Jacks open February at home

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The Setup

South Dakota State opens the final month of the regular season this Wednesday, Feb. 1 at home as Western Illinois comes to town. Tipoff from Frost Arena is set for 7 p.m.
Tonight's contest is a rematch from a Jan. 4 matchup in Macomb, Ill., that saw the Fighting Leathernecks defeat SDSU, 82-74. In that game, SDSU's A.J. Hess (inactive tonight) scored 13 points and had 14 rebounds while Michael Orris led the team with 17 points. For WIU, Garret Covington finished with 22 points in the game as one of four Leatherneck players in double figures.
SDSU and WIU have squared off 24 times prior to tonight's action, with the Jacks holding a 20-4 advantage in the all-time series. SDSU had won 17 consecutive matchups entering the 2016-17 season, and will look to get another streak started against the Leathernecks tonight as the Jacks are 10-0 all-time against WIU inside Frost Arena.
South Dakota State enters the week at 10-14 overall with a 3-6 mark in conference play. Western Illinois is 7-13 overall and 4-5 in The Summit League. SDSU sits in a three-way tie for seventh in the conference standings with seven games to go in the regular season. WIU is currently tied for fifth in the standings with Omaha, one game ahead of the Jackrabbits.

Scouting the Leathernecks

Tied for fifth in The Summit League standings as the final month of conference play begins, Western Illinois comes to Frost Arena at 7-13 (4-5 Summit League) after snapping a four-game losing streak its last time out against IUPUI. Prior to that 78-69 win over the Jaguars on Jan. 28, WIU had dropped contests to Denver, Omaha, North Dakota State and South Dakota after opening conference play 3-1.
Garret Covington has started all 20 games for the Leathernecks and paces the team with 19.2 points per game, hitting 42.6 percent of his field goals to go alongside a 3.9 rebounds per game mark. Mike Miklusak is the other WIU player to average double figures in scoring, dropping 14.5 per game to go with a league-high 9.1 rebounds per contest (and 137 total rebounds).
Brandon Gilbeck has pulled down 5.9 rebounds per contest and has joined Covington and C.J. Duff (7.6 points, 2.6 rebounds per game) in the starting lineup every night.
Delo Bruster, who started the first seven conference games for WIU, has not played the previous two games, and his status is unknown for tonight.
As a team, WIU is shooting 43.6 percent from the field with a 38.3 percent mark on 3-pointers. The Leathernecks have hit more than 10 3-pointers in a game seven times this season, including 16 in the earlier meeting with the Jacks.
WIU trails opponents in scoring (minus-2.9) and rebounding (minus-1.6) margins as well.

From Long Range

SDSU has fired 631 3-pointers this season, up from 515 3-point attempts through 24 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. 7 spot on that list.
The school record for 3-pointers made in a season is 284 (2011-12). SDSU has made 228 3-pointer through 24 games this season and sits at No. 6 on that record list currently.
Those 631 3-point attempts represent 48.3 percent of SDSU's 1,305 total field goal attempts.
As of Jan. 30, the Jacks rank fifth in NCAA Division I in 3-point attempts (631) and are ninth nationally in 3-pointers made (228), shooting at 36.1 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. 30, A.J. Hess ranks 25th nationally in 3-point attempts (169) and is 42nd nationally in 3-pointers made (62).
With 23 appearances this season, A.J. Hess is just outside the top 10 of 3-pointers made (No. 10 is 68) and attempted (No. 10 is 176).

Charity Stripe Success

South Dakota State has gotten to the free throw line more than its opponents in 18 of 24 games this season and have trailed in free throw attempts just four times this season, though three have come in the last three games. 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.
As of Jan. 30, South Dakota State ranks 38th in free throw attempts (534), 10th nationally in free throws made (413) 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.
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. 30, Mike Daum remains the national leader in free throw makes (162) and is third in attempts (187).

#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

A.J. Hess went down with an arm injury at Denver on Jan. 23. He is not expected to play Saturday at Omaha, and will be evaluated further upon the team's return to Brookings.
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.
Michael Orris followed his Fort Wayne totals with another standout performance at the point, dishing nine assists at Denver on Jan. 25.
After a slow start to the season where A.J. Hess scored just 11 points total in the first four games, the graduate transfer raised his average to 10.8 points per game with 14 double figure scoring games and a double-double before an injury stalled his graduate transfer season. Hess has reached double figures in six consecutive games he has appeared in 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.
A.J. Hess pulled down 42 total rebounds over 15 non-conference games to open the year, but in the first half of conference play Hess had 51 over eight 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 15 of 24 games this season, pushing his career mark in that category to 47 games with double figures. Tellinghuisen is second on the active career scoring list and could join the 1,000 points club by the end of the season.
Reed Tellinghuisen ranks 20th nationally with 797 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 18th nationally and lead the conference with just 16.0 personal fouls per game (as of Jan. 30 stats release).
At least one Jackrabbit has scored in double figures over the last 300 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 328 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. SDSU has now restarted a streak of two games with a 1,000 point scorerr on the court.
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.

