Men open season against UT Rio Grande Valley

GAME 1: South Dakota State (0-0) vs. UT Rio Grande Valley (0-0)

When	Tuesday, Nov. 5 \| 7 p.m.
Where	Frost Arena \| Brookings, S.D.
Live Audio / Radio	Jackrabbits All-Access \| Jackrabbit Sports Network I WNAX 570 AM \| Tyler Merriam
Television / Live Video	Midco Sports Network \| ESPN+ \| Jackrabbits All-Access \| Tom Nieman, Brad Newitt, Elaina Lanson
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| UT Rio Grande Valley
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook
Tickets	JackrabbitTickets.com

Previewing the Game
South Dakota State men's basketball welcome UT Rio Grande Valley to Frost Arena Tuesday night for the 2019-20 season opener. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

The Jackrabbits are the two-time defending Summit League regular season champions and enter 2019-20 under the direction of first-year head coach, Eric Henderson.

UTRGV was tabbed fourth in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) preseason polls and enter the season led by All-WAC First Team selection, Javon Levi.

This is the first-ever matchup between the programs.

About South Dakota State
First-year head coach Eric Henderson steps into a new role in 2019-20, but has been on the bench as an assistant for the last three years as the Jacks compiled a 70-33 overall record, including a 35-11 mark in Summit League play. SDSU made postseason appearances each season, starting with back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2017 and 2018, followed by an NIT bid in 2019 after winning the Summit League regular season title for the second year in a row.

Alex Arians steps into a leadership role in his sophomore season, appearing in all 33 games a year ago while averaging 6.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest. Arians started all but two Summit League contests last year and tallied eight double-figure scoring performances with two double-doubles.

Brandon Key, who did not play last season, returns to the Jackrabbits as a senior for the upcoming campaign. Key appeared in 34 games in 2017-18 and dished a team-high 112 assists while scoring 6.3 points per game.

Owen King joins Arians as a seasoned sophomore on this year's squad, appearing in all 33 games last season with averages of 4.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists over 16.7 minutes per game. King tallied three or more assists in 14 contests and had three double-digit scoring performances.

Matt Dentlinger appeared in 32 contests for the Jackrabbits last year, averaging 2.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12.1 minutes per appearance.

Alou Dillon made 18 appearances with a pair of starts in 2018-19, pulling down 24 total boards to go with a 1.8 scoring average.

Beau Brown returns for his senior season after appearing in eight games a year ago. Brown averaged 0.9 points per contest and had three rebounds.

atthew Mims and Aaron Fiegen redshirted last year and will make their collegiate debuts in 2019-20. Fiegen was a two-time, Class A First Team All-State honoree and was a finalist for the KELOLAND/Sanford Pentagon High School Player of the Year in 2018. Mims was named the 2018 IBCA State Class 3A Player of the Year from Xavier High School. He was a two-time, First Team All-State and All-Conference selection in his career and won the 2016 and 2017 state tournaments with his program.

Three transfers and a pair of true freshmen are newcomers to the Jackrabbit roster.

Doug Wilson is a two-time NJCAA All-American and the 2018-19 NJCAA Player of the Year, helping his team to this year's national championship. Wilson averaged 21 points and 8.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore at Kirkwood Community College, shooting 67 percent from the field with 11 double-doubles.

Tray Buchanan committed to the Jackrabbits in early April after spending a season at Des Moines Area Community College. Buchanan earned NJCAA Third Team All-American honors in 2018-19, averaging 19.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game at DMACC. He shot 45 percent from the field with 77 3-pointers, reaching double figures in 28 games.

David Wingett joined the Jackrabbit squad in late May as a transfer from Memphis. Wingett played in four November contests for the Tigers before suffering a season-ending injury. He spent a year of post-graduate ball at Bull City Prep Academy, averaging 25.8 points. 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. The Winnebago, Nebraska product scored over 2,200 points in his high school career, leaving Nebraska as one of the top prep-scorers, all-time. He received a waiver from the NCAA in October and is immediately eligible for the 2019-20 season.

Noah Freidel averaged 22.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game for the Tea Titans as a senior, earning Class A All-State First Team honors while being named the 2019 Argus Leader Player of the Year. He helped his team to Class A State Tournament titles in 2017 and 2019 and left high school as the program's all-time leading scorer.

Baylor Scheierman is a two-time Class B All-State, All-Area and All-Conference selection from Aurora, Nebraska, and as a senior averaged 22.1 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game while helping his team to a state tournament berth. Scheierman also won the Nebraska State Class C1 State Football Championship, throwing for nearly 4,000 yards with 59 passing touchdowns in 2018.

The Jackrabbits were the Summit League's top offense a year ago, averaging 84.5 points per game while shooting 50.1 percent as a team from the field.

SDSU hit 327 3-pointers and saw nine (out of 10 active players) shoot better than 46 percent from the field.

The Jacks were plus-4.7 in rebound margin and snagged 38.2 rebounds per game.

About UTRGV
The Vaqueros went 20-17 overall last season and finished fourth in the WAC with a 9-7 league mark.

Javon Levi is the reigning WAC Defensive Player of the Year and averaged 9.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.9 steals per contest.

