Men's Basketball at Denver Wednesday

Broadcast Information

Radio	Jackrabbit Sports Network \| WNAX 570 AM / 99.9 FM
Radio Talent	Tyler Merriam
Free Audio	Jackrabbit All-Access
Live Stats	DenverPioneers.com
Television	Altitude Sports 2
TV Talent	Todd Romero (Play-by-Play) and Greg Lackey (Analyst)

The Setup

South Dakota State hits the road once again for a two-game road swing this week. The Jackrabbits open the trip Wednesday, Jan. 25 at Denver. SDSU and the Pioneers are set to tip at 7 p.m. MT / 8 p.m. CT from Magness Arena.
Wednesday's contest is the 16th all-time meeting between the schools. The Jacks hold a 10-5 advantage but trail, 4-3, in games at Denver. SDSU boasts a four-game winning streak in the series entering this year's first matchup between the schools and won all three contests in 2015-16, including a late 54-53 win in the 2016 Summit League Tournament semifinals.
Entering the week, Denver is tied for second in the conference standings with a 4-3 mark in Summit League play. SDSU is ninth in the league standings but is coming off a 77-67 win over Fort Wayne, the team picked to win the conference in preseason polling.

Scouting the Pioneers

Denver carries a 12-8 overall record in the week with a 4-3 mark in league play, good enough for second and tied with South Dakota.
Denver is coming off a 78-74 road win at IUPUI after a 97-88 loss at Omaha earlier last week. Prior to that, Denver dealt league-leading North Dakota State its lone conference loss on Jan. 14.
Joe Rosga, a Summit League Preseason Second Team pick this year, leads the team with 16.1 points per game and sits eighth in the Summit League with those numbers.
Last week's (Jan. 17) conference player of the week, Daniel Amigo is averaging 7.7 rebounds per game for the Pioneers and has grabbed 154 total rebounds this season. Amigo leads the team in blocks (13) as well and is averaging 15.3 points per game to sit second on the team in scoring. From the field, Amigo's 56 percent field goal mark paces the squad.
Jake Pemberton has started 18 of 20 games for the Pioneers this season and has a team-leading 92 assists (4.6 per game) with 32 steals (1.6 per game).
As a team, Denver is shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 39.4 percent beyond the arc. Both marks are second best in the Summit League behind Fort Wayne and rank amongst the nation's best (25th in 3FG percentage, 29th in FG percentage).
Opponents are shooting 43 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from long range against the Pioneers. Denver ranks atop the Summit League in 3-point field goal percentage defense.
Denver is outscoring opponents, 74.9 to 71.9, on average and hold a plus-5.0 advantage in rebounding margin (35.7 to 30.7 per game).
Head coach Rodney Billups is the brother of former NBA player (and four-time NBA All-Star), Chauncey Billups.

From Long Range

SDSU has fired 575 3-pointers this season, up from 465 3-point attempts through 22 games last season. The school record for 3-point attempts in a season is 732, set in 2014-15. This year's team is currently in the No. 8 spot on that list.
The school record for 3-pointers made in a season is 284 (2011-12). SDSU has made 202 3-pointer through 22 games this season and is tied for No. 9 on that record list .
Those 575 3-point attempts represent 48.6 percent of SDSU's 1,184 total field goal attempts.
As of Jan. 22, the Jacks rank seventh in NCAA Division I in 3-point attempts (575) and are 13th nationally in 3-pointers made (202), shooting at 35.1 percent beyond the arc.
South Dakota State set a new school record for 3-point field goal attempts in a single game on Nov. 19, 2016 at Wyoming, firing 37 shots from beyond the arc. The previous record was 33, set twice, last at Oakland on Jan. 26, 2012.
The Jacks have set a new school single-game record for 3-pointers made twice this season. Entering 2016-17, the previous mark was 15, set at Oakland on Dec. 31, 2008. SDSU hit 16 at Idaho on Nov. 21 and reset the record Jan. 21, 2017 against Fort Wayne, sinking 17 from long range.
Mike Daum set a school record for 3-pointers made and attempted against Fort Wayne on Jan. 21, going 10 of 16 beyond the arc. Daum's 10 3-pointers made is fourth most in Summit League history.
As of Jan. 22, A.J. Hess ranks 17th nationally in 3-point attempts (160) and is 37th nationally in 3-pointers made (58).

