South Dakota State heads West once again this weekend for a two-game swing, beginning Saturday at Wyoming for a 7 p.m. MT/8 p.m. CT tip.
Broadcast Information
Scouting the Cowboys
Wyoming enters the game at 2-0 after opening the season with an 88-49 win over Division II Western State Nov. 11 and taking down Montana, 73-72, in a road game on Monday, Nov. 14. Through two games, Wyoming has five players averaging double figures, led by Jason McManamen's 14.5 points per game and Alexander Aka Gorski's 14.0 points per game. Justin James (12.5 ppg), Jordan Naughton (11.0 ppg) and Hayden Dalton (10.5 ppg) are also in double digits as Dalton leads the team with 8.0 rebounds per game and Naughton is one of two (joining Alan Herndon) with 7.0 rebounds per contest. As a team, the Cowboys are averaging 80.5 points per game and allowing 60.5 while holding a plus-seven rebounding advantage on average. From the field, Wyoming is shooting 46 percent as a team and holding opponents to a 39.3 field goal percentage. The Cowboys were picked to finish 10th in the Mountain West Preseason Poll after going 13-18 in 2015-16 and 7-11 in conference play. This is the fourth meeting all-time between the schools and the second since SDSU made the move to Division I. Wyoming leads the all-time series, 2-1, but the Jacks claimed the lone Division I matchup in 2009-10, winning 77-61 in Laramie, Wyo.
Jackrabbits' Last Time Out
  South Dakota State men's basketball won its first game of the
T.J. Otzelberger era on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at Frost Arena, taking down Wayne State 80-72.
   SDSU (1-2) shot a season-best 42.6 percent from the field and hit 12 three-pointers while using a strong showing from the free throw line (28-of-33) to claim the win. WSC (1-1) hit 13-of-26 from long range as part of a 46.7 percent effort from the field.
  As a team, SDSU outrebounded WSC, 41-24 to win the rebounding battle for the first time this season and used 12 offensive boards to help the team carry a 16-5 advantage in second half points.
  MIke Daum posted a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds for his third career double-double while
Skyler Flatten had a career-high 15 points, reaching double figures for the second consecutive game.
Tevin King (six rebounds) and
Cole Gentry (three assists) added nine points apiece.
  Three Wildcats were in double digits as Jordan Cornelius and Matt Thomas had 17 points and Austin Esters added 14.
  For the third straight game, SDSU found itself in a hole after WSC hit a trio of trey's in the opening five minutes of action, sending the Jacks to the first media timeout down, 11-4.
  A jumper in the lane from Flatten ended a stretch of nearly three minutes without an SDSU bucket, helping the team pick things up and match the Wildcats bucket-for-bucket over the next few moments of play.
  Down 20-11 just outside the under 12 media timeout, SDSU used a
Cole Gentry jumper and an old-fashioned three-point play from
A.J. Hess to cut the deficit to 20-16. From there, the teams traded runs of 10 and eight,   respectively, keeping the margin the same at 30-26 after Flatten hit a three-pointer at 4:15 in the first.
  Over the final four minutes, neither team established itself as carrying momentum into the break, sending SDSU to the locker room down 37-33.
  Daum led all scorers with 12 points at the break while Flatten was second on the court with eight points.
  Scoreless through the opening minute of the second frame, a layup from
Andre Wallace and a
Reed Tellinghuisen three-pointer gave SDSU its first lead of the night, 38-37, at the 18:04 mark, forcing a WSC timeout.
  The teams traded buckets until past the under-16 media timeout where it was tied 42-42, and at 14:42 Daum hit a three-pointer near the top of the key to put the Jacks ahead, 45-42. The Wildcats, however, continued their pesky play to trade leads with the Jackrabbits over the next three minutes before a pair of free throws from Daum tied things, 50-50.
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Chris Howell hit a layup on the next offensive possession for the Jacks, and though WSC responded with a three-pointer, a
Cole Gentry answer from beyond the arc started the Jacks on a blitz of nine unanswered in just one minute of game play, putting SDSU ahead 61-53 with 8:39 to play.
  Down the stretch, SDSU three times put the lead in double digits, building it as high as 11 with 15 seconds remaining (80-69), but a Wildcat three with 12 seconds remaining put the game at its final score.