Lesley Varner II returns alongside Levi as a 37-game starter, finishing third on the team with 11.1 points per game and a team-best 198 rebounds (5.4 per contest).

Lew Hill is in his fourth season as head coach of UTRGV.

A South Dakota State Win Would ...
Give SDSU its first win of the season and move the program to 94-18 all-time in home openers and 75-39 in season openers ... move the Jackrabbits to 1-0 all-time against UTRGV ... hand Eric Henderson his first career win as a head coach ... give the Jacks a 1,536-1,040-1 program mark.

A South Dakota State Loss Would ...
End South Dakota State's eight-game home-winning streak and put the team at 0-1 for the year ... move the Jackrabbits to 0-1 all-time against UTRGV ... give the Jacks a 1,535-1,041-1 program mark.

#FearFrost

The Jacks own a 103-6 record at Frost Arena over the last seven seasons dating back to 2011-12, which includes perfect home records in five of the last seven years and a 10-1 start to the current campaign. That span includes two home winning streaks of 30 or more games and three of 25 or more.
Since 2011-12, South Dakota State has won 94.49 percent of its home games, a mark that top all Division I programs in that span. That list is on page three of the game notes.
South Dakota State won 34 consecutive games from Jan. 30, 2014 to Dec. 28, 2016. It ended as the nation's second-longest active streak.
The Jackrabbits won 30 consecutive home games from Jan. 29, 2011 to Nov. 14, 2013.
SDSU won 26 consecutive home games from Dec. 31, 2016 to Dec. 22, 2018.
South Dakota State won 34 consecutive home nonconference games inside Frost Arena from Dec. 31, 2016 to Dec. 22, 2018. That mark was the fourth-longest active streak when it ended.
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), 2015-16 (12-0) and 2017-18 (15-0).

Quick Hits

South Dakota State's lineup will feature new roles and new faces throughout the season, as the Jackrabbits return only 16.9 percent of their scoring from 2018-19, and 10.7 percent of their 3-point makes. SDSU's 15.8 points per game returning ranks fifth-lowest nationally, and the 16.9 percent back is the second-lowest margin.
South Dakota State has not lost three consecutive games since January 2017.
SDSU went 13-0 when holding opponents under 70 points last season (11-9 when not) and scored 70-plus points in 32 of 33 contests. The Jackrabbits were 12-0 when holding opponents under 70 points in 2017-18.
At least one Jackrabbit has scored in double figures over the last 375 games dating back to Jan. 12, 2008 at IUPUI when Anthony Cordova had nine points to lead the Jacks.
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, then after a 90-game stretch, SDSU re-started an 81-game streak Jan. 21, 2017 when Mike Daum joined the 1,00-point club. That streak will not continue in 2019-20.
State has made at least one 3-pointer in 405 consecutive games. The last time the Jackrabbits did not make a 3-point field goal was Jan. 25, 2007
SDSU is 93-18 all-time in home openers (where records available). Dating back to 2004-05, SDSU's first year of DI transition, SDSU is 14-2.
SDSU is 74-39 in season-openers all-time. The Jacks are 7-8 in season-opening games at the Division I level.
The Jackrabbits are 7-5 in Summit League openers.

Jackrabbits in Two Scheduling Agreements
Summit League teams are in year two of scheduling agreements with the Western Athletic Conference and Big Sky.

The Jackrabbits took on Grand Canyon last year in the first year of the Summit League/WAC challenge, defeating the Lopes in the 2018-19 season opener. Year two of the challenge sends SDSU to face CSU Bakersfield Nov. 9.

The scheduling agreement with the Big Sky is a four-year contract. The Jackrabbits will play the following games as part of the deal:

2018-19: Montana (home), Eastern Washington (away)
2019-20: Idaho (home), Montana State (away)
2020-21: Eastern Washington (home), Montana (away)
2021-22: Montana State (home), Idaho (away)

Tough Tests
South Dakota State has four Power Five (ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, PAC-12) opponents on the 2019-20 schedule, facing USC, Nebraska, Arizona and Indiana this season.

South Dakota State has seven wins over Power Five programs since joining The Summit League in 2007, picking up victories over Iowa State (2008), Iowa (2010 and 2017), Washington (2011), TCU (2015), Minnesota (2015) and Ole Miss (2017).

SDSU's wins over Iowa and Ole Miss in 2017-18 came in the shortest time frame of any Summit League team since 1998 (seven days). The Jackrabbits are the fifth league team to post a win over separate Power Five conferences in the same regular season, and the first to do it since 2009.

Jacks Picked Fifth in Preseason Poll
South Dakota State men's basketball earned two first-place votes and was tabbed fifth in the 2019-20 Summit League men's basketball preseason poll, released Monday.

The poll is voted on by league coaches, sports information directors and select media.

-GoJacks.com-

Calendar

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Players Mentioned

Alex Arians

Beau Brown

Tray Buchanan

Mike Daum

Matt Dentlinger

Alou Dillon

Aaron Fiegen

Noah Freidel

Brandon Key

Owen King

Baylor Scheierman

David Wingett

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South Dakota State University Athletics