Men begin Summit League Tournament Saturday

GAME 32: No. 2 seed South Dakota State (22-9) vs. No. 7 seed Purdue Fort Wayne (13-18)

When	Saturday, March 7 \| 8:30 p.m.
Where	Denny Sanford PREMIER Center \| Sioux Falls, S.D.
Live Audio / Radio	Jackrabbits All-Access \| Jackrabbit Sports Network I WNAX 570 AM \| Tyler Merriam
Television / Live Video	Midco Sports Network \| ESPN+ \| Tom Nieman, Brad Newitt & Elaina Lanson
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook

Previewing the Game
No. 2 seed South Dakota State begins the 2020 Summit League Championships with a quarterfinal showdown against No. 7 seed Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday. Tipoff from the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls is set for 8:30 p.m.

The Jackrabbits (22-9) clinched a share of their third-straight Summit League regular season title with a 13-3 league mark and are the second seed due to league tiebreakers against North Dakota State.

SDSU is three wins away from their sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament and seventh 25-win season.

Purdue Fort Wayne (13-18) dropped a 72-66 contest at Oral Roberts in its season finale to finish the league slate at 6-10.

The Jackrabbits lead the all-time series with Purdue Fort Wayne, 21-13, and have claimed three consecutive wins against the Mastodons. SDSU defeated the 'Dons in Fort Wayne, Indiana in January, 70-61, and at home on Feb. 16, 75-64.

Summit League Championship Outlook
South Dakota State is 20-6 all-time at The Summit League Tournament and has claimed five titles. SDSU and North Dakota State are the only teams to win titles in the last eight years.

The Jacks have been seeded second twice before, earning trips to the NCAA Tournament both of those years (2012 and 2016). SDSU is 6-0 as the No. 2 seed.

The winner of Saturday's game will face either No. 6 seed South Dakota or No. 6 seed North Dakota in Monday's semifinals at 8:30 p.m. The Coyotes and Fighting Hawks play Sunday at 8:30 p.m.

North Dakota State and Denver will face off in the 1 vs. 8 game in the other Saturday quarterfinal, and fourth-seeded Oral Roberts is set to take on fifth-seeded Omaha Sunday night.

The winner of those games will face off at 6 p.m. Monday.

All quarterfinal and semifinal games air on Midco Sports Network with an ESPN+ simulcast.

Tuesday's championship game is set for 8 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN2 and available through WatchESPN.

The Summit League Championships bracket can be found on page 11 of the game notes.

About South Dakota State
The Jackrabbits average 78 points per game on the season and shot 50 percent or better in 14 of 16 league contests this year. Plus-10 in scoring margin for the league season, SDSU is shooting 49.3 percent from the field, 34.8 percent from deep and 70.5 percent at the free throw stripe.

Defensively, SDSU has limited opponents to 70.3 points per game while holding teams under 60 in seven contests. The Jackrabbits have allowed 80 more points in just three league games this year.

2020 Summit League Player of the Year Douglas Wilson leads the team with 18.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while pacing the Summit League in field goal makes (223). The Des Moines, Iowa native has tallied double figures in 27 of 29 appearances on the year and scored 20 or more in 12 contests. He shot 64.1 percent from the field in league play (second in the Summit League behind Dentlinger) and twice dropped 31 points on a league opponent.

The two-time NJCAA All-American and 2018-19 NJCAA Player of the Year shot above 60 percent in all but three league appearances and was twice named the league's Player of the Week this season.

Matt Dentlinger shot a league-best 69.7 percent against Summit League teams while averaging 12.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game for the year. From Arcadia, Iowa, Dentlinger has scored 10 or more in 18 games, and 20-plus against three league opponents.

The 6-8 big man is third on the team with 58 assists, dishing three or more per game out of the paint on 12 occasions.

Noah Freidel, the league's Freshman of the Year, broke into double figures last month and has been on a tear offensively, raising his season average to 11.4 points per game. The Tea, South Dakota native posted 11 double-figure scoring performances in league play with six 20-plus efforts and buried three or more 3-pointers in eight contests this year. He leads the team with 59 triples on the year.

The Tea native and 2019 Argus Leader South Dakota Class A High School Player of the Year averaged 15.3 points in league action and proved himself as an effective closer, posting double-digit second half scoring tallies in wins against Oral Roberts (16 and 13), Denver (16), North Dakota (17) and South Dakota (21).

