Jacks head for Fort Wayne in final road game

Broadcast Information

Radio	Jackrabbit Sports Network \| WNAX 570 AM / 99.9 FM
Radio Talent	Tyler Merriam
Free Audio	Jackrabbit All-Access
Live Video Stream	GoMastodons.com/Watch
Live Stats	www.sidearmstats.com/fortwayne/mbball/

The Setup

South Dakota State hits the road for the final time in the regular season this Saturday at Fort Wayne. The Jackrabbits and Mastodons tip at 6 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. ET.
SDSU enters the weekend 13-16 overall with a 6-8 mark in Summit League play. Fort Wayne is 18-9 on the season and 7-6 in conference action. SDSU has two games remaining and FW has three before The Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Mastodons sit fifth in the current standings, one half-game ahead of Omaha. SDSU is seventh currently and one game back of Omaha.
The Jacks and 'Dons have squared off 27 times prior to Saturday's action, with State holding a 15-12 edge in the series. In Fort Wayne, SDSU trails 8-3 in matchups.
The first matchup of 2016-17 went to South Dakota State inside Frost Arena in a game that saw Mike Daum go for 42 points behind a school-record 10 3-pointers. Daum and the Jacks won that game, 77-67, and will look for the season sweep on the road.

Summit League Tournament Outlook

With South Dakota State's win over IUPUI Wednesday, and Oral Roberts' loss at Omaha Thursday, the Jackrabbits are now sixth in the conference standings and two games ahead of last-place Oral Roberts.
SDSU can clinch a berth to The Summit League Tournament with a win or an ORU loss Saturday.
Two games remain for the Jackrabbits, who are 1.5 games out of fourth place and a half-game back of fifth.
Seeds 1, 2, 7 and 8 play on the first day of the Summit League Tournament (March 4) and the winners have a day off before Monday's semifinals. Sunday's contests feature seeds 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Scouting the Mastodons

Fort Wayne sits fifth in The Summit League Standings as the final week of regular season play approaches, boasting 18-9 overall and 7-6 conference records.
The Mastodons have won two straight entering Saturday's contest, including a home win over first-place North Dakota State last Wednesday.
Four starters average double figures for FW in scoring, led by Mo Evans' 17.6 points per game. Joining Evans above the 10-point standard are Bryson Scott (16.5 ppg), John Konchar (14.6 ppg) and Kason Harrell (10.6 ppg). Fort Wayne's other starter, Brent Calhoun, is close behind at 8.5 points per contest.
Konchar is pulling down a team-best 9.2 rebounds per contest, where he ranks 45th nationally. His 248 total rebounds is 27th best in the nation.
Offensively, Konchar has hit 64.1 percent of his field goal attempts and sits seventh in NCAA Division I. Joining Konchar with a top 10 ranking from the 'Dons is Mo Evans, who is seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (.465) and 10th in total assists (164).
Fort Wayne leads the conference and is fourth nationally with 296 3-pointers made this year and 11.0 3-pointers per game while sitting 11th nationally (and trailing SDSU for the conference lead) with 719 total 3-point attempts.
The Mastodons ranks eighth nationally in total assists (475), leading to effiicient play that has them shooting 49.7 percent as a team from the field, which is sixth best in the nation.
Fort Wayne has the fifth best scoring offense in the country at 87.9 points per game, and the team is allowing 77.3 points on average.

From Long Range

SDSU has fired a school record 742 3-pointers this season with two games remaining before the conference tournament. The previous record of 732 was set in 2014-15.
The school record for 3-pointers made in a season is 284 (2011-12). SDSU has made 269 3-pointer through 29 games and sits fifth on that record list currently (No. 4 is 270).
South Dakota State has attempted fewer than 20 3-pointers in a game just four times this season. The Jacks average 26.5 3-point attempts per contest and are 32nd nationally with 9.3 3-pointers made per game.
As of Feb. 16, the Jacks rank sixth in NCAA Division I in 3-point attempts (742) and are eighth nationally in 3-pointers made (269), shooting at 36.3 percent beyond the arc.
SDSU leads the conference in 3-point attempts and is second in 3-pointers made.
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.
Reed Tellinghuisen (63), A.J. Hess (62) and Mike Daum (60) are all at or above 60 made 3-pointers this season and are closing in on the top 10 of SDSU's single season record list (No. 10 is 68).
Reed Tellinghuisen ranks seventh on SDSU's single-season 3-point attempts record list with 186 this year. He will join the top five if he shoots 191 for the season, and No. 1 on the list is Clint Sargent (2010-11) with 213 3-point attempts.

Charity Stripe Success

South Dakota State has gotten to the free throw line more than its opponents in 23 of 29 games this season. The Jackrabbits are shooting 77.1 percent on free throws this season, have four players at or above the 80 percent mark and eight active players shooting above 70 percent on free throws.
As of Feb. 16, South Dakota State ranks 20th in free throw attempts (658), sixth nationally in free throws made (507) and 13th in free throw percentage (.771).
SDSU leads the conference in makes, attempts and percentage at the line.
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).
Daum is third on the single season free throw makes record list (204) and sixth in free throw attempts (234) for a season at SDSU. He is 30 makes short of the school record and 67 shy of the attempts mark.
As of Feb. 16, Daum remains the national leader in free throw makes (204) and has moved back on top of the leaderboard in attempts (234).

