Jackrabbit men host UNK Friday

Friday, December 13

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Nebraska-Kearney

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Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

12/12/2019 11:49:00 AM | Men's Basketball

GAME 13: South Dakota State (6-6) vs. Nebraska-Kearney (4-4)

When	Friday, Dec. 13 \| 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	Jackrabbits All-Access
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook

Previewing the Game
Jackrabbit basketball returns to Frost Arena after a three-game road swing, hosting Nebraska-Kearney Friday. Tipoff in Brookings is set for 7 p.m. on Junior Jacks Day.

Friday's game sponsor is Shur-Co, and halftime will include a performance from campers at last week's Junior Jacks Men's Basketball Clinic. Additionally, SDSU will host one of several Greek Nights during Friday's action.

The Jackrabbits, under the direction of first-year head coach Eric Henderson, are 5-0 at home this season and are looking to snap a three-game streak that saw the Jackrabbits fall to Indiana, Montana State and Colorado State on the road over the last two weeks.

Nebraska-Kearney (4-4) will play today's game as an exhibition. The Lopers dropped a 78-68 contest at Emporia State their last time out, opening MIAA (NCAA Division II) conference play with a 1-1 mark so far.

This is the first meeting between the schools since 2003, when the Lopers claimed an 86-85 victory at the NCAA Division II Central Regional Tournament. The Jackrabbits are 2-2 all-time against Nebraska-Kearney.

About South Dakota State
The Jackrabbit men's basketball team will wrap up their 2019-20 nonleague slate at home over the next two weeks, two wins away from securing a winning record in the first half of the season. Growth and competition have been on display throughout the first 12 games, as new head coach Eric Henderson blends seven newcomers and nine underclassman into a roster with six returning letterwinners.

The fresh look has seen the Jackrabbits shoot 44.8 percent field with 79 3-pointers. SDSU has sank 175 of its 246 charity stripe attempts and is 6-1 in games where it shoots more free throws than its opponent.

Douglas Wilson has reached double figures in 10 of 12 contests this season with three double-doubles. The Des Moines, Iowa native leads the team with 16.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, ranking fourth in the Summit League in scoring average. The two-time NJCAA All-American and 2018-19 NJCAA Player of the Year is shooting 60 percent from the field and 66.1 percent at the line.

Brandon Key (10.3 points per game) has been electric at the point, posting six double-digit scoring performances on the season with 53 assists (4.4 per game). He has a 1.43 assist-to-turnover ratio and is back for the Jackrabbits after redshirting a year ago. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin native had 112 assists in 2017-18.

Matt Dentlinger has turned in a pair of double-doubles, most recently in a 17-point, 11-rebound performance against North Alabama. Dentlinger is third on the team with 9.8 points and second at 5.9 rebounds per game. He has sunk 46-of-79 (58.2 percent) from the field, including a run of 13 consecutive makes between the Arizona, Mississippi Valley State and Samford contests (going 8-for-8 against MVSU).

Alex Arians (24.3 minutes per game) and Noah Freidel (23.5 minutes per game) join the three Jackrabbits above as every-game starters.

Arians' 6.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game provide a steady-presence in the three-spot, tallying 10 points the last time out at Colorado State.

Freidel, the 2019 Argus Leader Class A Player of the Year, currently sits fourth on the team in scoring (7.5 points per game) and first in made 3-pointers (19). He has reached double figures in five games, burying five 3-pointers in a win over Samford with a 20-point effort.

Baylor Scheierman, David Wingett and Tray Buchanan have been the top three options off the bench for SDSU.

Wingett (7.3 ppg) has 18 3-pointers and 10 steals, second on the team in swipes behind Brandon Key's 13.

Buchanan is sixth in scoring after two 15-point games in the last three games, tallying a 7.1 per game scoring average with a .551 field goal percentage.

Scheierman has played 19.3 minutes per game in his first collegiate season, dishing 19 assists with 79 points (6.6 per game). The Aurora, Nebraska native has also pulled down 4.4 rebounds per contest and hit eight 3-pointers.

About Nebraska-Kearney
Nebraska-Kearney takes a break from MIAA play this week to come to Brookings. The Lopers have picked up just one road victory this season, going 1-2 in games away from Kearney, Nebraska.

UNK is minus-one in scoring margin and minus-0.2 in rebounding margin through eight games in 2019-20, averaging 71.4 points and 31.8 boards per game as a team.

