Tyler Cain cuts down the nets after winning the 2010 Great West Conference Tournament.

Vermillion, S.D. – After posting its seventh-straight 20-win season, success could become old-hat for the University of South Dakota men’s basketball team, but the 2009-10 campaign brought new challenges and fresh excitement to the second-year NCAA Division I transition program.

Head coach Dave Boots and the Coyotes battled through some big-name opponents early in the season to make a strong run in their first season in the Great West Conference and finish at 22-10 overall and 11-1 in the league. Strong leadership from seniors Tyler Cain and Roman Gentry, mixed with notable talent from newcomers Jake Thomas and Kendall Cutler, helped USD claim the GWC regular-season and tournament titles en route to a berth in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

Tough from the Start
USD opened the season with a 1-2 showing at the Duel in the Desert Classic on Nov. 13-15. The Coyotes dropped contests to the Big 12’s Texas Tech and Pac 10’s Oregon State, before claiming a 76-73 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi thanks to 20 points and six three pointers from Thomas. South Dakota began the home portion of its schedule with a 99-67 win over Mayville State, but followed with a road loss at the Big East’s Marquette on Nov. 24.

The Coyotes got their offense rolling by topping the 100-point mark in victories over Dana, Midland Lutheran and Dakota State and holding each opponent under 71 points. Cain eclipsed the 1,000-point barrier for his career in USD’s win over the Vikings while Thomas set a single-game three-point record by hitting nine against the Warriors and redshirt freshman Jordan Boots notched a career-high 21 points in a victory over the Trojans.

Traveling to the Drake Invitational in early December, South Dakota continued to face quality opponents with six straight NCAA Division I foes. The Coyotes lost a game to the host Bulldogs, but rebounded to win an 89-77 contest over Binghamton, who qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2009. USD continued its road trip at Wyoming on Dec. 20 where Smith posted a career-high 25 points thanks to five treys, but the Coyotes couldn’t get the win. South Dakota also had a close battle with Morehead State (Ky.) on Dec. 28, before the Eagles, another 2009 tournament qualifier, escaped the DakotaDome with a 66-64 win.

South Dakota opened the New Year with a loss at No. 12 Kansas State on Jan. 3, but a four-game homestand helped the Coyotes start to gel. USD gave another mid-major all it could handle on Jan. 8 when Cornell eked out a 71-65 victory in the DakotaDome. Both the Wildcats and Big Red went on to make the Sweet 16 this postseason. Continuing that momentum the next day, several members of the USD squad set season and career highs in a 100-76 win over SIU Edwardsville on Jan. 9. The Coyotes also claimed a 75-63 victory over Longwood on Jan. 12 to wrap up their non-conference schedule.

Great in the Great West
Riding a two-game winning streak, South Dakota opened its inaugural season of men’s basketball in the Great West Conference with a 74-64 win over rival North Dakota on Jan. 16. A season-high 3,205 Coyote fans saw Gentry post a season-high 27 points and Cain chip in 12 points and 16 rebounds. USD dropped its first road game of the league schedule with a loss at Utah Valley on Jan. 21, but it would be the last time the Coyotes lost in GWC action. South Dakota crafted a 13-game winning streak from mid-January to mid-March, which ranked second in the nation, before losing another contest.

Thomas notched 27 points in an 82-64 win at North Dakota on Jan. 23 to start USD’s streak on the road, and he repeated the feat with 21 at Houston Baptist on Jan. 28. Gentry contributed 22 points to help the Coyotes top the Huskies 92-70, before earning the game-winning basket in a 72-71 victory at Texas-Pan American on Jan. 30. USD stepped out of league play for a 91-69 win at SIU Edwardsville on Feb. 5, but finished the regular season by playing five of their last seven in the DakotaDome. Gentry guided South Dakota to close home wins over Chicago State (79-74) on Feb. 11 and Utah Valley (59-55) on Feb. 18, as seven of USD’s 13 straight wins came by eight points or less.

Cain sustained the run with back-to-back doubles in wins at NJIT (68-58) on Feb. 25 and Chicago State (77-73) on Feb. 27 en route to becoming the second player in USD men’s basketball history with more than 1,000 career rebounds.

South Dakota rounded out the regular season with three solid home wins. Cain notched a career-high 34 points and 17 rebounds in an 85-79 overtime win over UTPA on March 4, before sophomore Louie Krogman pounded home a career-high 31 points in a 97-84 victory against Houston Baptist to claim the GWC regular-season title on March 6. Senior Steve Smith posted 21 points to eclipse the 1,000-career point plateau in the Coyotes’ 83-49 win over NJIT on March 7.

Tournament Time Once Again
For the first time in two seasons, South Dakota played in a conference tournament as USD traveled to the Great West Conference Tournament on March 12-13 in Orem, Utah. After receiving a bye into the semifinals, the top-seeded Coyotes claimed a 76-71 win over UTPA thanks to six points in the stretch run from Cutler. It was more of the same in the final from Cutler, who notched a season-high 24 points and made big plays in the final minutes to guide USD to a 91-86 victory against second-seeded Houston Baptist. Cutler was named the tournament MVP, while Thomas earned all-tournament honors.

The GWC tournament title gave the Coyotes their first postseason appearance at the NCAA Division I level with an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Battling fourth-seeded Creighton in Omaha on March 16, four starters scored in double figures but No. 16 South Dakota fell 89-78 to end their winning streak and season. The Coyotes hit 12 treys in the contest, but a 56-point showing from the Bluejay bench propelled CU past USD.

Grabbing the Honors
South Dakota’s standout season didn’t go unnoticed. Tabbed the preseason player of the year, Cain lived up to expectations and earned GWC Player-of-the-Year honors on March 9. He was also named the league’s defensive player of the year and earned first-team honors after notching 14.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game in conference play. Gentry also claimed first-team honors with 17.6 points per game, while Thomas earned all-newcomer honors and All-GWC honorable mention. Krogman was named the GWC Sixth Man of the Year and Boots received coach of the year. Cain also claimed GWC Student-Athlete of the Month for December, while a total of five Coyotes earned GWC Player of the Week during the season.

Catching the Signees
Steve Tecker, who was one of three student-athletes to sign with USD in early November, capped an impressive prep career with a gutty performance earlier this month for Northwestern High School. After returning from hip surgery late in the season, Tecker helped his squad finish second at the Wisconsin state tournament with a 24-5 record. He averaged 20.5 points and five rebounds to earn all-tournament honors for the second straight year.

Ellsworth High School’s Trevor Gruis, also set to be a Coyote next season, was named one of the five finalists for Mr. Basketball in the state of Minnesota on March 10. A three-time participant in the state championship game, Gruis is averaging a double-double as a senior in points and rebounds and has guided Ellsworth to the state tournament this weekend once again. The winner of the award will be announced next week.