Halftime Report

South Dakota is on the road but looking no worse for wear. After one quarter, neither squad has the contest in the bag, but South Dakota leads 42-39 over Utah Tech.

If South Dakota keeps playing like this, they'll bump their record up to 10-4 in no time. On the other hand, Utah Tech will have to make due with a 3-11 record unless they turn things around (and fast).

Who's Playing

South Dakota Coyotes @ Utah Tech Trailblazers

Current Records: South Dakota 9-4, Utah Tech 3-10

How To Watch

What to Know

The South Dakota Coyotes will take on the Utah Tech Trailblazers in a holiday battle at 9:00 p.m. ET on Thursday at at Burns Arena. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

South Dakota's season wasn't pretty last year but it's starting to look like struggles are in the rearview. Everything went their way against Western Illinois on Saturday as South Dakota made off with an 89-66 win. The Coyotes have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four games by 23 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Utah Tech). They put a hurting on Whittier to the tune of 100-66 on Monday. The victory was a breath of fresh air for the Trailblazers as it put an end to their four-game losing streak.

Utah Tech was working as a unit and finished the game with 23 assists. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 11 assists per game earlier this season, but in their last five matches they've averaged 17.2.

South Dakota pushed their record up to 9-4 with the win, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Utah Tech, their victory bumped their record up to 3-10.

This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: South Dakota just can't miss this season, having drained 46.7% of their field goals per game. It's a different story for Utah Tech, though, as they've only made 41.3% of their field goals this season. Given South Dakota's sizable advantage in that area, Utah Tech will need to find a way to close that gap.

Looking ahead, South Dakota is expected to win a tight contest, barring any buzzer beaters.

Odds

South Dakota is a slight 2.5-point favorite against Utah Tech, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 2.5-point spread, and stayed right there.


The oddsmakers are expecting fireworks from the offense and set the over/under at a high 163.5 points.

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