Morgan Soucie (14.4 points per game) and Jake Walker (11.6 points per game) are the top scorers for the Lopers. Soucie has shot 51.6 percent from the field with a team-high 21 assists, and Walker has buried 19 3-pointers.

Kyle Juhl (9.3 ppg) leads the team in rebounding at 6.6 per contest, while AJ Jackson is fourth on the team in scoring at 9.2 points per game, adding a team-high five blocks down low.

Kevin Lofton is in his fifth season as head coach of the Lopers, holding a 71-58 record at the helm.

A South Dakota State Win Would ...
Make SDSU 7-6 on the year, 3-2 all-time against Nebraska-Kearney and snap a three-game losing skid ... move SDSU to 6-0 at home with 14 consecutive wins at Frost Arena ... give State a 1,542-1,046-1 program mark.

A South Dakota State Loss Would ...
Deal the Jackrabbits their fourth-straight loss and move the team to 6-7 on the year ... snap a 13-game home winning streak and put the Jacks at 5-1 inside Frost this year... make SDSU 2-3 all-time against Nebraska-Kearney ... give the Jacks a 1,541-1,047-1 program mark.

SDSU Adjusts Dec. 21 Schedule
South Dakota State men's basketball has announced a time change for its Dec. 21 contest against Idaho. Originally scheduled for 7 p.m., both teams have agreed to shift tip time to noon at Frost Arena.

The move accommodates holiday travel for both programs and respective student-athletes.

Wilson Honored by Summit League
Douglas Wilson was selected as the Summit League's Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week, announced Nov. 11.

Wilson posted a monster debut week for the Jackrabbits, averaging 21 points and 8.7 rebounds per contest with a trio of double-figure scoring performances. Wilson helped SDSU to a 3-0 record to begin the year, scoring 24, 13 and 26 against UTRGV, Peru State and CSU Bakersfield, respectively. Wilson tallied his first-career double-double in the win over CSU Bakersfield with a game-high 13 rebounds.

New Faces, New Roles
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 sixth-lowest nationally, and the 16.9 percent back is the third-lowest margin (according to available records).

#FearFrost

The Jacks own a 108-6 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. That span includes two home winning streaks of 30 or more games and three of 25 or more.
The Jackrabbits' current home winning streak of 13 games is seventh longest in NCAA Division I.
Since 2011-12, South Dakota State has won 94.7 percent of its home games, a mark that top all Division I programs in that span. 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

SDSU is second nationally with 477 rebounds on the year.
The Jackrabbits sit 13th in free throw attempts and 14th in charity stripe makes through Dec. 12.
Douglas Wilson is 15th nationally with 78 field goals this season, ranking 35th in field goal percentage.
South Dakota State has played five games against opponents this year it had not previously met.
The Jackrabbits held Mississippi Valley State to 17 first-half points on Nov. 24, 2019. That is the fewest since South Dakota State held Chadron State to 12 first-half points on Nov. 24, 2014.
SDSU's 93-91 victory over CSU Bakersfield saw five Jackrabbits reach double figures for the first time in 2019-20. The feat last happened Jan. 31, 2019 against Oral Roberts.
State posted back-to-back 50-rebound games to open the season. The last time an SDSU program had 50-plus rebounds in consecutive games was Dec. 15 and 27, 2002 against Finlandia (60) and Fort Lewis (58). The Jacks also had three-straight games with 50-plus rebounds that season: Nov. 23, 29 and 30.
Douglas Wilson's 24 points on Nov. 5 are the most in a Jackrabbit debut dating back to 2000-01, when game-by-game statistics were readily available.
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. The Jacks have accomplished the feat four times this year and are 3-1 in those contests, with the lone loss coming at Indiana.
At least one Jackrabbit has scored in double figures over the last 386 games dating back to Jan. 12, 2008 at IUPUI when Anthony Cordova had nine points to lead the Jacks.
State has made at least one 3-pointer in 416 consecutive games. The last time the Jackrabbits did not make a 3-point field goal was Jan. 25, 2007
SDSU is 94-18 all-time in home openers (where records available). Dating back to 2004-05, SDSU's first year of DI transition, SDSU is 12-4 in those games.
SDSU is 75-39 in season-openers all-time. The Jacks are 8-8 in season-opening games at the Division I level.

State Adds Two on National Signing Day
South Dakota State men's basketball announced a pair of signees on National Signing Day, with William Mfum and Noah King set to join the Jackrabbits in fall 2020.