Jackrabbits' Last Time Out -- Jan. 25, 2017
OMAHA, Neb. -- South Dakota State led for over 30 minutes and survived a wild finish to secure its first conference road win, taking down Omaha 88-84 on Saturday night.
Playing in front of 3,038 fans with a strong contigent of Jackrabbit followers at Baxter Arena, SDSU (10-14, 3-6 Summit League) moved into a three-way tie for seventh in the conference standings in a win that saw the team shoot 50 percent from the field. SDSU sunk 11 3-pointers as well and hit 15 of 17 at the free throw line.
Omaha (11-11, 4-5 Summit League) finished 45.8 percent from the field with eight 3-pointers and a 22 of 26 effort at the charity stripe.
Mike Daum led all scorers with 33 points, just missing a double-double as the Jackrabbit big man snagged nien rebounds as well.
Chris Howell (16 points), Reed Tellinghuisen (13 points) and Lane Severyn (11 points) joined Daum in double figures as Howell and Severy recorded career highs. Severyn added seven boards, Howell and six board and five assists (tied with Michael Orris for the team-lead) and Tellinghuisen had five rebounds.
Even through the first two minutes of play, SDSU fell behind 15-8 over the next three minutes as Omaha went on a 9-2 run that ended with five consecutive before Howell sunk a pair of free throws at 15:36.
From there, SDSU outscored the Mavericks 21-6 over the next eight minutes with spurts of eight, six and five unanswered. Leading 29-21 at that point (7:35), SDSU saw the Mavs call a timeout and looked to climb back with a Tre'Shawn Thurman jumper out of the reset. SDSU, though, continued to push and soon led by 13 (38-25) behind a 3-point from Severyn at 4:30.
Ahead 41-27 inside three minutes to go after an old-fashioned 3-point play from Tellinghuisen, SDSU had its lead cut to single digits before the half and carried a 52-43 lead into the locker room.
Daum led all scorers with 22 points in the first half, adding five rebounds while going 7 of 9 from the field. Tellinghuisen was in double figures as well for the Jacks with 10 points while Howell had eight points. Orris dished four assists in the opening 20 minutes.
SDSU shot 51.5 percent as a team in the opening half, hitting 17 of 33 from the field with six 3-pointers. The Jacks finished the half 12 of 13 from the charity stripe.
Omaha went on a 13-4 run to draw even in the first three-plus minutes of the second half forcing an SDSU timeout at 16:41 with the teams knotted at 56-all. SDSU re-opened a seven-point lead (63-56) as Omaha was held scoreless over the next three minutes, and soon led by 10 (68-58) after a Theisen 3-pointer forced an Omaha timeout at 11:23 to play.
Ahead 72-60 with 10 minutes to play, SDSU found itself in the midst of a 16-4 run that helped the Jacks open a double digit lead after Omaha's early blitz, only to see the Mavericks answer back over the next five minutes to close the gap to six (80-74) with 4:44 on the clock.
SDSU stalled Omaha's rally briefly with a 3-pointer from Tellinghuisen, but Omaha climbed within two (83-81) with two minutes to play after a 7-0 run for the Mavs that included five free throws.
Set up for a wild finish, Tellinghuisen drew a charge on the defensive end with 1:20 play and Daum hit a contested layup to move SDSU's lead to two possessions (85-81) near the 1-minute mark, before Omaha drew back within three (85-82) with 49.9 on the clock.
Fouled with 21.6 seconds on the clock, Daum sunk 1 of 2 free throws to move SDSU's lead back to four before Tra-Deon Hollins answered with a pair from the charity stripe with 13.6 to play.
Howell's front end of a 1-and-1 with 10.1 to go touched nothing but net, and the Jackrabbit guard sunk the second to give SDSU an 88-84 lead.
Omaha missed a 3-pointer on the other end with five seconds remaining, and Howell corralled the rebound to seal the win.

Leathernecks' Last Time Out -- Jan. 28, 2017
(GoLeathernecks.com)
MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois concluded the month of January with a 78-69 victory over the IUPUI Jaguars Saturday evening (Jan. 28) inside Western Hall.
WIU improves to 4-5 in Summit League play with the win and 7-13 overall, while IUPUI drops to 9-14 overall and 3-6 in league action.
Four Leathernecks scored in double figures led by junior Dalan Ancrum who scored a career-high 20 points in 33 minutes of action.
Sophomore center Brandon Gilbeck finished with 15 points, tying his career high, and added seven rebounds and three blocks. The Spring Green, Wis. native was effective from the field making 7-of-9 attempts.
Picking up his sixth double-double of the season and seventh of his career was senior Mike Miklusak. He recorded 13 points and 10 rebounds. All 13 of his points came in the second half.
Fellow senior Garret Covington scored 16 points, and 11 of his points came during the final 20 minutes of play.
The opening six minutes of play was all Western as the Leathernecks jumped out to a 14-7 advantage.
IUPUI, however, used the next five minutes to remove its deficit and grab the lead. The Jaguars went on a 14-3 run and held a 21-17 lead with less than nine minutes to play in the first half.
After WIU put a stop to the Jag's run, the two teams played an even rest of the half and the Leathernecks took a 30-29 lead into the break.
The first 15 minutes of the second half was back-and-forth and with just under five minutes to play in the game, the Jags found themselves up 59-57.
An 8-0 Western run made up of a Covington 3-pointer, a jumper and free throw from Duff, and a pair of free throws from Ancrum gave the Leathernecks a 6-point lead, 65-59, with 2:46 to play in regulation.
The Leathernecks were able to hold off the Jaguars for the final 2-plus minutes and end their 4-game losing streak.
Western was impressive from the field, shooting 51.9% for the game's entirety and 65.2% during the second half alone.
IUPUI was led by Darell Combs who finished with a game-high 21 points and four assists.

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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Mike Daum

Sergio El Darwich

Cole Gentry

A.J. Hess

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George Marshall

Michael Orris

Deondre Parks

Lane Severyn

Reed Tellinghuisen

Andre Wallace

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