Having already defeated Dana this season, South Dakota's basketball team gets a shot at Altman on Tuesday.

The Coyotes will face Creighton in a first-round CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament game at the Civic Auditorium. South Dakota brings a 22-9 record into the 7:05 p.m. game that includes losses to NCAA tournament qualifiers Kansas State, Marquette and Cornell.

Among the Coyotes’ wins was a 100-65 rout of Dana — the college, not Altman, the Creighton coach. They also defeated Midland Lutheran 104-71. As a team transitioning from Division II to Division I, South Dakota has played an eclectic schedule leading into Tuesday's game.

“We're allowed to play four non-Division I games, and those (Dana, Midland) are games we need to keep on our schedule right now,” South Dakota coach Dave Boots said. “The high majors don't hesitate playing teams like us, and they've built a pretty impressive record in those games.

“We also played some good mid-majors, and we played well against some of those teams. People are quick to discredit our conference and the low majors, but we've found there are some good players, guys that were recruited to play at Division I, playing for those schools.”

Boots is no stranger to making the trip to Omaha, having spent 22 seasons as South Dakota's head coach. All of the previous journeys were to play at the University of Nebraska at Omaha when the schools were members of the old Division II North Central Conference.

South Dakota is in its third season of transitioning to Division I. It's a member of the Great West Conference, a 10-team league that stretches from New Jersey to California. Seven of the 10 schools — South Dakota, North Dakota, Houston Baptist, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Chicago State, Utah Valley and Texas-Pan American — compete in basketball.

The Great West will be home for the Coyotes until the 2011-12 season, when South Dakota makes a move to the Summit League.

“That's going to be another huge step for our program," Boots said. “But we're fortunate to be a part of a conference right now that provides this opportunity. For a transition team, any opportunity to play in the postseason is rare, and we're fortunate our conference has an automatic berth in the CIT.

“Anyone that has had to go through the transition period knows how really hard this is. They don't make it easy on you. Not being eligible for anything is very difficult, which is the great thing about the CIT. It gives our players something to shoot for."

South Dakota automatically qualified for the CIT by winning the Great West tournament Saturday. The Coyotes defeated Houston Baptist 91-86 to run their winning streak to 13, which is tied for the second longest nationally. They haven't lost since Jan. 21, with Utah Valley posted an 86-68 win at home.

South Dakota won the regular-season title with an 11-1 record, then defeated Texas-Pan American and Houston Baptist in the tournament. The Huskies are one of two common opponent between South Dakota and Creighton, the other being Drake.

The Coyotes defeated Houston Baptist three times while Creighton posted an 85-56 win in December. Creighton split with Drake while South Dakota lost to Drake.

South Dakota has relied on a balanced attack led by 6-foot-8 senior forward Tyler Cain, the Great West player of the year. Cain averages 14.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game and has blocked 90 shots in 31 games this season.

“He's a kid that has really impacted us on both ends of the court," Boots said. “He's one of the best shot blockers and defensive players we've had, and he's developed into a solid offensive player."

Senior guard-forward Roman Gentry averages 13.4 points per game, while freshman guard Jake Thomas is shooting 43.4 percent from 3-point range while scoring 13.1 points per game.

The Coyotes also have a player familiar to Creighton fans in 6-11 senior center Steve Smith. He started his collegiate career as a Bluejay but transferred after injuries limited him to seven games his first two seasons in Omaha.

He received a waiver from the NCAA for a sixth season of eligibility and is averaging 7.8 points and 4.5 rebounds this season.

Tuesday's meeting will be the 59th between the schools but the first since 1968. Creighton holds a 47-11 edge in the series.

“Creighton has always had a great program," Boots said. “Getting a chance to play a program like that but we'll learn a lot from playing a game like this. It's going to tall task to go in there and compete with them, but we're looking forward to it."

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

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