William Mfum enters his senior campaign at Spring Creek Academy (Plano, Texas) on a high note, earning All-Texas Christian Athletic League and All-City First Team honors as a junior. Mfum averaged 19.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in 2018-19, burying 34 3-pointers and hitting 47 percent from the field. The 6-2 guard scored 20 or more points in nine games a year ago and had one double-double. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Mfum is the son of Stella Nyarko and Seth Adjei and plans to major in business management.

Noah King averaged 19 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game as a junior, helping his team reach the section 1AA semifinals. The 6-2 guard has scored over 1,900 points in his prep career and is closing in on the school's all-time scoring record. King also led Caledonia's football team to a state championship in 2018 and will compete in the 2019 Class 2A Minnesota State Football Semifinals next week. The younger brother of current Jackrabbit Owen King, Noah hails from Caledonia, Minnesota and is the son of Brad and Susan King. He is undecided on his major.

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 sent SDSU to face CSU Bakersfield Nov. 9, where the Jacks claimed a 93-91 double-overtime win.

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; L, 74-85), Eastern Washington (away; W, 74-64)
2019-20: Idaho (home), Montana State (away; L, 70-77)
2020-21: Eastern Washington (home), Montana (away)
2021-22: Montana State (home), Idaho (away)

Tough Tests
South Dakota State played four Power Five (ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, PAC-12) opponents in the 2019-20 nonleague season, facing USC, Nebraska, Arizona and Indiana in November. Though the Jacks went winless in those games, they led for a majority of the contest at Arizona, and held Indiana (a top-10 scoring offense) to a season-low 64 points.

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 in October.

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

Jackrabbits' Last Time Out
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- South Dakota State men's basketball was dealt a heartbreaker Tuesday evening at Colorado State, falling 72-68 in a tightly-contest matchup at Moby Arena.

The Jackrabbits and Rams traded punches throughout the game with 10 ties and 15 lead changes, including two inside the final minute of action. Matt Dentlinger's putback layup sent SDSU ahead, 68-67 with 45 seconds to go, but a CSU 3-pointer at 17 seconds flipped the script for good.

Douglas Wilson led the Jackrabbit offense with 15 points, going 7-of-10 from the field alongside five rebounds. Noah Freidel (12 points) and Alex Arians (10 points) were in double-figure scoring as well.

Freidel matched Dentlinger (nine points) for the team-lead with six boards each.

Brandon Key dished six assists in the game, as SDSU shot 43.3 percent from the field with a 7-of-23 effort from beyond the arc.

Both teams held five-point leads in the opening half, but it was Colorado State that held a 31-30 edge at halftime.

The Rams kept the momentum early in the second, coming out of the locker room with a 9-2 run before the Jackrabbits answered with a 7-0 burst of its own, climbing back to 40-39 with 15:35 to play. The teams settled into a back-and-forth game from there.

All square at 61 near the five-minute mark, Alex Arians sank a pair of free throws to start SDSU on a scoring run of five-straight, but the Rams answered down the stretch to defend home court.

Opponent Last Time Out
Kearney, Neb. – The Emporia State men's basketball team made 17 free throws and got 42 bench points to defeat Nebraska-Kearney, 78-68, Thursday night in Kansas.

This was the MIAA opener for the Hornets (6-3) while the Lopers (4-4) were coming off a Tuesday night home win Fort Hays State. Since joining the MIAA in 2012, UNK is now 0-6 in White Auditorium.

E-State led for most of the way and by as many as 13 points. UNK made nine triples, had only eight turnovers and was just minus two on the glass to hang around. However the Hornets never let Kearney make a big move in the second half.

Six-nine, 240 pound freshman reserve center Mason Thiessen made 6 of 7 shots, including a 4 of 4 effort from behind the arc, to score 16 points. He came in 2 of 12 from three-point land. Not to be outdone, junior reserve guard Justin Williams had 12 points, five boards and four times in 25 minutes with junior starter Jumah'Ri Turner had 19 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

Kansas senior forward Morgan Soucie made 6 of 14 shots to tally a team-high 14 points for UNK. Iowa senior Kyle Juhl and Texas senior Chase Winchester both tallied 10 as they combined for five made threes with Bellevue redshirt freshman Cedric Johnson going 3 of 3 from the field to tally nine.

UNK is now off until next Friday when the face Division I South Dakota State. That'll be a exhibition game for the Lopers and a countable contest for the Jackrabbits.

-GoJacks.com-