The Lipscomb Bisons and the South Dakota Coyotes meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Lipscomb is coming off a 14-19 overall season last year, landing in fourth place in their division. As for South Dakota, they’ve got one game in the books already this week. That one was a blowout loss to Wisconsin. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Lipscomb had a few sparks of potential last season, but overall it was a rough campaign. The Bisons went 14-19 overall and 6-10 in ASUN games. That result left Lipscomb in fourth place in the West Division behind Jacksonville State, Bellarmine and Central Arkansas.
The Bisons started out the season at 5-2 last year, then finished off non-conference play with a 2-6 run. Lipscomb failed to win consecutive outings the rest of the regular season. The Bisons were eventually eliminated by Liberty in the conference tourney.
Over on the South Dakota side, they managed to go 19-12 overall last year. The Coyotes finished 11-17 in the Summit League for a fifth-place finish. South Dakota landed behind South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Kansas City and Oral Roberts in the standings.
South Dakota already has one game in the books this week versus Wisconsin. The Coyotes struggled mightily in that outing, scoring 28 points in the first half during an 85-59 loss. Kruz Perrott-Hunt led the team with 21 points, three rebounds and three assists.
PICK: I’m likely going to stick with South Dakota. The Coyotes were overmatched by Wisconsin in their opener this year, but statistically the team put up a decent fight. South Dakota shot 40.4 percent from the field and just 13.3 percent (2-of-15) from 3-point range. The Coyotes were outpaced in assists (14-7) but were competitive on the boards (37-34). Lipscomb should be a more manageable foe for South Dakota.