Jacks come up just short against No. 7 Purdue

Friday, November 20

St. Thomas, USVI

9:30 PM

South Dakota State University

Purdue

11/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

ST. THOMAS, USVI - South Dakota State gave No. 7 Purdue all it could handle on Saturday at the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Island, but the Boilermakers came out strong in the second half to hold on for a 74-63 win.

The loss drops the Jackrabbits to 2-1 on the season and sets up a match-up with Boston College on Saturday at 7 p.m. AT, 5 p.m. CT. Purdue improves to 2-0, and moves on to play St. Joseph's on Saturday.

"Defensively, we played well enough to win this game," said SDSU head coach Scott Nagy. "We just didn't get it done on the offensive end. We basically handed this game over with mistakes, especially in the second half."

Those mistakes coach Nagy speaks of would be turnovers. After committing just six turnovers in the first half, the Jacks committed 12 in the second half.

The Jackrabbits hung tough though, erasing a 12-point deficit in the first half with a 14-2 run that tied the game at 28 and stayed with the Boilermakers for the rest of the half before Purdue took a 39-37 lead into the lockerroom.

Purdue turned that lead into an 11 point advantage with 13:12 left to play and led by as many as 14 points at 64-50 with six minutes left. The Jacks cut the lead to nine at 72-63 on a three-pointer by Nate Wolters with 1:35 to play, but the Jacks would not score again.

Clint Sargent led the Jackrabbits with 16 points, including a 10-for-10 effort from the free-throw line. Garrett Callahan scored 13 points, all in the first half and Nate Wolters scored 11 points, his highest output in three games as a Jackrabbit. Kai Williams and Anthony Cordova both finished with seven points and six rebounds.

E'Twuan Moore led Purdue with 22 points, Robbie Hummel added 14 and Jajuan Johnson 13 points in the win. Johnson also added a game-high 10 rebounds for the games only double-double.

The Jackrabbits return to action on Saturday against Boston College at 7 p.m. AT, 5 p.m. CT.