MACOMB, ILL. - Western Illinois begins a three-game road trip Thursday evening (Feb. 5) when the Leathernecks (8-12, 3-6 SL) travel to South Dakota for a 7 p.m. contest with the Coyotes... The game is slated to air on ESPN3.

UP NEXT: The Leathernecks continue road action next week, heading to Oklahoma to play at Oral Roberts on Feb. 12 and at Omaha on Feb. 14... WIU then returns home for its final two home games of the season against South Dakota State (Feb. 18) and Denver (Feb. 21).

OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR: Sophomore guard Garret Covington has 718 career points which ranks tied for 57th all-time, 46 points away from 50th all-time... David Nurse ranks 50th with 764 points... Covington has 112 career three pointers and is tied for 10th all-time with Kevin Rhodes.

ESPN3: Western Illinois is slated to play three more games that will air live on ESPN3... The Leathernecks  have already played on ESPN3 three times this season, at UIC (Nov. 17), at Cleveland State (Dec. 7) and at Memphis (Dec. 23)... The Leathernecks' next game scheduled to air on ESPN3 is Feb. 5 at South Dakota... Below is a list of WIU remaining games that are slated to air on ESPN3:

Date    Opponent    Result/Time
Feb. 5    at South Dakota    7 p.m.
Feb. 12    at Oral Roberts    7 p.m.
Feb. 26    at IUPUI    6 p.m.

A LOOK AT SOUTH DAKOTA: The Coyotes enter Thursday's league tilt 10-13 overall and 4-5 in Summit League play... South Dakota sits tied for fifth in the league standings after being picked eighth in the annual preseason poll... USD's victories have come at Denver, at Fort Wayne, vs. North Dakota State, and at Western Illinois, and its losses have come vs. Omaha, at South Dakota State, at IUPUI, vs. Fort Wayne and vs. Oral Roberts... Tyler Larson and Brandon Bos lead the team in scoring, averaging 14.4 and 14.3, respectively... Casey Kasperbauer is the only other Coyote who averages more than 10 points per game (10.0)... Larson also leads the team in rebounds per game (8.1) and assists per game (3.0)... Craig Smith was named the 17th head coach in South Dakota's men's basketball history on March 24, 2014, after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Nebraska.

LEATHERNECKS VS. COYOTES SERIES HISTORY: Western Illinois leads the all-time series 6-4... The Leathernecks dropped the first two meetings between the two teams, first at home on Dec. 6, 1969, 82-74, and then again on December 12, 1970, when USD downed WIU in Vermillion, 83-82... Since the two teams began playing one another in Summit League play, Western has lost twice, last season at South Dakota and earlier this season at home... Before last season's defeat on the road, WIU had won five consecutive meetings...Perhaps the most historic win over South Dakota came in WIU's 2013-14 regular season finale which gave the Leathernecks a share of the regular season title... Below is a look at all of the meetings between the two teams:

vs. South Dakota • Western leads 6-4
Dec 6, 1969    L    74-82    H
Dec 12, 1970    L    82-83    A
Jan 3, 2012    W    67-44    H
Jan 21, 2012    W    47-45    A
Nov 29, 2012    W    73-71    A
March 2, 2013    W    61-59    H
March 9, 2013    W    54-53    N
Jan 23, 2014    W    79-61    H
Feb 22, 2014    L    54-64    A
Jan. 22, 2015    L    58-68    H

HOME SWEET HOME: Western is 37-15 (.712) inside Western Hall since the beginning of the 2011-12 season... The Leathernecks went 10-4 during their 2011-12 campaign, 12-2 during the 2012-13 league slate, and 7-5 last season... So far this year WIU is 8-4 on LeRoy A. Ufkes Court inside Western Hall.

ROAD RAGE: With all of its success at home, Western has struggled on the road the last four seasons... WIU is 14-37 (.275) on the road since the beginning of the 2011-12 season... The Leathernecks went 6-10 in 2011-12, they were above .500 in 2012-13 with a 7-6 road mark, struggled last season with a 1-13 record on the road, and are 0-8 so far this year.

MORE COVINGTON FOR THREE: Sophomore guard Garret Covington had 70 three-pointers as a freshman, and has 42 so far as a sophomore... He has played in 49 career games, has only had six games without at least one three, meaning he has made at least one triple in 43 games... He has 31 games with multiple three pointers... He has 11 games with one trey, nine games with two triples, 10 games with three makes from long range, nine games with four three pointers, two games with five connections from beyond the arc, and a career-high six three-pointers in one game.

DOUBLE FIGURES: Sophomore guard Garret Covington has 718 career points and averages 14.7 points per game during his career... He has 37 games with 10 or more points, 28 games having scored between 10-19 points, and nine games with 20-plus points... He finished the Leathernecks' win over Southeastern Louisiana (Nov. 22) with 29 points, a career-best... Those 29 points were the most by a member of the program since David Jackson scored 32 against Fort Wayne on Nov. 21, 2006.

SANDIFER'S ASSISTS: Sophomore guard Jabari Sandifer has 185 assists in his young career, and averages 3.7 per game during his career... As a freshman, he played in all 30 games and averaged 3.1 per game, and has played in all 20 games this season and averages 4.7 per game (93 total)... He has at least one assist in all but two of his 50 career games played... He has multiple assists in 45 of those games... Three-plus assists in 39 career games... 22 games with four-plus... 10 games with five-plus... Nine games with six-plus... Four games with seven or more... Three games with eight-plus, all of which have come this season... And a career-high 13 assists this season versus Greenville College (Nov. 29) while not turning the ball over in 29 minutes of play... His 13 helpers was two shy of WIU's single-game record. 

TEAM LEADERS: Sophomore Garret Covington and junior Tate Stensgaard are the only two Leathernecks to have started all 20 games this season for the Leathernecks... Covington also leads the team in points per game (14.8), minutes per game (32.1), field goals (88), three-pointers (42), free throws (78), free throw percentage (84.8) and steals (21)... Senior Mohamed Conde leads the team in rebounds per game (6.1) and offensive rebounds (43)... Covington and Conde lead the team in defensive rebounds (71)... Stensgaard leads the team in field goal percentage (56.1)... Junior Jalen Chapman leads the team in blocks (11)... Junior Jamie Batish leads the team in three-point field goal percentage (43.9)... Sophomore Jabari Sandifer leads the team in assists per game (4.7).

WIU AND ITS OPPONENTS IN THE NCAA'S DAILY RPI: (as of Feb. 3): Western Illinois has an RPI of 299 in NCAA's Daily RPI... It's opponent's rankings are: 238. Pacific | 313. UIC | 293. Southeastern Louisiana | 70. William & Mary | 88. Akron | 127. Cleveland State | 259. Idaho | 225. Alabama State | 76. Memphis | 251. Fort Wayne | 314. Omaha | 115. South Dakota State | 176. Oral Roberts | 223. Denver | 150. North Dakota State | 250. South Dakota | 222. IUPUI.