GRAND FORKS, N.D. (USD) — South Dakota basketball fell on the road Saturday afternoon 96-80 to North Dakota Saturday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. 

Jordan Crawford put together one of his best performances in a Coyote jersey with 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting and knocked down 6-of-8 attempts from beyond the arc. He also dished out four assists and had three rebounds. Cameron Fens recorded his third straight double-double, and fourth game in a row with 11+ rebounds, with 13 points and 14 boards. 

Isaac Bruns had 21 on the day, his fourth straight game with 20+ points, and had four rebounds. Uzziah Buntyn added eight points and four assists, while Silas Bennion had 10 points and three helpers. 

North Dakota recorded a 54.8 shooting percentage, was 12-of-26 from deep but just 4-for-7 from the free throw line, while USD shot 47.2% from the field, 10-of-22 from beyond the arc and 20-for-24 from the charity stripe. UND held the edge in offensive rebounds (13-7), points in the paint (50-28) and had fewer turnovers (6-13).

North Dakota shot 57.1% in the first half, as they held the lead for the majority of the opening 20 minutes. The Coyotes held a 43.3 shooting percentage but knocked down all nine attempts from the free throw line to stay within eight at the intermission. The Fighting Hawks grabbed their largest lead late in the half, 47-32 with 2:16 remaining before the Yotes answered with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit back to single digits. UND closed the half with a layup under 10 seconds to take the eight-point lead into the locker room. 

Bennion, in just his fourth game as a Coyote, continues to get more comfortable in the South Dakota system, as he scored 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting with one triple in the first half. Bruns led the way with 12 in the first half for USD. Greyson Uelmen and Eli King had the hot hands for the Hawks with a combined 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting. 

Fens and Bruns scored the first 10 points of the second half for the Yotes, but North Dakota expanded its lead to 68-51 over the first nine minutes of play. Crawford caught fire in the second frame with 16 points on 5-of-5 shooting with four treys, but the Fighting Hawks held off the USD comeback attempts on their way to a 96-80 win. 

The Coyotes will hit the road for their next two games starting this Saturday against North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota.  

Notes

• South Dakota improves to 10-10 on the season, 2-3 in the conference and 0-8 on the road
• Jordan Crawford set a new career high with six made 3-pointers and hit the 20-point mark for the second time this season with 24 today
• Cameron Fens notched his third straight double-double and fourth game in a row with 10+ rebounds
• It was Fens’ sixth double-double of the season 
• Isaac Bruns poured in his fourth straight 20+ point game, his 12^th of the season
• The Yotes have made 8+ 3-pointers in seven straight games