The South Dakota Coyotes and the St. Thomas MN Tommies meet Saturday in college basketball action from Schoenecker Arena. South Dakota is fresh off a Thursday matchup versus Western Illinois. In that one the Coyotes lost a close game. As for St. Thomas MN, they played South Dakota State in their Thursday game. The Tommies ended up powering out a six-point victory. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
South Dakota Coyotes
South Dakota beat Lipscomb, Dakota State, LIU, Mount Marty, BYU, St. Thomas MN and Western Illinois in their first 15 games this year. The Coyotes hit a 2-3 run in the next five with wins over North Dakota and Omaha.
In the Thursday game versus Western Illinois, South Dakota trailed 39-35 at the break. The Coyotes got better on a 37-36 second-half run but ended up losing 75-72. Tasos Kamateros led the team on 17 points and seven rebounds.
St. Thomas Tommies
Over on the Tommies side, they were 11-5 after 16 games, losing to Creighton, Montana, Utah, Montana State and South Dakota along the way. St. Thomas MN hit a 2-4 run from there with losses to SD State, UMKC, Oral Roberts and Western Illinois.
Matched up against South Dakota State on Thursday, the Tommies were up 32-29 going into the second half. St. Thomas MN hit a 28-25 run from there and won it 60-54. Andrew Rhode led the way on 15 points with eight assists.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll take a stab on St. Thomas here. The Tommies are just 1-3 over their last four games and haven’t been scoring especially well: 60 or fewer points in three of those. St. Thomas MN has generally been competitive versus comparable teams this year though, and this should be a manageable matchup. As for South Dakota, they’re on a 1-4 run themselves and have been quite the mixed bag on the scoreboard. This one could go a lot of different ways and I think it’ll be a close one. I like St. Thomas a little better cover-wise but I’m probably staying away in reality. The line’s just a little too thick to mess with.