Alex Arians is one of two Jackrabbits to start all 31 games and sits fourth in scoring at 8.9 points per game. He is third in rebounds (5.7 per contest) and has 25 steals, 58 assists and 37 3-pointers. The Madison, Wisconsin guard has scored 10 or more in 13 games and leads the team with 25 steals.

David Wingett (8.5 points per game) has started the last 17 contests and is second on the team with 57 3-pointers. He has buried three or more from deep in eight games.

Baylor Scheierman, who earned his first career start at South Dakota, has 19 3-pointers and 70 assists in his first collegiate season, averaging 6.0 points over 20.2 minutes per contest. The Aurora, Nebraska guard has also pulled down 4.6 boards on average, helping SDSU to a plus-4.5 rebounding margin at 38.3 boards per contest.

About the Mastodons
The Mastodons average 68.6 points per game and are shooting 43.1 percent as a team. On the boards, Purdue Fort Wayne is plus-2.2 in rebounding margin at 35.5 boards per game.

Defensively, the 'Dons have allowed opponents to score 70.1 points per game, shoot 44.9 percent from the field and bury eight 3-pointers per contest.

Jarred Godfrey and Brian Patrick lead the offense with 15.8 and 11.3 scoring averages. Godfrey (44.8 percent, 54 3-pointers) and Patrick (44.1 percent, 49 3-pointers) both shoot near the 45 percent mark from the field and join Matt Holba (57 3-pointers) as the top long-range threats for Purdue Fort Wayne.

Holba sits third on the team in scoring overall (8.9 points per game), just ahead of Deonte Billups' 8.6 scoring mark. Dylan Carl, the other primary starter for Purdue Fort Wayne, is averaging 6.8 points, a team-high 4.9 rebounds per game and has 26 blocks with 24 steals.

The Mastodon defense overall has come up with 226 steals on the season, with eight players tallying 20 or more swipes.

Jon Coffman is in his sixth season leading Purdue Fort Wayne and holds a 109-84 record on the bench.

A South Dakota State Win Would ...
Move the Jacks to 23-9 on the season and send SDSU to the Summit League semifinals for the 10th time ... move the Jacks to 22-13 all-time against Purdue Fort Wayne and give SDSU four consecutive wins in the series ... give the Jackrabbits a 1,558-1,049-1 program mark.

A South Dakota State Loss Would ...
Had State its 10th loss of the season and end the Jackrabbits' Summit League Tournament run ... give South Dakota State a 1,557-1,050-1 program mark.

Jackrabbits Honored by Summit League
Douglas Wilson, Matt Dentlinger and Noah Freidel were recognized as All-Summit League performers for the 2019-20 season, announced March 5 by the league office.

Wilson earned Summit League Player and Newcomer of the Year honors with first team recognition, Freidel was tabbed as the Freshman of the Year as an honorable mention all-league pick and Dentlinger was picked to the All-Summit League Second Team.

Head coach Eric Henderson earned Summit League Coach of the Year honors in his first season at the helm, while Wilson and Freidel were also named to the league's All-Newcomer squad.

Wilson is the third Jackrabbit to earn Player of the Year (Nate Wolters – 2013, Mike Daum – 2017-19) and Newcomer of the Year (Deondre Parks – 2015, Mike Daum – 2016) honors.
Freidel is the third Freshman of the Year to wear the yellow and blue, joining Mike Daum (2016) and David Jenkins (2017).

South Dakota State now has 29 all-league team selections since joining the Summit League in 2007-08.

Peaking at the Right Time
Though the Jackrabbits put together a successful nonconference season to start the 2020 season off on the right foot, SDSU's play saw a noticeable uptick across several statistical areas during league play.

After sinking just 103 3-pointers through 15 nonleague games (at a clip of 30.4 percent), the Jackrabbits went 123 of 310 from deep in 16 league games with a long range shooting percentage of 39.7 percent. Additionally, four players had 15 or more 3s in that span.
SDSU was more selective of shots in league play, leading to an increase of 7.3 points per game (74.3 to 81.6). With that, the Jacks shot 53 percent in league games compared to a .453 rate in the first 15 contests of 2019-20.
In line with better shot selection, SDSU has seen an uptick in assists per game (13.5 to 15.3) and a decrease in turnovers per contest (14.1 to 12.0).
After averaging 7.3 points per game in nonleague play, Noah Freidel and Alex Arians have posted scoring averages of 15.3 and 10.4, respectively, in the last 16 contests.
Freidel (37 3s), David Wingett (30 3-pointers), Arians (24 3s) and Matt Mims (15 3-pointers) have lit up the nets from deep against Summit League opponents.

