The first game at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center on Nov. 13, competition in the Gulf Coast Showcase, and road trips to Nebraska and Gonzaga highlight the 2016-17 University of South Dakota men’s basketball schedule announced Wednesday by head coach Craig Smith.
The schedule includes 15 non-conference games before the Coyotes host Omaha in a Summit League opener on Dec. 29. Six of those games are home at the newly constructed arena and three come on weekends. In fact, eight of the team’s 14 home games throughout the season fall on weekends.
The season begins Nov. 11 against Drake in Des Moines. The Coyotes host Bowling Green at 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 13 as the second half of a doubleheader which also includes the Coyote women against Stephen F. Austin at 1 p.m. The three-game home stand continues with back-to-back games against Presentation and Doane, respectively, Nov. 16-17.
USD will compete at the Gulf Coast Showcase Nov. 21-23 in Estero, Fla., and will return to host Montana on Nov. 27. The Coyotes also welcome to Vermillion Montana State (Dec. 7) and Sacramento State (Dec. 10) from the Big Sky Conference in the non-conference slate.
Smith’s return to Nebraska, where he served as an assistant under coach Tim Miles during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, is Dec. 3 in Lincoln. The Coyotes will take on Portland at Moda Center – home of the Portland Trailblazers – on Dec. 16. The trip to Spokane, Wash., to face Gonzaga is Dec. 21.
After hosting Omaha to begin the 16-game Summit League slate, USD will take on South Dakota State in Brookings on New Year’s Eve. Game two of the USD-SDSU series is Feb. 11 in Vermillion. Senior night follows on Feb. 18 against Oral Roberts. South Dakota wraps up the regular season on the road at Western Illinois (Feb. 23) and IUPUI (Feb. 25).
