Boots denied 500th despite Kasperbauer's 3's

VERMILLION, S.D.—Marshall Bjorklund scored 23 points and Taylor Braun added 19 to lead North Dakota State to a 92-66 win against South Dakota Thursday at the DakotaDome. The Bison (12-3, 3-0 Summit) shot a season-high 64 percent from the floor to win their fourth in a row.

Casey Kasperbauer made the first five three-pointers he took and had 15 points to lead South Dakota (6-10, 2-2). Brandon Bos added 14 points and four assists.

North Dakota State shot 80 percent from the field in the first half (21 of 26) and scored on 23 of its 30 possessions to take a 52-26 lead into halftime. The Bison made their first seven shots and scored on their first 10 possessions to take a 21-7 lead. They were 18 of 21 from the field and led 43-14 with 3:56 left in the first.

Braun made the first five shots he took and finished 7 of 10. Bjorklund, the nation’s most accurate shooter heading into this week’s games, finished 11 of 13. Mike Felt came off the bench to hit four first-half treys. He added a fifth in the second half to net 15 points.

Kasperbauer knocked down four 3-pointers in the final six minutes of the first half and had 12 at the break. The rest of the Coyotes combined to shoot 5 of 20 in the opening stanza.

South Dakota returns to the court Saturday with a home contest against South Dakota State (11-5, 2-1). Opening tip will be 4:05 p.m.