Jackrabbit men defeat Omaha, 83-73

Saturday, January 26

Brookings, S.D.

4:15 p.m.

South Dakota State University

17-6, 7-1

Omaha

12-9, 6-2

Omaha

South Dakota State

Photo by: Jason Salzman

1/26/2019 6:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SDSU remains in first place; Jenkins joins 1,000-point club

Saturday's matchup between the top two teams in the Summit League lived up to its billing, as the Jackrabbit men's basketball team pulled out an 83-73 victory over Omaha in the 2019 Pork Classic.

South Dakota State, playing in front of a season-best crowd of 3,881, took sole possession of first place in the league standings with the win, moving to 17-6 on the season and 7-1 in league play.

SDSU shot 53.2 percent from the field with 10 3-pointers, while Omaha finished with 12 treys and a 40.9 field goal percentage.

"I thought that was an exciting game," head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. "Omaha's a really good team and we have a lot of respect for them. I felt like we played okay. We had a few too many turnovers and some things we'd like to take out of the game, but overall it was a good team win and we found a way to keep some separation in the second half for the W."

Mike Daum led all scorers in his fourth-straight 30-plus scoring performance, finishing with 33 points alongside 16 rebounds for his 46th career double-double. Daum added a team-best five assists (one shy of his career-high) and three steals as well.

David Jenkins had 19 points with five treys, becoming the 48th member of South Dakota State's 1,000-point club with a 3-pointer in the second half.

Skyler Flatten joined the pair in double figures with 16 points of his own, scoring 13 in the final 20 minutes to help the Jackrabbits down the stretch.

Tevin King added seven rebounds, four assists and five points and Alex Arians finished with eight points and six boards.

Mitch Hahn finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds for Omaha and KJ Robinson led the Mavericks in scoring with 23.

Ahead 9-4 just past the under-16 media, the Jacks saw Omaha break out on a run of 11 unanswered, forcing an SDSU timeout at 11:57. The Jackrabbits stopped the rally with an Owen King layup out of the reset, but the Mavericks pushed their lead to seven (20-13) moments later.

Back-to-back dunks from Daum brought Frost Arena to its feet as SDSU started a 12-0 burst of its own, regaining control 25-20 with six minutes left in the half. The high-flying heroics continued for the Jacks as Daum cruised the baseline for a two-handed slam, and Flatten followed soon after with a layup through contact before an Omaha timeout at 4:19.

Ahead 29-22 at that point, the Jacks saw their lead cut to two (32-30) before the two-minute mark of the first, but State outscored the Mavericks by six the rest of the half to carry a 41-33 lead into the break.

Jenkins started the second half with his fourth 3-pointer of the day to put the Jacks ahead double figures, but Omaha soon had it back within three (48-45) with a quick 10-2 spurt.

That theme played out twice more in the half, as SDSU worked towards a double-digit advantage, only to see Omaha answer and crawl back within striking distance both times.

Ahead 73-66 with just over five minutes to go, though, a Flatten 3-pointer provided one last momentum swing for the Jacks as the went back up 10, where it stayed the rest of the way.

Game Notes

South Dakota State is 58-33 all-time against Omaha and has won four straight in the series.
The Jackrabbits are now 37-10 all-time in Pork Classic games.
Mike Daum entered today's game 19th on the NCAA's scoring list with 2,770 career points. He is now 17th on the list with 2,803 points, moving past Tennessee's Allan Houston and Chris Clemons (Campbell). Clemons entered today with 2,783 points and is in action tonight.
David Jenkins' 3-pointer with 2:33 left in the game put him at 1,000 points for his career. He reached the mark in 57 career games, tied for the third-fastest to do it in a Jackrabbit uniform.
The Jackrabbits were plus-four in rebounding margin, improving to 50-4 when winning the rebounding battle under head coach T.J. Otzelberger.
Four straight games of 30 or more points in a career-best mark for Mike Daum.
The Jacks have won 16 straight Summit League games at home.
David Jenkins (159) is now tied with Nate Wolters for 10th on SDSU's career 3-point list. Skyler Flatten (156) is close behind and on pace to join the record list next week.
Mike Daum is now 20 rebounds away from Mark Tetzlaff's Jackrabbit career record of 1,132 career boards. He moved into second-place in career boards in The Summit League, passing Keith Benson.