Sustained Success; Youth Movement
The Jackrabbits have won more games in the past three seasons than any other Summit League program. The 2017-18 and 2018-19 success was fueled by experienced squads and all-time great scorers, but the 2019-20 team has filled Frost Arena with a youthful energy.

The Jackrabbits have gone 74-25 (40-6 Summit League) dating back to the 2017-18 season. Those win totals are double-digits higher than any other team.

SDSU sits as the 343rd youngest team out of 353 NCAA Division I teams in KenPom's experience rankings. The experience value is based on a player's eligibility (freshmen have zero years, sophomores have one year, etc.), and players who appear in less than 10 percent of their team's minutes are not included in the calculations.

In addition to the team's KenPom youth ranking, the Jackrabbits returned just 16.9 percent of their scoring from 2018-19. SDSU's 15.8 points per game returning was sixth-lowest, and the 16.9 percent mark was third-lowest (according to available records).

Dentlinger named Academic All-District
South Dakota State's Matt Dentlinger was named to the 2019-20 CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 Men's Basketball Team mid-February.

A sophomore forward from Arcadia, Iowa, Dentlinger has compiled a 4.00 grade point average in mechanical engineering. He is a junior academically after redshirting the 2017-18 season.
Dentlinger will advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team (if applicable) Academic All-America® honorees will be announced between March 9-12.

Selections to the Academic All-District 6 Basketball Team were based upon a vote of sports information directors in Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Candidates must be at least a sophomore in athletic and academic standing, a starter or key reserve on his team and carry at least a 3.3 GPA.

Jackrabbits Claim League Weekly Awards
South Dakota State has picked up three Summit League Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week awards this season.

Douglas Wilson (Nov. 11) – Wilson posted a monster debut week for the Jacks, averaging 21 points and 8.7 rebounds over three double-figure scoring performances (and Jackrabbit wins). Wilson scored 24, 13 and 26 against UTRGV, Peru State and CSU Bakersfield.
Matt Dentlinger (Feb. 17) – Dentlinger had two double-doubles in a pair of Jackrabbit wins. He had 22 points with 11 rebounds against Denver, then scored 18 and grabbed 10 boards against Purdue Fort Wayne. Dentlinger also swatted a career-high five blocks in the win over the 'Dons.
Douglas Wilson (Feb. 24) -- Wilson averaged 25.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in a pair of Jackrabbit victories. He scored 31 points and had six rebounds against North Dakota, shooting 14 of 17 from the field to go with four assists. Wilson added 20 points and seven rebounds in an 85-80 win over South Dakota.

Trending Positive
The Jackrabbits have seen two trends develop through the 2019-20 season tied to free throws and rebounds.

The Jackrabbits are 18-1 in games where they attempt more free throws than their opponent, and 4-8 in the 12 games where opponents have attempt more at the charity stripe.
South Dakota State is 19-1 when out-performing (or tying) opponents on the boards and are just 3-8 when opponents out-rebound the Jackrabbits.

#FearFrost

The Jacks own a 119-6 record at Frost Arena over the last nine seasons dating back to 2011-12, which includes perfect home records in five seasons during that span, which includes two home winning streaks of 30 or more games and three of 25 or more.
SDSU's .958 home winning percentage over the past five years (back to 2015-16) is also the nation's best mark in that span.
The Jackrabbits' current home winning streak of 24 games is the third-longest active in NCAA Division I. Gonzaga leads the nation with 39 straight home wins, while Prairie View A&M is just ahead of the Jacks with 26 straight at home. Florida State (22), Liberty (21), Murray State (21) and Oregon (20) are next on the list.
Since 2011-12, South Dakota State has won 95.2 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 posted its sixth undefeated record inside Frost Arena over the last 10 years this season, going 16-0 at home. The Jackrabbits were also undefeated at Frost Arena in 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). Six perfect home records in the last 10 years is the most in the nation.

