Men's Basketball 12/1/2025 10:19:00 AM Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director

DSU men’s basketball team concludes season-long home stand with three games this week

Trojans host rival DWU Tuesday night; return to Frontier Conference action Friday and Saturday

December 1, 2025

This Week's Preview
MADISON, S.D. (Dec. 1, 2025)—The Dakota State University Trojan men's basketball team (6-1 overall record, 2-1 Frontier Conference record) returns to action after taking their Thanksgiving break last week. The Trojans conclude their season-high five-game home stand with three games scheduled at home this week at DSU Fieldhouse (1302 N. Washington Ave.).

Dakota State hosts rival Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) (5-4 overall record) in the Battle of the Blues contest Tuesday evening. Tuesday's contest is the final non-conference game of the season before heading into a busy Frontier Conference schedule for the remaining of the 2025-26 season, as well as a pair of exhibition contests against Summit League teams.

The Trojans resume their league play this weekend with a pair of games. DSU hosts Mayville State (N.D.) (5-5 overall record, 1-2 Frontier) Friday evening in the DSU Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night. Dakota State closes out their home stand Saturday versus Valley City State (N.D.) (4-3 overall record, 0-3 Frontier) in the K-12 Educators/Students Night.

All three home games this week are set to tip off at 7 p.m.

Up Next: Dakota State closes out the 2025 schedule next weekend as they begin their six-game Frontier Conference road trip. The Trojans travel to MSU-Northern next Friday evening in Havre, Mont., and head to Providence (Mont.) next Saturday in Great Falls, Mont. Both games are set for 8 p.m. (Central Time)/7 p.m. (Mountain Time) tip-off.

Trojans kick off Frontier era with 2-1 record, produce best start in more than 50 years
Dakota State (S.D.) kicked off their new and expanded 12-team Frontier Conference season with a 2-1 record, despite a 78-72 road setback at Bellevue (Neb.) on Nov. 15.

The Trojans opened their conference home schedule with a weekend sweep over Providence (Mont.) 81-53 on Nov. 21 and MSU-Northern 75-55 on Nov. 22 at DSU Fieldhouse.

Dakota State produced their best start in more than 50 years, thanks to a 4-0 star for the first time since the 1966-67 season (the year where the Trojans captured their first every South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference title in men's basketball program history).

DSU defeated Oak Hills (Minn.), NCAA Division III Wisconsin-River Falls, Trinity Bible (N.D.), and (RV) Dordt (Iowa) to begin their 2025-26 season. The Trojans also snapped their 12-game losing skid over the Defenders on Nov. 11 at the Sanford Sports Complex at the Pentagon (last DSU's win over Dordt was since Jan. 9, 2013).

Dakota State's home cooking at DSU Fieldhouse this season
Dakota State is 4-0 record at home at DSU Fieldhouse this season after their wins over Oak Hills (Minn.), Trinity Bible (N.D.), Providence (Mont.), and Montana State University-Northern prior to the games this week. The Trojans have ten (10) remaining home games on their 2025-26 schedule, including three games this week (nine Frontier Conference home games remaining).

The Trojans are averaging 86.5 points per game at home this season. DSU is 52.8 percent from the field (133-of-252 field goals), including 37-of-90 from the 3-point arc (41.1 percent).

DSU's defense is limiting their opponents to 55.8 points per game at DSU Fieldhouse prior to this week's contests. Dakota State also limited the opponents to 35.2 field goal percentage (80-of-227 field goals) and 25-of-98 3-point field goals (25.5 percent 3-point field goals).

Dakota State in the Frontier Conference ranks
According to the NAIA-PrestoStats as of Monday, Nathan Ojukwu of Dakota State (S.D.) ties for the best rebounding average in the Frontier Conference with Hayden Diekhans of Montana Tech. Both players average 8.7 rebounds per game this season prior to the games this week.

Ojukwu ranks ninth in the Frontier Conference with 18.0 points per game for the Trojans. Lukas Morgan is 21^st in the league with 13.4 points per game. Taine Mitchell ranks 12^th in the conference with 5.7 rebounds per game.

Desman Botts is seventh in the Frontier Conference in field goal percentage with 61.1 percent (22-of-36 field goals) for Dakota State. Morgans is 15^th in the conference with 55.6 percent from the field (40-of-72 field goals).

Dakota State leads the Frontier Conference in defense scoring, allowing their opponents to 58.9 points per game through seven games. The Trojans also lead the league in field goal percentage defense – 37.3 percent from the field (146-of-391 field goals) and 3-point field goal percentage defense – 26.1 percent (42-of-161 3-point field goals).

2025-26 DSU Trojan Men's Basketball Team Leaders

Points/Points Per Game: Nathan Ojukwu – 126 points (18.0 points per game)
Field Goal Percentage: Taine Mitchell – 65.2 percent (15-of-23 field goals)
3-point Field Goal Percentage: Lukas Morgan – 54.5 percent (6-of-11 3-point field goals)
Free-Throw Percentage: Taine Mitchell – 73.7 percent (14-of-19 free-throws)
Rebounds: Nathan Ojukwu – 61 rebounds (8.7 rebounds per game)
Assists/Assists Per Game: Nathan Ojukwu – 20 assists/2.9 assists per game
Steals/Steals Per Game: Brayden Pankonen – 15 steals/2.1 steals per game
Blocked Shots: Nathan Ojukwu – 2 blocked shots (0.7 blocks per game)