Eric Peterson's 'new perspective' and more South Dakota, South Dakota State basketball notes

It's nice to win a game, as South Dakota men's basketball head coach Eric Peterson did against Omaha for the first time since "multiple injuries" from a fall in his home sidelined him for a little over a month, but that's not how Peterson thinks anymore.

"Winning is always more fun than losing," Peterson said. "(But) your perspective changes like a little bit when something like that happens to you."

Peterson, who has been back coaching the Coyotes (9-11, 4-4 Summit) for three weeks now after returning the Monday ahead of South Dakota's matchup with rival South Dakota State at Sanford Coyote Sports Center, said he's more focused on the "process than the result." He said he knows that sounds cliche, but the record his team has had since his return doesn't impact him as much. He just wants the team to get better.

Peterson was disappointed in the effort his team showed against SDSU and Denver, both 10-plus point losses. But the Coyotes played much better against Omaha. USD shot 58% from the field as leading scorer Kruz Perrott-Hunt scored 22, his first 20-point game in the last three contests. But when the Coyotes watch film this week ahead of three road games in five days against Western Illinois, St. Thomas and Oral Roberts, Peterson said they'll spend some time reviewing mistakes against the Mavericks, but also "not a lot of basketball stuff."

Clips of sprinting to pick a teammate off the floor, high-fiving and putting their arms around each other in timeouts. Things that make the Coyotes "look like a team."

"That's the culture we're trying to create," Peterson said. "I think everybody that left that arena was like, 'wow, I mean, that's a team.' And that was what we talked about prior to the game."

South Dakota State men's basketball's Zeke Mayo erupting at conference schedule's midpoint

The talent has always been there with Zeke Mayo, but South Dakota State head men's basketball coach Eric Henderson said it's been a process of "can we understand what we're getting every single time we step on the floor."

"And we're closer to that than we've ever been," Henderson said.

Mayo, who has erupted for 31 and 25 in SDSU's last two games (an 81-64 win over Omaha and a 76-61 win over Denver), is taking a more "consistent approach" to both practices and games over the last few weeks, which has boosted his performance for the Jackrabbits. Mayo tweaked his ankle against Denver and didn't practice Tuesday, but Henderson said that was "more precautionary" and that he's "moving around pretty good."

That's a good sign for SDSU (11-9, 6-2 Summit), who is watching Mayo develop into the team's "alpha." Mayo has taken 33 3-point attempts over his last three games, but Henderson said that he's just emerged into that type of player. And recently, they've been falling.

"Every team has has a player — or maybe even two players — that has to take on that role of maybe taking some harder shots than the rest of the guys," Henderson said. "That naturally happens for teams and that's what naturally has happened for Zeke."

South Dakota women's basketball tries Alexi Hempe off the bench in lineup shakeup

During South Dakota women's basketball's recent road trip, head coach Kayla Karius thought redshirt-freshman forward Carley Duffney could provide the team "something different" in the starting lineup. So, Duffney entered the first five and the Coyotes sent Alexi Hempe to the bench, who had started every game prior.

Hempe still logged starters minutes in each game (29 minutes in a 70-63 win over Omaha and 36 in a 59-50 win over Denver) and the look was successful for the Coyotes. Duffney continued her breakout season with games of 22 and 17 points over the back-to-back wins for the Coyotes, reaching double figures in each of her last five games this season. The move is another in a whirlwind of those for the Coyotes, who were forced to travel with only eight players for their recent road trip as injuries mount. And the issue doesn't seem to be getting better soon, as Karius doesn't expect that number to change. Starting center Jeniah Ugofsky, who has been out since Jan. 7, is still considered "day-to-day."

"We didn't anticipate probably using as much controlling tempo and walking it up the floor — if you would have told me that a couple of months ago, I don't know that I would have believed you," Karius said. "We spend a lot of time in the preseason and early on in the year really trying to play up tempo and play fast. We felt like we were pretty deep."

The lineup configurations have always centered around getting offense both in the starting lineup and off the bench. The Coyotes tried something similar with Morgan Hansen earlier in the year, but now Hansen has settled into the starting lineup. Hempe only made four field goals on 17 shots in her last two games, but she has been one of USD's most-consistent suppliers of offense all season long. And the Coyotes are just trying to find something that works.

"She didn't start but she finished games (and) I think that's more important a lot of times," Karius said. "Just trying to find the right lineups for us, the right sort of balance between starting the game on the right note and then bringing in the right people to give us the punch off the bench."

South Dakota State women's basketball has two "elite" point guards as Paige Meyer's health improves

To determine who will be the starting lineup of guards Paige Meyer and Dru Gylten, South Dakota State women's basketball head coach Aaron Johnston won't consider "who is the better point guard?" Meyer, who has created questions about her position in the lineup in recent games not to the fault of Gylten but rather putting together stellar performances of her own, hasn't started a game all season.

Meyer missed part of the early season recovering from a season-ending knee injury she suffered ahead of the Summit League Tournament this past year and has been eased back with her minutes since returning. But Meyer just put up a season-high 16 points on 63% shooting from the field and played her first set of back-to-back games with 20-plus minutes this year. But Gyten has played at an "elite" level, too, Johnston said.

So, Johnston said they won't be battling with each other. The Jackrabbits (16-5, 9-0 Summit League) are deep, but Johnston noted last week that its second unit doesn't have the same makeup as its starting unit. Determining which player starts each game will be more centered around which player is a better fit for the group of players that they'll be running with. They will play together on the floor, some, but Johnston wants to give each the opportunity to play the way they each do best: with the ball in their hands.

"It's nice to never have to think, "who would be the best starter?' Because they both are great starters," Johnston said. "They both are great players and they both have proven all year that they can be fantastic for our team."

Follow Sioux Falls Argus Leader reporter Michael McCleary on Twitter @mikejmccleary.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Eric Peterson's 'new perspective' and more USD, SDSU basketball notes