Cowboys' Last Time Out (GoWyo.com)
  MISSOULA, Mont. – A block by junior forward Alan Herndon in the closing seconds lifted the Cowboys past Montana 73-72 on Monday evening in Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont. Junior forward Hayden Dalton and sophomore guard Justin James combined for 30 points off the bench, as UW moves to 2-0 on the season.
  The two teams battled in the late goings of the contest exchanging baskets until James gave UW a 73-71 on a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left. The Griz followed by a trip to the line themselves. Ahmaad Rorie went 1-of-2 at the stripe to make it 73-72. The Pokes then turned it over, but a block by Herndon ended the game and completed a nine point comeback for the Pokes.
  Senior guard Jason McManamen scored a game-high 20 points for his seventh career game with 20 or more points. McManamen hit two three pointers on the night moving into the top-10 in career three pointers at UW. Dalton added 11 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for his first career double-double. James scored a career-high 19 points with a career-high eight field goals. Herndon added 10 points for UW.
   Wyoming shot 40 percent (21-of-53) from the field and 32 percent (9-of-28) from behind the arc. The Griz shot 49 percent (26-of-53) on the night. But the Pokes hit 22 free throws to Montana's 16. The Griz grabbed 33 rebounds to the Pokes' 32.
   The Pokes got the advantage early in the first half after a slow start by both squads. The Pokes hit three-straight three pointers to take an 11-4 lead. The Cowboys added to the lead with a Herndon three pointer and put back by Dalton extend the UW lead to 16-8.
  The lead was short lived after an 8-0 run by Montana. That run was halted by a three-point play by junior guard Louis Adams. The two teams would battle for the upper hand until the Cowboys used a 14-5 to close out the opening period. McManamen and James carried the load during the stretch with nine points combined.
  The Griz opened the second half on another 8-0 run to take a 43-41 lead on the Cowboys. The run was ended by a three pointer by Dalton that put him in double-figures in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
  The Pokes struggled from the field in the opening 10 minutes of the half going 2-for-16. That allowed the Griz to build their largest lead of the contest to that point 56-47. The Pokes battled back to within one at 63-62 on a three-pointer from Herndon.
  The Cowboys took the lead 65-64 on a deep three-pointer by McManamen. It marked his 20th point of the night. The two teams battled exchanging baskets until James gave UW a 73-71 on a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left.
  Guard Sayeed Pridgett led the Griz in scoring with 20 points. Fabijan Krslovic grabbed 12 boards for Montana.
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Jackrabbit Season Preview
South Dakota State enters the 2016-17 campaign with several new faces, but similar goals coming off its third NCAA Tournament appearance in the past five seasons. The Jackrabbits were picked second in The Summit League's preseason poll, finishing behind Fort Wayne and ahead of North Dakota State in the top three spots. Individually,
Mike Daum headlined the preseason poll as the 2016-17 The Summit League Preseason Player of the Year alongside his First Team honors.
Reed Tellinghuisen was picked Second Team. Daum is coming off a stellar redshirt freshman campaign where, despite starting only two games, led the team in points (15.2) and rebounds (6.1) and scored in double figures 30 times, including the final 21 games. He was named a Kyle Macy All-American, the Summit League Newcomer and Sixth Man of the Year (with First Team and All-Newcomer Team honors). Tellinghuisen started 34 games last season and shot 36.8 percent beyond the arc, averaging 9.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest. He is the most experienced Jackrabbit on the floor (69 games, 57 starts). Other key returners include
Ian Theisen,
Tevin King,
Skyler Flatten and
Lane Severyn. Theisen started all 34 games last season and put up averages of 6.1 points and 3.4 rebounds. King started two games, played in 34 and led the team with with 27 steals. Flatten has battled injuries but enters 2016-17 healthy. He last played in 2014-15 where he played in 31 games as a reserve. Severyn played in 27 games last season. Three redshirt freshmen,
Adam Dykman,
Beau Brown and
Cole Gentry enter the season with the chance to compete for spots as well. The Jacks feature several new faces expected to contend for playing time, including
A.J. Hess and
Michael Orris, a pair of graduate transfers from Southern Utah and Northern Illinois, respectively. Two other transfers,
Chris Howell (Butler Community College) and
Andre Wallace (Iowa Western) will be part of the conversation as well.
