Comeback comes up short in Vermillion

Thursday, February 9

Vermillion, S.D.

7:00 PM

South Dakota State University

South Dakota

2/9/2012 11:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

VERMILLION - Nate Wolters' game tying three-point attempt with just over a minute play in Thursday's game at South Dakota just missed its mark, and even though the Jackrabbits would cut the lead to two points on a Griffan Callahan three-pointer with 23 seconds left in the game, the Jackrabbits could not get another shot off in a 72-68 loss in the DakotaDome.

Any chance of tying the game seemed improbable for the Jacks, who fall to 19-7 overall and 11-3 in The Summit League, as they trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half and by 19 points with 11 minutes and 33 seconds left in the game at 56-37.

A 9-2 run and a 17-4 run got the Jacks back into the game, but the Coyotes, who shot 68 percent in the second half on 15-of-22 shooting, made their shots down the stretch to keep the Jackrabbits far enough back to hang on for a win, which boosts their record to 9-14 overall and 4-10 in league play.

"We were really bad defensively, they were really good offensively and they came in with the same game plan that Southern Utah had in terms of slowing it down," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. "But that's not what affected the game; they were just much more prepared and had much more energy."

The energy showed early, as the hosts answered the Jacks first basket with three of their own, and used an 18-2 run to turn an 11-6 lead into a 29-8 lead with just over eight minutes to play in the first half.

The Jackrabbits, who shot 30 percent in the first half on 9-of-30 shooting, including an 0-for-8 effort from long range, found a way to battle back and cut the lead to 10 points at 34-24 at the half.

USD scored the first five points of the second half to regain the momentum, and held onto it just long enough to fend off the late Jackrabbit charge.

Wolters finished with a game-high 27 points in the loss, adding six assists and six rebounds. Chad White pitched in with 17 points off the bench. Tony Fiegen scored four points, but finished with a career-high 10 rebounds in the loss.

Louie Krogman led a trio of Coyotes in double figures with 22 points, 15 of which came in the first half on four three-pointers. He also finished with a game-high eight assists. Charlie Westbrook added 18 points and Steve Trecker 11 points off the bench. Trevor Gruis scored seven points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Jackrabbits look to get back on the winning track on Saturday, when they travel to Kansas City, Mo., to take on UMKC. The Jacks and Kangaroos, who beat North Dakota State on Thursday by the score of 72-61, tipoff at 7 p.m.

NOTES: Thursday's game marked the first meeting between the two teams at the DakotaDome since Feb. 28, 2004 ... SDSU leads the all-time series 116-88-1, but falls to 30-48 all-time in Vermillion, and 9-16 all-time in the DakotaDome ... the Jacks and Coyotes played in front of an announced crowd of 5,189 ... the Jacks 24 points at halftime tied a season-low for first half points in a road game (Dec. 11, 2011 at Western Illinois) ... the Jacks did not succeed on their first chance at their first-20-win season at the Division I level ... SDSU falls to 4-5 this season after trailing at the half ... Wolters moved from ninth to eighth on the all-time scoring list at SDSU with 1,445 points, passing former teammate Kai Williams (1,423 points from 2006-10)