The USD men’s basketball teams first trip away from the comfort of the DakotaDome this season will feature a couple unknowns.
The Coyotes (5-0) will face the undefeated Regis Rangers (3-0) today (Friday) at 5 p.m. and Colorado State-Pueblo (1-3) at 9 p.m. Saturday as part of the Colorado State-Pueblo Classic in Pueblo.
The first unknown for USD is playing without junior center Steve Smith, who is still nursing an injured ankle from the Coyotes 79-68 win Saturday night in the Dome against Nebraska-Kearney.
The second concern is playing two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foes in the Rocky Mountain air and altitude.
“Well we are going to go out there as a different team,” USD head coach Dave Boots said. “We played the last game without Steven so that is going to affect the style of play. We are trying to make some adjustments with that.”
Boots said the Coyotes have a couple different options for the staring line up.
“We’ll look at either Mitch Begeman in there starting or we could go with Rane Mergen, but then we don’t have a lot of big kids coming off the bench,” Boots said. “We’ll probably, at this point in time, go with a Mitch Begeman or Nick Morrell and stay with a smaller line up.”
Morrell got his first career start as a Coyote in last Sunday’s 87-67 win over William Penn.
Regardless of who starts, the Coyotes bench will be used, Boots said.
“It won’t matter too much who we start because we are going to have to change quickly on it,” Boots said. “We have enough guys to still affectively play.”
While Regis and Colorado State-Pueblo will present challenges for the Coyotes, Boots said his main focus is making sure his team does what they need to do well to come away victorious.
“We are going to go in there really concerned about us,” Boots said. “We must play the way we need to play. We need to effectively run our offense and play our matchup well.”
But Boots isn’t sleeping on either of the RMAC opponents.
“We are always worried about the other team with what they do,” Boots said. “But I think we are going to put a lot of focus on our basketball team.”
The Regis Rangers are 3-0 after picking up wins against Hawaii-Hilo (65-58), Eastern New Mexico (96-71) and Colorado College (84-56).
The Rangers are led by 6-foot-4 senior forward Geremey Gibson, who’s averaging 24.3 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game.
“He’s a good player, a terrific player,” Boots said. “He can really get to the basket. He’s strong, a very strong kid. He dunks on you. He’ll be a high focus for us.”
Another scoring threat is junior 6-foot-2 guard Andy Pokorny, who averages 15 points per game.
“Pokorny is a great shooter,” Boots said. “He takes a lot of threes. He takes double figure shot attempts from the three so we are going to have to locate him.”
Sophomore Denver University transfer Kenny Howard will challenge the Coyotes inside with his size, Boots said.
“Howard’s a nice big, 6-10 kid in the middle that blocks some shots,” Boots said.
The off court challenge the Coyotes will face is playing in the thinner, Rocky Mountain air, which Boots said “should be” a factor.
“It is what it is,” Boots said. “You lose your wind a little bit. You may have to come out and get a short break and then get back in there.”
Boots said he wishes the Coyotes would be completely healthy heading into the Classic.
“That is not the way basketball always works. You have to overcome some of those things,” Boots said. “Other players are going to have to step up and play better. Injuries sometimes create opportunities for other players.”
Check with the volanteonline.com and this blog for game recaps and updates.
- - Vance Janak
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