Jacks dealt heartbreaker at Idaho

Monday, November 21

Moscow, Idaho

7 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. CT

South Dakota State University

1-4

Idaho

3-1

OT 1

South Dakota State

Idaho

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

11/22/2016 12:12:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

MOSCOW, Idaho -- A.J. Hess hit a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to force overtime, but South Dakota State's late-game magic ran out in overtime in a 96-89 loss at Idaho on Monday.

SDSU (1-4) shot 43.3 percent from the field and hit a school record 16-of-37 3-pointers, adding a 21-of-24 effort from the charity stripe. Idaho (3-1) finished with a 52.2 field goal percentage on the night, including 14-of-31 3-point attempts while going just 12-of-20 from the free throw line.

Hess led the team with 31 points on the night, finishing 7-of-12 from long range and 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Mike Daum put together his third consecutive 20-plus scoring effort, finishing with 23 points to go alongside six rebounds.

Reed Tellinghuisen (15 points) and Cole Gentry (10 points) reached double figures as well, with Tellinghuisen knocking down 3-pointers and Gentry dishing four assists, matching Tevin King in that category. Tellinghuisen also added four steals.

South Dakota State scored the first five points of the game as part of an 8-2 run in the opening two and a half minutes of action, thanks in part to a pair of Hess 3-pointers. Tellinghuisen hit a 3-point shot of his own just inside the 15-minute mark to put SDSU ahead, 11-4, but the Vandals responded with five straight to cut the lead to two, 11-9, moments later.

With less than 12 minutes to go in the half, Tellinghuisen hit another 3-pointer to push the Jacks' lead back to five, 16-11, and opened a minute-long string of seven unanswered to take a 20-11 lead. That nine-point advantage was short-lived, however, as Idaho found a rally in transition and ran off eight unanswered of its own to force an SDSU timeout at 9:24.

Out of the pause, Tellinghuisen had a 4-point play, sinking a contested 3-pointer and a free throw after a foul was called, but Idaho responded with a 3-pointer of its own to keep things close, 24-22.

A Vandal three-pointer gave Idaho the lead, 27-26, just outside the seven-minute mark and started a back-and-forth stretch where the lead changed five times over a span of nearly four minutes, sending the Jacks to the under-four media down, 32-30.

A scoreless stretch of nearly three minutes hurt the Jackrabbits late in the half, but a strong defensive effort kept things close enough for Hess to hit a 3-pointer at 2:42 and give SDSU a one-point lead, 33-32.

Inside one minute to play in the period, Idaho went up three and looked to take a lead into the break, but with four seconds on the clock Hess hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night and tied things up at half, 38-all.

Hess scored the final eight points of the half for SDSU and led all scorers with 16 at the break. Tellinghuisen wasn't far behind, hitting three 3-pointers for 12 points for the Jacks.

As hot as both teams were from the field in the opening 20 minutes, neither team found a rhythm early second as there was only one field goal apiece through the first 4:30 of play. Daum scored on a reverse layup and drew a foul, sending the team to the under-16 media at 15:30 with the Jacks ahead, 44-40.

Tied up at 47 inside 13 minutes to play, Idaho outscored the Jacks, 9-5, over the next four minutes with three 3-pointers to force a Jackrabbit timeout, down 58-52 at 9:19.

Out of the reset, King and Gentry hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to draw back even, 58-58, though Idaho responded with seven more unanswered to lead, 65-59, after a media timeout at 6:23.

South Dakota State hung tough, however, closing the deficit to one on two occasions before the 1:46 mark when A.J. Hess hit a deep 3-pointer to give SDSU a 73-71 lead.

Tied up 73-all with 1:25 to go, Idaho hit its 12th 3-pointer of the night to go up 76-73 before Daum drew the team back within one with a layup off the glass.

The late game drama continued when Idaho missed the front end of a one-and-one from the charity stripe, but after the Jacks were unable to handle the rebound, the Vandals went back to the line with 12.1 seconds to go, where they hit both layups to go up 78-75.

As time wound down, a missed 3-pointer from the Jacks looked to seal things before Daum gathered an offensive rebound and dished it to Hess in front of the Jackrabbit bench with the senior knocked down the game-tying shot from long range at the buzzer.

Idaho ran off six straight to begin the overtime period before an SDSU timeout at 2:56, and though the Jacks pushed down the stretch, that deficit was insurmountable for a charging SDSU offense.

Over the final minute, SDSU within four or less four separate times, but Idaho hit shots down the stretch to keep the Jacks at bay.

Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger
On tough loss ...
"I thought our guys competed, but we have a high standard for ourselves and we want to win this games. Somewhat disappointed in our bench, and we need to have guys ready to go because our guys that played a majority really fought, but on the second leg of a road trip they're playing big minutes. So, we need to have all hands on deck for us to get a different result in these types of games. We need to get production out of everyone we put in."

On A.J. Hess' play ...
"A.J.'s a big time player. He's a phenomenal shooter and we know he can step up and do that for us. Hopefully this propels him o being the player we know he can be be. It was matter of seeing a couple go through and then things change for him. We need him to be big-time scoring threat for us that we know he can be so hopefully this is something that is big for him going forward."

On finishing long road trips and returning to South Dakota next weekend ...
"Its challenging. This road trip, the two games in California and the two games out here, it's certainly taken its toll on the guys. We love to get back home. We couldn't be more exciting to play in our home state, to play in front of our fans, and we appreciate all the support. We're going to do our part and bring relentless energy and the best effort we can possibly bring, so hopefully our fans will come out and pack the (Sanford) Pentagon."

Game Notes

SDSU won the tip for the first time this season, and scored first for the first time this season as Mike Daum hit a layup just 19 seconds in.
A.J. Hess' 16 first half points was tied for the most from a Jackrabbit in a period this season, matching Mike Daum's 16 first half points at Wyoming.
After setting the school record for attempted 3-point shots as a team, SDSU set a new school record for made 3-pointers with 16 on the night. The previous record was 15, set at Oakland on Dec. 31, 2008.
The Jackrabbits also tied the school record for 3-point attempts in game after setting the record with 37 last Saturday at Idaho.
A.J. Hess put together SDSU's first 30-point game since Nov. 26, 2013 when Jordan Dykstra had 32 against Lehigh.
SDSU had two guys score 20-plus in a loss for the first time since Feb. 10, 2016 at Omaha when Mike Daum and Reed Tellinghuisen reached that mark.

What's Next
South Dakota State returns to the Rushmore State this weekend for three games at the Sanford Pentagon Showcase in Sioux Falls, S.D., Nov. 25-27. The Jacks take on UC Irvine Friday at 8 p.m., East Tennessee State on Saturday at 4:30 p.m., and Milwaukee on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.