New Faces, Great Places
South Dakota State's hiring of first-year head coach
T.J. Otzelberger was a nod to the state's motto, "Great Faces, Great Places." The new face of the program, announced April 14, 2016, is in his first-ever heading coaching role, but has been groomed for the position over several assistant stops, working with Lorenzo Romar (Washington), Fred Hoiberg (Iowa State), Greg McDermott (Iowa State) and Steve Prohm (Iowa State). Alongside Otzelberger, new members of the coaching staff include
Ben Walker, a Creighton hall of fame member who last coached at Jackson State,
Eric Henderson, a former Wayne State (Neb.) standout who spent last season with SDSU's rival, North Dakota State, and
Tyler Glidden, the director of operations who has worked at Creighton and Iowa State.
Rob Klinkefus was the lone holdover from former head coach Scott Nagy's staff, and enters his 11th season at SDSU.
#FearFrost
The Jacks own a 64-3 record at Frost Arena over the last five seasons, which includes perfect home records in four of the last five years, including 2015-16. That also includes a 30-game home winning streak from Jan. 29, 2011 through Nov. 14, 2013, and their current 30-game home winning streak, the third-longest home winning streak in Division I as of Nov. 16. South Dakota State completed its sixth perfect record at Frost Arena last on Feb. 27, with its win over Oral Roberts. SDSU put together undefeated seasons inside Frost Arena the following years: 1984-85 (18-0), 2002-03 (17-0), 2011-12 (14-0), 2012-13 (13-0), 2014-15 (13-0), 2015-16 (12-0) and so far in 2016-17 (1-0).
20-Win Seasons
Reaching the 20-win mark has become a standard at South Dakota State University over the previous five seasons, as the Jackrabbits have done in four times in that span and 23 times in the program's history.Â
Scoring Streaks and Quick Hits
- At least one Jackrabbit has scored in double figures over the last 280 games dating back to Jan. 12, 2008 at IUPUI when Anthony Cordova has nine points to lead the Jacks.
- SDSU has made at least one three-pointer in 307 games. The last time the Jackrabbits did not make a three-point field goal was Jan. 25, 2007 at Utah State when the team went 0-for-13.
- From Jan. 31, 2009 through the 2013-14 season, SDSU put together a streak of 179 games with at least one 1,000 point scorer on the floor. SDSU has now gone 73 games without a 1,000 point scorer.
- Mike Daum set the school's freshman scoring record with 518 last season. The previous record was Matt Caldwell's 453 points from 2006.
- Mike Daum is the first-ever SDSU freshman (at both DI and DII levels) to earn all-league/all-conference honors.
- Mike Daum saw his streak of 22 consecutive games in double figures come to an end Nov. 14 at UC Irvine when he finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
- Mike Daum now has three career double-doubles and eight career games with 20-plus points.
- The last time SDSU went 0-2 to open the year was 2014-15 when the squad finished with a 24-11 overall record and was a Summit League regular season co-champion.
- SDSU is 91-18 all-time in home openers (where records available). Dating back to 2004-05, SDSU's first year of DI transition, SDSU is 11-2. Since joining the Summit League in 2007-08, SDSU is 9-2 in home openers.
- SDSU is now 72-39 in season-openers all-time. The Jacks are 5-8 in season-opening games at the Division I level.
2015-16 Season Review
The 2015-16 Jackrabbit Men's Basketball season featured several highlights throughout the campaign, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament, a conference tournament title and earning a share of The Summit League's regular season championship. The Jackrabbits earned the No. 12 seed in last year's West Region, narrowly missing an upset over fifth-seeded Maryland in the first round, falling 79-74. Prior to that, SDSU earned the nickname "Cardiac Jacks" with a run through the conference tournament, pulling off three-point quarterfinal and one-point semifinal wins before earning the automatic bid with a 67-59 win over NDSU in the final.
Mike Daum was named the tournament MVP and
Deondre Parks was a member of the All-Tournament team. For the regular season, SDSU posted its second consecutive undefeated home record while three players garnered All-Conference honors in addition to other national awards.
Mike Daum was named the Summit League Freshman and Sixth Man of the Year in addition to earning spots on the All-Conference First Team and the All-Newcomer Team.
George Marshall was an All-Conference First Team selection and
Deondre Parks claimed an honorable mention nod. On the national level, Marshall and Parks earned NABC Division I All-District 12 honors with First and Second Team nods, respectively, and Daum was named a Kyle Macy All-American. After the season, longtime head coach Scott Nagy resigned after completing his 21st season at the helm.
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