#FearFrost

The Jacks own a 73-5 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 ranked as the nation's second longest active streak when it ended Wednesday, Dec. 28. The streak began Jan. 30, 2014.
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 93.6 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

Feb. 4 against Oral Roberts marked the first time South Dakota State had two players post double-doubles since Nov. 11, 2014 when Cody Larson and Zach Horstman did it. Against ORU, Mike Daum had 38 points and 17 rebounds and Chris Howell finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
After seeing limited action with a 2.8 ppg average in the non-conference portion of 2016-17, Chris Howell has burst onto the scene as a top scoring option in conference play. Howell is averaging 11.4 points per game in 12 Summit League contests and has reached double figures in the five of the last six, recorded career-highs in two of those. Howell had 16 points and six rebounds at Omaha, 15 points and four rebounds against Western Illinois before tallying his first Jackrabbit double-double, finishing with 20 points and 12 rebounds against Oral Roberts. He most recently had a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double against IUPUI on Feb. 15.
Reed Tellinghuisen went off for a career-high 28 points and eight 3-pointers at South Dakota on Feb. 11, 2017, helping the Jacks recover from a 14-point deficit with five 3-pointers in the second half. SDSU lost the game but Tellinghuisen led all scorers.
Michael Orris has 48 assists over the last eight games after tallying 26 assists in the nine games prior. He had a career-high 10 assists against Fort Wayne on Jan. 21, which was the most for a Jackrabbit since Nate Wolters went for 12 against Fort Wayne on March 11, 2013.
In 12 conference games, Michael Orris has a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio with 65 assists and 33 turnovers.
Reed Tellinghuisen has hit double figures in 20 of 29 games this season, pushing his career mark in that category to 48 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 17th nationally and first in The Summit League with 962 total minutes played this season.
A.J. Hess went down with an arm injury at Denver on Jan. 23. He is not expected to be available this week.
Ian Theisen has missed the last three games with a lower leg injury. He is not expected to be play this week.
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.
A.J. Hess came to South Dakota State with 840 career points at Southern Utah. On Dec. 28, 2016, Hess scored his 1,000 career point against North Dakota State.
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).
Eight times this season the Jacks have seen four players reach double figures. The Jacks last did it Feb. 15 when Mike Daum (24), Reed Tellinghuisen (16), Chris Howell (16) and Michael Orris (13) reached the mark against IUPUI.
Four times this season South Dakota State has had two players score over 20 points in the same game. It last happened Feb. 11, 2017 at South Dakota when Reed Tellinghuisen scored 28 and Mike Daum finished with 22. Daum has been a part of all three occurances this year.
SDSU has had five different players hit double figures in a game three times 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 and against Western Illinois Feb. 1.
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.

Team Quick Hits
South Dakota State has scored 50 or more in a half five times this season, including four second half performances of 50 or greater that have led to wins against Omaha, Oral Roberts and IUPUI in the last three weeks.

Winning the rebounding battle has been vital to SDSU's success this year. The Jacks are 11-1 in games they out-rebound opponents and 1-12 in contests they trail in rebounding margin. State is 1-3 in games it matches opponents on rebounds.
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 13 times this season.
The Jacks are 29th nationally and lead the conference with just 16.4 personal fouls per game.
At least one Jackrabbit has scored in double figures over the last 305 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 333 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 seven games with a 1,000 point scorer 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 -- Feb. 15, 2017
South Dakota State men's basketball shook off a slow start and outscored IUPUI by 21 in the second half to claim an 81-67 win Wednesday evening at Frost Arena.
Playing in front of 2,333 fans, SDSU (13-16, 6-8 Summit League) scored 55 points in the final 20 minutes thanks to a 60.7 percent field goal percentage while going 16 of 16 at the line in that span.
For the game, State shot 51 percent from the field and hit six 3-pointers while holding IUPUI to a 36.8 shooting percentage. That is the third lowest shooting percentage for an opponent against SDSU this year.
Mike Daum led the Jacks with 26 points, including a 12 of 12 effort at the free throw line, while pulling down nine rebounds.
Chris Howell posted a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double and Reed Tellinghuisen matched Howell with 16 points, hitting four 3-pointers.
Michael Orris was in double figures as well, dishing out seven assists in the win.
Slow going early, State found itself down seven (15-8) 10 minutes into the game before answering with a 9-1 spurt that made it 20-19 at 6:02. IUPUI, however, regained control behind a 13-7 run that sent the Jacks to the locker room, trailing 33-26.
South Dakota State found its rhythm in the second as the Jacks climbed back to within one (38-37) in the first three minutes before going on a 9-0 run that put the Jacks ahead by six (46-40) with 12:30 to play. SDSU never relinquished the lead, stretching it to double figure over the next 10 minutes before hitting all eight of its free throw attempts in the final minute-plus to secure the win.

Mastodons' Last Time Out -- Feb. 15, 2017
(GoMastodons.com)
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – All five starters finished in double-digits on Wednesday (Feb. 15) as the Fort Wayne men's basketball squad defeated first-place North Dakota State 77-61 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Fort Wayne closed the first half on a 13-0 run to take a 33-25 at the break. It was part of a larger 24-6 stretch that started with the Mastodons down 19-9. North Dakota went 3-of-14 from the floor and turned the ball over five times in the game changing 24-6 stretch
The 'Dons never trailed in the second half, but North Dakota State made a run to get within seven points with six minutes remaining. Then Kason Harrell came alive. He scored all 11 points in an 11-2 run that put the 'Dons in control again at 67-51 with just under four minutes remaining.
Brent Calhoun tied a career-high with 19 points, most came early in the first half as the rest of the 'Dons struggled from the floor to start the game. John Konchar pitched in 15 points. Harrell and Evans each had 14 points. Evans totaled 11 assists, giving him his third straight game with 10 or more assists. Bryson Scott had 11 points.
The story was the Mastodons' defense. They limited North Dakota State to 40.4 percent (21-of-52) shooting. Paul Miller, who had 33 points against the 'Dons in Fargo, finished with only six points on 2-of-11 shooting. Khy Kabellis, who had 25 in the previous meeting, made only 2-of-9 shots on Wednesday.

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.

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