Charity Stripe Success

South Dakota State has gotten to the free throw line more than its opponents in 18 of 22 games this season and have trailed in free throw attempts just twice this season. The Jackrabbits are shooting just under 80 percent (77.3) on free throws this season, have four players at or above the 80 percent mark and 10 active players shooting above 70 percent on free throws.
From Dec. 7 to Dec. 22, Mike?Daum hit a school record 43 consecutive free throws, breaking the previous record of 35, set by Garrett Callahan in 2008-09. Over the final seven non-conference games Daum hit 60 of 63 at the charity stripe (95.2 percent).
Mike Daum set a school record with 16 made free throws (out of 16 attempts) against Murray State after tying the previous school record with 13 made free throws (out of 13 attempts) against Idaho (Dec. 10).
As of Jan. 22, South Dakota State ranks 23rd in free throw attempts (503), seventh nationally in free throws made (389) and 11th in NCAA?Division I in free throw percentage (.773). SDSU is third in the conference in free throw attempts while sitting first in makes and percentage.
As of Jan. 22, Mike Daum remains the national leader in free throw makes (149) and attempts (170) and is 36th in free throw percentage (87.6).

#FearFrost

The Jacks own a 70-5 record at Frost Arena over the last five seasons, which includes perfect home records in four of the last five years. That span includes two home winning streaks of 30 or more games.
SDSU's 34-game winning streak, which ended Wednesday, Dec. 28, ranked as the nation's second longest active streak at the time it ended.
SDSU won 30 consecutive home games from Jan. 29, 2011 to Nov. 14, 2013.
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), and 2015-16 (12-0).
Since 2011-12, South Dakota State has won 93.3 percent of its home games, a mark that ranks fifth among all Division I programs. The list of top 10 home winning percentages since 2011-12 is available on page four of the game notes.

Player Quick Hits

Michael Orris has reached double figures four times this season, and three times in the last five games. Since conference play began, Orris has raised his scoring average from 5.8 to 8.0 points per game.
Against Fort Wayne on Jan. 21, Michael Orris dished out a career-high 10 assists. The total was the most for an SDSU player this season, and the most since Nate Wolters went for 12 against Fort Wayne on March 11, 2013.
After a slow start to the season where A.J. Hess scored just 11 points total in the first four games, the graduate transfer has raised his average to 10.8 points per game with 14 double figure scoring games and a double-double. Hess has reached double figures in six consecutive games and in 10 of his last 11.
Cole Gentry, who started four games for the Jackrabbits earlier this season, has been granted his release from the program.
A.J. Hess posted his first career double-double on Jan. 4 at Western Illinois, scoring 13 points to go alongside a career-high 14 rebounds.
Hess pulled down 42 total rebounds over 15 non-conference games to open the year, but since conference play began Hess is the team's leading rebounder with 46 over six games. Hess set career-highs in rebounds against North Dakota State (10) and Western Illinois (14).
Six times this season the Jacks have seen four players reach double figures. The Jacks last did it Jan. 12 when Mike Daum (32), Reed Tellinghuisen (14), A.J. Hess (12) and Chris Howell (11) all scored in double digits at Oral Roberts.
Twice this season South Dakota State has had two players score over 20 points in the same game. A.J. Hess (31) and Mike Daum (23) score 20-plus in a loss for the first time since Feb. 10, 2016 at Omaha when Daum and Reed Tellinghuisen reached that mark. On Dec. 3 against Kansas City, Andre Wallace (21) and Daum (22) broke the 20-point mark in a win for the first time since Daum and George Marshall did it on Feb. 13, 2016 against South Dakota.
SDSU has had five different players hit double figures in a game twice this season. The Jacks first did it in the win over Minnesota Crookston on Nov. 30, 2016. SDSU also did it Jan. 7 against Omaha.
Entering the Nov. 30 game with Minnesota Crookston, the most assists an SDSU player had in a game was six this season. Sergio El Darwich matched that in the opening half against UMC and finished ith eight for the night.
Over a span of three games from Nov. 21 to Nov. 26, South Dakota State saw A.J. Hess, Reed Tellinghuisen and Mike Daum all reach double figures and score a majority of SDSU's points. Of the 200 points SDSU scored in those games, the three Jackrabbits had 161, or 80.5 percent of the points. Daum scored 63 points in that stretch (31.5 percent), Hess had 57 points (28.5 percent) and Tellinghuisen had 41 points (20.5 percent). Mike Daum posted his first-ever 30-point game against Milwaukee on Nov. 27, finishing with 32 points off of 10-for-13 shooting in the field and an 11-for-13 effort from the charity stripe. Daum also dished out a career-high six assists.
A.J. Hess put together SDSU's first 30-point game at Idaho (scoring 31) since Nov. 26, 2013 when Jordan Dykstra had 32 against Lehigh.
Reed Tellinghuisen has hit double figures in 14 of 21 games this season, pushing his career mark in that category to 46 games with double figures. Tellinghuisen is second on the active career scoring list.
Reed Tellinghuisen ranks 14th nationally with 710 total minutes played this season.