Quick Hits

SDSU has held opponents under 70 points 15 times this season, posting a 14-1 record in those games. The lone loss in 2019-20 came at Indiana, where the Jacks held the Hoosiers to a season-low in points. The Jackrabbits went 13-0 when holding opponents under 70 last season (11-9 when not) and were 12-0 in those games during the 2017-18 season.
The Jackrabbits have trailed for less than one minute in seven games this season, including three straight to end nonleague play. State did not trail against Purdue Fort Wayne (1/11) or North Dakota State (1/22) in league play.
SDSU has held opponents to single-digit free throw attempts six times this season, including back-to-back games against Nebraska-Kearney (four attempts) and Florida Gulf Coast (eight attempts).
10 different Jackrabbits (out of 13 available on the roster) have posted double-digit scoring performances this season.
Five Jackrabbits have scored in double figures three times this season: at CSU Bakersfield, versus Western Illinois and at Denver.
Douglas Wilson led the team in points (25), rebounds (10), steals (two) and blocks (four), and was tied for the lead in assists (four) against Oral Roberts Jan. 2.
Noah Freidel led the team in points (22), assists (six) and steals (two) and was tied for the lead in rebounds (seven) at Oral Roberts Jan. 29.
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 (2002): 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.
At least one Jackrabbit has scored in double figures over the last 405 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 435 consecutive games. The last time the Jackrabbits did not make a 3-point field goal was Jan. 25, 2007
South Dakota State is 94-18 all-time in home openers (where records available). Dating back to 2004-05, SDSU's first year of DI transition, the Jacks are 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. The Jackrabbits are 7-6 in Summit League openers.

Jackrabbits Featured on All-Decade Teams
Former Jackrabbits Mike Daum and Nate Wolters were featured on All-Decade Teams, announced Dec. 31 as 2019 came to an end.

CollegeInsider.com featured Daum and Wolters on the Lou Henson Award team, while Daum also earned Lute Olson Award All-Decade team honors from the organization.

Mid-Major Madness also tabbed Daum as one of 10 selections to its all-decade squad.

Daum posted a 22.4 career scoring average and poured in 3,067 points, closing his time as Division I's No. 7 all-time scorer. He was a 2018-19 consensus All-American and a three-time Summit League Player of the Year.

Wolters wreaked havoc on defenses and closed his career with 2,352 points, 668 assists and 601 rebounds. He was a two-time Associated Press All-American, earning third-team honors as a senior, and picked up a second team NABC All-American nod in 2013.

Mfum Enrolls Early; Will Redshirt
Jackrabbit men's basketball signee William Mfum has enrolled at South Dakota State for the spring 2020 semester and will redshirt with the team. He is eligible to practice throughout the semester, and will look to make his debut in the 2020-21 season.

William Mfum graduated in December from Spring Creek Academy (Plano, Texas). Mfum will redshirt this semester and practice with the team after leaving Spring Creek 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.

Jackrabbits in Two Scheduling Agreements
Summit League teams are in year two of scheduling agreements with the Western Athletic Conference and Big Sky, and this year claimed a 5-3 win in the WAC series.

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; W, 85-57), Montana State (away; L, 70-77)
2020-21: Eastern Washington (home), Montana (away)
2021-22: Montana State (home), Idaho (away)

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 Jackrabbits secured a tie for first-place in the Summit League standings at the end of the year, finishing five spots higher than where they were picked.

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

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.

Jackrabbits' Last Time Out
FARGO, N.D. -- South Dakota State saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end Thursday at North Dakota State, falling 71-69 in overtime.

The Jackrabbits end their regular season at 22-9 overall and 13-3 in Summit League play, and will await tournament seeding through the weekend.

Noah Freidel poured in 23 for the Jackrabbits, adding a team-high eight rebounds over 39 minutes.

Matt Dentlinger added 20 points with a 10-of-14 effort from the field, while Brandon Key finished just shy of double figures at nine points.

Baylor Scheierman dished five assists to go with seven boards, while Dentlinger was third on the team with six rebounds.

Down 12-8, a Dentlinger layup at 13:40 sparked the Jacks on a 16-3 run that pushed them up eight (21-13). The Bison came roaring back, however, with a 16-2 run to take back the lead midway through the half. The Jackrabbits worked through the cold spell offensively and kept things close, as a Freidel triple with three seconds left in the half sent the visitors to the locker room down one, 31-30.

South Dakota State opened the second with a 10-2 run to jump in front, 40-33, but saw the Bison chip away at the deficit until a Vinnie Shahid layup at 2:54 made it 56-55 in NDSU's favor, setting the stage for a tight finish in the Scheels Center.

Tied at 58 inside the final minute after a Brandon Key 3-point play, and again at 60 after Dentlinger's two-handed slam, the Jackrabbits locked down defensively on the final possession and the team's headed for overtime.

SDSU and NDSU continued to trade punches in overtime, with five lead changes in the extra time. Down 68-66 after a Tyson Ward jumper, the Jackrabbits answered with a Freidel corner 3 to briefly regain control, but the Bison closed the game with three straight points to defend home court.

