Daum posts double-double as Jacks fall

Friday, November 25

Sioux Falls, S.D.

8 p.m.

South Dakota State University

UC Irvine

South Dakota State

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

11/25/2016 10:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- South Dakota State forced 19 turnovers and allowed a season-low in points but fell, 63-52, to UC Irvine on Friday evening at the Sanford Pentagon.

SDSU (1-5) shot 25.5 percent from the field in the second game of the night at the Sanford Pentagon Showcase, as UCI (3-2) finished 35.7 percent from the field.

Mike Daum posted his fourth career double-double to lead the Jacks, pulling down a career-high 18 rebounds to go alongside 23 points. Reed Tellinghuisen and A.J. Hess joined Daum in double figures with 11 and 10, respectively.

Down 3-0 early, Daum put SDSU on the board in the second offensive possession of the night, driving from the wing to throw down a dunk that brought the fans to their feet with 18:33 to go in the first. That opened a stretch of 11 unanswered for the Jacks that included 3-pointers from Tellinghuisen and Daum before the media timeout at 15:20. UCI ended the burst with a second chance layup at 13:38, making it 11-5 in SDSU's favor.

UC Irvine responded to bring the game within two (12-10) over the next four minutes of game action before Gentry hit a jumper in the lane at 9:02, and though SDSU built its lead back to six after a pair of free throws from Ian Theisen, the Anteaters closed the half on a 23-4 run to lead, 33-20, at the break.

The second half saw SDSU close the gap to 10, 35-25, in the opening three minutes and climb back within single digits, 38-29, off a fast break layup from Hess at 14:43. A UCI layup 20 seconds later put the 'Eaters back up 11 before a cold streak hit both teams over the next four minutes as neither team scored until Andre Wallace's layup at 10:33 put SDSU back down nine, 40-31.

All told, SDSU held UCI without a field goal for over five minutes midway through the second half, but couldn't shrink the deficit as the 'Eaters matched SDSU's defensive efforts in that span.

South Dakota State made a final push over the last 4:06 of gameplay and outscored the Anteaters down the stretch, but it wasn't enough for the Jacks.

Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger
On tonight's defensive effort ...
"I like how our guys came out. We turned them over a bunch and had them on their heels. We kept them off balance and did a great job, especially early in the game. Now, they had that stretch at the end of the first half, but I still feel it was more of a bi-product of our offense not functioning and us not getting shots to fall that allowed them to kind of push the pace back on us."

On offensive shot selection ...
"We've got to get better looks, but at the same time teams are played us very similarly. They're packing the paint, keeping guys in there, double and tripling and collapsing on Mike (Daum), so they're not making it easy. If we can't knock down perimeter shots its going to continue to collapse that defense."

On Mike Daum's play tonight ...
"Mike did a nice job. He competed, he worked and obviously we played him big minutes on the backside of that one-three-one. We're asking him to go and get a lot of rebounds and he did that. Mike's been our guy, he's been our staple and we're going to continue to ride him."

Game Notes

SDSU's 20 first half points was a season-low for the Jackrabbits, but the defense also held UC Irvine to a season-low 33 first half points.
Mike Daum has now scored in double figures 35 times in his career and has hit the mark in five of six games this season.
Mike Daum pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds, resetting his mark of 13 rebounds previously set Jan. 16 of last season.
Mike Daum went over 20 points for the fourth consecutive game and has now reached that mark in 11 games for his career.
SDSU is now 0-2 in the Sanford Pentagon Showcase this season and 0-2 all-time against UC Irvine, dropping both games of the series this season.
SDSU had at least three Jackrabbits score in double figures for the third consecutive game.

What's Next
South Dakota State continues its weekend stay in Sioux Falls at the Sanford Pentagon Showcase with a 4:30 p.m., contest on Saturday, Nov. 26 against East Tennessee State. ETSU defeated Milwaukee on Friday night, 86-62.