Team Quick Hits

The Jackrabbits were whistled for only 10 fouls on Nov. 30 against UMC and on Dec. 16 versus Murray State, and only eight on Nov. 27 against Milwaukee. The Jacks have been whistled for less than 15 personal fouls 12 times this season.
The Jacks are 11th nationally and lead the conference with just 15.3 personal fouls per game (as of Jan. 22 stats release).
At least one Jackrabbit has scored in double figures over the last 298 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 3-pointer in 326 consecutive games. The last time the Jackrabbits did not make a 3-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 snapped a streak of 90 games without a 1,000 point scorer when Mike Daum joined the club on Jan. 21, 2017.
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.

Daum-inating
Mike Daum has stepped into a new role as the go-to scorer for the Jackrabbits in 2016-17, but has picked up where he left off after his redshirt freshman season ended with All-Summit League First Team, All-Newcomer and Newcomer of the Year honors. Daum was picked as the 2016-17 Summit League Preseason Player of the Year, and is living up to the hype with 22.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest so far this year.

Joined South Dakota State's 1,000 points club on Jan. 21, 2017 against Fort Wayne as the 46th all-time member. He is the fourth player in school history to join in his second year of playing at the school. Unofficially (per SDSU Sports Information archives) Daum is the sixth fastest to 1,000 points in school history.
Enters the week ranked 42nd all-time in scoring at South Dakota State with 1,020 career points. An abbreviated list of the 1,000 points club and all-time scoring rankings is available on page seven of the game notes.
Earned The Summit League's December Male Athlete of the Month honors after averaging 25.4 points and 7.5 rebounds over eight contests last month. Daum shot 53.6 percent from the field, 40 percent beyond the arc and 92.4 percent at the charity stripe for the month while reaching 20 points or more in seven of eight games (with over 30 points in two games).
Named The Summit League's Athlete of the Week on Dec. 19 after a monster performance against Murray State that earned him a spot on ESPN's SportsCenter.
Earned a spot on ESPN's SportsCenter as anchor Kevin Connors' "Star of the Night,' after his 42-point, 10-rebound double-double against Fort Wayne on Jan. 21.
Through 22 games this season, Daum has scored 502 points and with a minimum of nine games remaining in the conference season, he is on pace to break Nate Wolter's sophomore scoring record of 604 points.
Named to the Sanford Pentagon Showcase All-Tournament Team after posting averages of 24.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in three contests over the weekend event in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Recorded back-to-back double-doubles against UC Irvine and East Tennessee State at the Sanford Pentagon Showcase, March 25-26. The last time a Jackrabbit had recorded back-to-back double-doubles in a game was Nov. 14 and 17, 2014 when Cody Larson achieved the feat in the opening two games of the 2014-15 season.
Set the school's freshman scoring record with 518 last season. The previous record was Matt Caldwell's 453 points from 2006. He was also the first-ever SDSU freshman (at both DI and DII levels) to earn all-league/all-conference honors.
As of Jan. 22, ranks as the third highest scoring sophomore on the NCAA's active scoring list among all divisions and in DI. He trails Marcus Evans of Rice (1,064 points) and Tyler Hall of Montana State (1,048 points) as the leading sophomore scorers.
Hit a school record 43 consecutive free throws from Dec. 7 to 22, breaking the previous record of 35, set by Garrett Callahan in 2008-09. Over the final seven non-conference games Daum hit 60 of 63 at the charity stripe (95.2 percent).
Holds the school record for 3-pointers made (10) and attempted (16) in a single game, breaking Nate Wolters' records of nine and 15, respectively, on Jan. 21 against Fort Wayne.
Holds the Nos. 3 and 8 spots on SDSU's single game scoring list with 42 against Fort Wayne (Jan. 21) and 39 against Murray State (Dec. 17).
Holds the No. 2 spot on SDSU's single game game field goals made record with 14 against Fort Wayne (Jan. 21) and Oral Roberts (Jan. 12).
Set new career highs in scoring against Milwaukee (32 on Nov. 27), Idaho (33 on Dec. 10), Murray State (39 on Dec. 17) and Fort Wayne (42 on Jan. 21) this season.
Became the fourth player in NCAA Division I in 2016-17 to record a 40-point, 10-rebound game on Feb. 21 against Fort Wayne.