Opponent Last Time Out
TULSA, Okla. – Purdue Fort Wayne men's basketball fell 72-66 on Saturday (Feb. 29) evening to Oral Roberts at the Mabee Center in the Mastodons' final Summit League contest in program history.

Jarred Godfrey led the Mastodons with 21 points, eight rebounds, four steals and four assists. DeMierre Black pitched in 12 points.

The first half saw seven lead changes and four ties. The 'Dons were up by one with under a minute left in the half when the Golden Eagles scored five straight to close the half. ORU then made a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute of the second half to take a 41-31 lead. ORU grew their advantage to as many as 14 before the 'Dons cut it to five points at 60-55 with 6:20 left on a 3-pointer by Matt Holba.

Down six with less than two minutes left, Holba made a pair of free throws and then Godfrey followed with a layup at the 1:07 mark to make the score 68-66. ORU asked for time and out of the break Godfrey came away with a steal after a scrum for a loose ball in the paint. The 'Dons brought the ball up the court and asked for time with 32 seconds left. Purdue Fort Wayne drew up a play for Godfrey and while he earned a good look at a 3-pointer, his shot was off the mark. A pair of Deondre Burns free throws and a Emmanuel Nzekwesi dunk followed to give ORU their six-point win.

Max Abrams had a game-high 23 points for the Golden Eagles. Oral Roberts shot 50.2 percent (29-of-57) in the contest while Purdue Fort Wayne finished at 42.6 percent (26-of-61).

The 'Dons limited an Oral Roberts team that scored 113 points on Thursday against Western Illinois to more than 40 points fewer on Saturday. Cameron Benford played 25 minutes, scoring eight points while adding eight rebounds and two blocks.

Last Matchup: SDSU vs Purdue Fort Wayne (2/16/20)
The South Dakota State men's basketball team turned in a dominant second half performance Sunday afternoon during its 23rd straight win inside Frost Arena, topping Purdue Fort Wayne 75-64.

Facing a double-digit deficit for much of the first half, South Dakota State opened the second with 12 unanswered as the foundation of a larger 40-7 run. All told, the Jacks outscored the 'Dons by 23 over the final 20 minutes to flip the script and defend home court.

SDSU is now 20-8 overall and 11-2 in Summit League play, claiming sole possession of first-place in the league standings.

Matt Dentlinger led the way with his fifth double-double of the season, pulling down 10 rebounds to go with 18 points. Dentlinger buried all eight of his field goal attempts and both free throw efforts, and set a new career-high with five blocks.

Douglas Wilson added 17 on 7-of-8 shooting, while David Wingett had 14 points with a trio of 3-pointers. Both Jackrabbits have five rebounds, sitting third on the team in boards behind Baylor Scheierman (six rebounds, nine points) and Dentlinger.

The Mastodons used a 12-0 run of their own in the game's opening moments to take control early, and with 13:36 on the clock, went ahead 14-4. Transition dunks from Wilson and corner 3s from Wingett and Scheierman came during brief Jackrabbit scoring spurts, but South Dakota State went into the locker room trailing, 36-26.

"(Purdue Fort Wayne) had a great deal of energy to start the game," head coach Eric Henderson said. "Our first half wasn't very pretty, but our second half was pretty special. In the first 12 minutes I think we outscored them 40-7. And the most important number is that seven because it created the 40. I'm really proud of our guy's ability to bounce back and play a great second half.

"Things weren't going in a good direction and we knew we needed stops to get in a flow offensively. Our defense led to some easy baskets and got our crowd going, and when that happens we start to feel pretty confident," he said.

Jackrabbit spurts of 12, 15, six and seven unanswered filled the first 12 minutes of SDSU's second half play-by-play as SDSU pushed its lead over 20 for the first time on Wingett's free throws at 8:38 during the final run.

-GoJacks.com-

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Alex Arians

Mike Daum

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Willie Mfum

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Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Mayville State (Exhibition) on October 29, 2025 at 8:30 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Merrimack on November 3, 2025 at 8 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Dakota State on November 6, 2025 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Northern Iowa on November 9, 2025 at 1 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Oregon on November 12, 2025 at 8:30 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Peru State on November 17, 2025 at 7 p.m.

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus North Dakota on March 7, 2025 , Loss , 69, to, 85

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Denver on March 1, 2025 , Loss , 62, to, 78

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Oral Roberts on February 27, 2025 , Win , 77, to, 69

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Kansas City on February 23, 2025 , Win , 70, to, 65

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus North Dakota State on February 19, 2025 , Loss , 68, to, 77

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at South Dakota on February 16, 2025 , Win , 94, to, 91

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