw that out the window.
Most of you probably weren’t thinking that way anyways. Most of you were thinking about how good South Dakota looks on paper, and how they almost beat a couple of NCAA Tourney teams. That’s the right way to be thinking. If USD comes out motivated at home tonight, then North Texas won’t have much of chance to pull off the upset. There should be some of hangover for USD though, and that means North Texas WILL have a shot tonight. Expect a close game early, but South Dakota will pull away in the final four minutes.
My Pick: South Dakota by 8