Jackrabbits' Last Time Out -- Jan. 18, 2017
South Dakota State men's basketball took care of business in front of 3,203 fans at Frost Arena Saturday, defeating Fort Wayne, 77-67, in a game where Mike Daum scored his 1,000th career point and posted the program's third best scoring performance in school history.
SDSU (9-13, 2-5 Summit League) shot 46.3 percent from the field and hit 17 of 36 (47.2 percent) beyond the arc, hitting more 3-pointers than 2-pointers in the game. At the charity stripe, the Jacks went 10 of 18. Fort Wayne (14-7, 3-4 Summit League) shot 43.5 percent from the field as the Jacks held the nation's third best 3-point shooting team (in makes) to a 7 of 21 effort from long range. The Mastodons sunk 6 of 8 free throw attempts.
Daum took control of the game, hitting a school record 10 3-pointers while going 14 of 23 from the field. His 10 rebounds carried him towards his sixth double-double of the season and paced the team on the boards as well.
A.J. Hess scored 18 to reach double digits as well, tallying all of his points on six 3-pointers (out of 14 attempts). Chris Howell just missing a double-double, finishing with eight points and nine rebounds.
At the point, Michael Orris scored six points and dished a career-high 10 assists on the night.
SDSU held a narrow lead through the majority of the opening eight minutes despite facing a scoreless drought of over three minutes in that span. Leading 11-10 at the under-12 media, SDSU opened up a four-point lead only to see Fort Wayne answer with seven straight before a Hess 3-pointer at 8:27 squared things at 17-all.
The Jackrabbits erupted briefly at that point, tearing off a 15-5 run with a two stretches of six unanswered, hitting seven 3-pointers in that span. Including Hess' game-tying 3-pointer before the media, SDSU outscored the Mastodons, 18-5 over five minutes of game action.
Fort Wayne, however, closed the gap with an 8-0 run over the final 2:16 to send SDSU to the locker room ahead by two, 32-30.
Daum led the way with 16 points in the opening 20 minutes, hitting four 3-pointers behind a 6 of 10 effort from the field. Daum grabbed five rebounds as well, second on the team behind Chris Howell's six first half boards.
Hess closed the half with nine points with three treys.
SDSU shot 42.9 percent from the field in the half with eight treys, but failed to hit a free throw in the period. Fort Wayne was 13 of 31 from the field in the half (41.9 percent) and had four 3-pointers. The Mastodons did not attempt a free throw.
Fort Wayne regained the lead, 37-36, two and a half minutes into the second half and held off a Jackrabbit takeover until 9:47 when a Daum 3-pointer came in the midst of an 11-0 run that put the Jacks in the lead for good. The bucket also moved Daum past 1,000 career points.
Ahead 58-50 at the end of the run, SDSU saw the 'Dons claw back within four briefly, but free throw shooting and the Jackrabbits' 17th 3-pointer of the night helped SDSU close out the win to snap its four-game losing streak.

Pioneers' Last Time Out -- Jan. 21, 2017
(DenverPioneers.com)
INDIANAPOLIS – The University of Denver men's basketball team overcame a sluggish first half en route to a 78-74 win on Saturday at IUPUI. The victory pushed the Pioneers' record to 12-8 (4-3 Summit League) on the season, while the Jaguars fell to 9-12 (3-4 SL) with the loss.
The win marked the first time that DU has been victorious at IUPUI in four all-time meetings.
The contest featured 10 ties and 17 lead changes.
Sophomore Joe Rosga led Denver with a game-high 19 points and four assists.
Daniel Amigo, playing limited minutes due to foul problems, chipped in with 18 points and six rebounds.
Both teams traded baskets in the opening minutes before IUPUI went up five after a 3 from Ron Patterson, a little less than six minutes in. It was the first points of the game for the Indianapolis native.
Amigo began to take over on the offensive end shortly after, scoring five quick points to tie things up at 15 and bringing his point total to seven in the first 20 minutes. The junior big man did so with a baby hook in the lane and a 3-pointer from the left corner on two consecutive possessions.
The back-and-forth battle between the two teams continued with each taking the lead several times.
Amigo's explosive first half continued after a layup at the 3:53 mark that put DU up by four and gave the 6-foot-10 center 13 points on the afternoon.
A 9-2 run from the Jaguars in the closing moments of the half allowed for them to take a five-point lead into the break, 43-38.
Amigo and Rosga had it going in the opening frame for Denver, with each scoring in double figures.
Despite a hot-shooting period from IUPUI, the Pioneers kept themselves close with good offense of their own, shooting 50 percent from the field in the half.
The Jaguars came out fast in the second half, racing to a seven-point edge before Denver pulled itself back within two after a layup from C.J. Bobbitt made the score 52-50.
An 8-2 run from the Pioneers put them up by four nearly midway through the half. The run was capped off by a pair of made free throws from Jake Pemberton.
DU went cold then went cold for several minutes, but got several stops on the defensive end to keep IUPUI from pulling away for good.
Baskets from Pemberton and Bobbitt got Denver back up by three with five minutes left in the half, forcing the Jaguars to take a time out and regroup.
The Pioneers made the plays that mattered most down the stretch, coming up with key stops on defense and converting at the foul line, securing their twelfth victory.

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.

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.

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.

-GoJacks.com-

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