# 2017–18 South Dakota Coyotes men's basketball team

The 2017–18 South Dakota Coyotes men's basketball team represented the University of South Dakota during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Coyotes, led by fourth-year head coach Craig Smith, played their home games at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, South Dakota as members of the Summit League. They finished the season 26–9, 11–3 in Summit League play to finish in second place. They defeated Omaha and Denver to advance to the championship game of the Summit League where they lost to South Dakota State. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they lost in the first round to North Texas.
On March 25, 2018, head coach Craig Smith was hired as the head coach at Utah State. On April 6, the school hired former Grand Canyon assistant and South Dakota alum Todd Lee as head coach.

## Previous season

The Coyotes finished the 2016–17 season 22–12, 12–4 in Summit League play to win the Summit League regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Summit League tournament, they defeated Western Illinois in the quarterfinals before losing to South Dakota State in the semifinals. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament title, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Iowa.

## Preseason

In a poll of league coaches, media, and sports information directors, the Coyotes were picked to finish in second place. Junior guard Matt Mooney was named to the preseason All-Summit First Team and junior forward Trey Burch-Manning was named to the Second Team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 4, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Sioux Falls | W 73–64 | | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,588) Vermillion, SD |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 11, 2017* 6:00 pm | | Mayville State | W 87–59 | 1–0 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,838) Vermillion, SD |
| Nov 13, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Bowling Green | W 88–79 | 2–0 | Stroh Center (1,237) Bowling Green, OH |
| Nov 15, 2017* 8:00 pm, FSSW | | at TCU | L 71–76 | 2–1 | Schollmaier Arena (5,939) Fort Worth, TX |
| Nov 18, 2017* 7:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | Grambling State | W 84–55 | 3–1 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (2,054) Vermillion, SD |
| Nov 20, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Mount Marty Sanford Pentagon Showcase campus-site game | W 93–54 | 4–1 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (2,050) Vermillion, SD |
| Nov 24, 2017* 5:30 pm | | vs. Southern Miss Sanford Pentagon Showcase | W 84–71 | 5–1 | Sanford Pentagon (1,105) Sioux Falls, SD |
| Nov 25, 2017* 6:30 pm | | vs. Northern Colorado Sanford Pentagon Showcase | L 62–63 | 5–2 | Sanford Pentagon (1,248) Sioux Falls, SD |
| Nov 26, 2017* 1:30 pm, FS North | | vs. Youngstown State Sanford Pentagon Showcase | W 81–53 | 6–2 | Sanford Pentagon (467) Sioux Falls, SD |
| Nov 30, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at UMKC | W 82–63 | 7–2 | Swinney Recreation Center (1,257) Kansas City, MO |
| Dec 2, 2017* 2:30 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 1 Duke | L 80–96 | 7–3 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | Drake | W 93–65 | 8–3 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (2,101) Vermillion, SD |
| Dec 10, 2017* 1:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | Eastern Washington | W 75–73 | 9–3 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,998) Vermillion, SD |
| Dec 14, 2017* 7:30 pm | | at Northern Arizona | W 90–77 | 10–3 | Walkup Skydome (256) Flagstaff, AZ |
| Dec 17, 2017* 4:00 pm | | at San Jose State | W 76–62 | 11–3 | Event Center Arena (1,424) San Jose, CA |
| Dec 19, 2017* 8:00 pm, P12N | | at UCLA | L 82–85 | 11–4 | Pauley Pavilion (5,767) Los Angeles, CA |
| Dec 21, 2017* 7:30 pm | | Northland College | W 88–42 | 12–4 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,774) Vermillion, SD |
| Dec 30, 2017 3:30 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | Denver | W 82–71 | 13–4 (1–0) | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (2,334) Vermillion, SD |
| Jan 3, 2018 7:00 pm | | Western Illinois | W 62–50 | 14–4 (2–0) | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,776) Vermillion, SD |
| Jan 6, 2018 1:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | North Dakota State | L 79–84 | 14–5 (2–1) | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (2,206) Vermillion, SD |
| Jan 11, 2018 6:00 pm | | at Fort Wayne | W 68–58 | 15–5 (3–1) | Memorial Coliseum (1,464) Fort Wayne, IN |
| Jan 17, 2018 7:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | Oral Roberts | W 82–70 | 16–5 (4–1) | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (2,351) Vermillion, SD |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Omaha | W 85–71 | 17–5 (5–1) | Baxter Arena (3,070) Omaha, NE |
| Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | South Dakota State | W 87–68 | 18–5 (6–1) | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (5,004) Vermillion, SD |
| Jan 27, 2018 5:00 pm, ALT2 | | at Denver | L 68–84 | 18–6 (6–2) | Magness Arena (432) Denver, CO |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Illinois | W 80–54 | 19–6 (7–2) | Western Hall (567) Macomb, IL |
| Feb 3, 2018 2:00 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | at North Dakota State | W 76–72 | 20–6 (8–2) | Scheels Center (3,722) Fargo, ND |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm | | Fort Wayne | W 86–69 | 21–6 (9–2) | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (2,387) Vermillion, SD |
| Feb 11, 2018* 1:00 pm | | Peru State | W 98–55 | 22–6 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,961) Vermillion, SD |
| Feb 14, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Oral Roberts | W 85–67 | 23–6 (10–2) | Mabee Center (2,027) Tulsa, OK |
| Feb 17, 2018 3:30 pm, MidcoSN/ESPN3 | | Omaha | W 79–64 | 24–6 (11–2) | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (2,864) Vermillion, SD |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm, MidcoSN | | at South Dakota State | W 76–72 | 24–7 (11–3) | Frost Arena (4,138) Brookings, SD |
| Summit League tournament ||||||
| Mar 3, 2018 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | vs. (7) Omaha Quarterfinals | W 87–73 | 25–7 | Premier Center (10,771) Sioux Falls, SD |
| Mar 5, 2018 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | vs. (3) Denver Semifinals | W 76–56 | 26–7 | Premier Center (8,835) Sioux Falls, SD |
| Mar 6, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2) | vs. (1) South Dakota State Championship Game | L 87–97 | 26–8 | Premier Center (11,114) Sioux Falls, SD |
| CBI ||||||
| Mar 14, 2018* 7:00 pm | | North Texas First round | L 77–90 | 26–9 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,348) Vermillion, SD |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
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