Wildcats no match for Jackrabbits

Wednesday, December 3

Frost Arena

7:00 PM

South Dakota State University

Wayne State (Neb.)

12/3/2014 11:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

Twelve of the 14 Jackrabbits in uniform scored at least one point, and all of them played, as South Dakota State used a run in each half to dispatch Wayne State on Wednesday night at Frost Arena by the score of 89-55.

The Jackrabbits even their record at 3-3 with the win, while the young Wildcats fall to 2-5 on the season.

“There are still some things we need to get cleaned up. We gave up 15 offensive rebounds, and that continues to concern me, and I talked to the guys about that at half, “head coach Scott Nagy said. “Two of the losses we have are due to that kind of stuff. Shooting good we did in the first half is like putting make-up on, it covers up blemishes, like if you're not blocking out, but when you don't shoot the ball well, it's like taking that make-up off.”

The Wildcats finished with a 15-8 edge on the glass, but the Jackrabbits won the battle of the boards by a 41-32 margin, and held Wayne State to 13 second chance points, while scoring 12 of their own.

The Jacks opened the game on a 10-2 run and never trailed again. SDSU led 42-27 at halftime behind a 58.6 percent shooting effort, 17 of 29, including a 7 for 12 mark from 3-point range.

The Wildcats shot an even 31 percent in the first half on 9 of 29 shooting, going 4 of 13 from long range.

SDSU put the game away in the first 10 minutes of the second half, using a 21-5 run over an eight minute span that ended with the Jacks comfortably leading 63-34.

SDSU would pushed the lead to as many as 35 points late in the game, and never let the Wildcats get any closer than 13 points on their first bucket of the second half.

Cody Larson led the Jackrabbits with 16 points in the win, followed closely by Deondre Parks with 14. Larson also added a team-high six rebounds. Reed Tellinghuisen scored 10 points, while Anders Broman finished with eight points and a career-high four rebounds.

Jordan Cornelius Led the visitors with 10 points, with Kendall Jacks adding nine and Patrick Kuth eight points. The Wildcats also got six points from Tyler Nagy, who returned home to play his dad's Jackrabbits for the first time, also a first for the elder Nagy.

“Once the game started, I really didn't even notice it,” Nagy said about coaching against his son's team. “Even when the game ended, I asked (assistant coach Rob Klinkefus), 'how did Tyler play?' Because I really didn't notice it because, I was focused on our team.”

The younger Nagy, who started all seven of the Wildcat's games this season as a true freshman, also added a pair of assists in 29 minutes.

The Jackrabbits look to push their home winning streak to seven games, and get above .500 for the first time this season, on Saturday, when they host former Summit League for Kansas City at Frost Arena. The Jacks and Kangaroos tip at 1 p.m.

NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series with Wayne State 14-1 ... SDSU shot 61.5 percent for the game (32 of 52), the first time the Jacks shot over 60 percent in a game since Dec. 18, 2013, also against Wayne State ... The Jacks finished with 40 or more rebounds for the third time this season (at Buffalo, vs. Chadron State) ... SDSU made a season-high eight 3-pointers ... Cody Larson remains the only Jackrabbit to score in double figures in every game this season ... Anders Broman grabbed a career-high four rebounds