Happy Hour with John Gaskins

Make it a dozen! South Dakota State's women won their 12th Summit League Tournament title in the 17 times this event has been in Sioux Falls, beating a unrelenting No. 2 seed Oral Roberts 84-68 in a rock 'em, sock 'em game. The Jackrabbits are 29-3, have won 18 straight games and 57 consecutive contests against Summit League teams (nine in the tourney) and earned the conference's

The high-flying, full-throttle, pressure-packing rocket ship South Dakota hoped to ride for three days to three wins to seize the school's first-ever Summit League Tournament title crashed and burned —hard — in Saturday night's 100-75 loss to No. 1 seed Omaha. More appropriately, the Mavericks made sure the Coyotes failed to launch, using a full day of rest to turn up its own

It was a really, really awesome night to be a Coyotes fan among the 9,202 people in the PREMIER Center on Friday night. South Dakota roared back from a nine-point deficit with under four minutes remaining to knock out North Dakota State 85-84, thanks to Chase Forte's sheer will and the Yotes' patented full-court pressure and a fatigued Bison bunch that was without Summit League le

In a wide-open field, South Dakota State was as good of a bet as any to win the Summit League Tournament and go to its 8th NCAA tourney. But that was a couple weeks ago, before point guard Owen Larson's torn ACL injury. How can the Jackrabbits still contend without him? Voice of the Jackrabbits Tyler Merriam has his answer to that, plus: What makes big man Oscar Cluff as unique a

A hounding, dizzying full-court press. A topsy-turvy season full of shootouts, blowouts, euphoria and heartbreak. South Dakota's men appear to be the most fascinating, exciting team in the Summit League men's basketball tournament — a talented and impressively conditioned crew with wild style of play that could make them a wonderful wild card pick to win it all and go to the scho

In a reflection of their seasons, No. 25 South Dakota State's women, the top seed in the Summit League Tournament, won their 55th consecutive game against conference teams (48 regular season, 7 tourney) by clamping down Omaha by 20 points (87-67), while South Dakota lost by 20 to No. 2 seed Oral Roberts (70-50). John Gaskins, Matt Zimmer, and Marcus Traxler break down the back-to

In an hour-long conversation covering a wide variety of hot topics in SDSU, Summit League, and big-picture college athletics, 17th-year athletics director Justin Sell informs and opines about where things sit. As the Summit League men's and women's basketball tournaments tip off in Sioux Falls, Sell discusses how the SDSU women have ascended status a consistent Top 50 national Div.

Who will emerge from a stacked, up-for-grabs field as the men's Summit League Tournament champion and go dancing? Will a home court advantage be enough for the South Dakota State men to overcome the loss of their starting point guard? Should SDSU's Oscar Cluff have been voted conference player of the year over Omaha's Marquel Sutton? Does USD's Grace Larkins deserve to be women's p

The brackets are set for the Summit League men's and women's basketball tournaments! John Gaskins has his first pre-tourney opinions and predictions — a predictable women's event (SDSU looks as invincible as ever) while the only prediction for the men is unpredictability. But John does have one men's prediction — a USD men's win over North Dakota State. All of a sudden, the Coy

There's an old adage that says "defense travels." South Dakota's leading scorer is also one of the Summit League's best defenders — potentially the Defensive Player of the Year — in his only season in Vermillion, leading the hounding full-court press the Coyotes hope will wear down opponents in Sioux Falls at the league tourney this week. Vermillion is the latest stop on the Ra