South Dakota State used a lethal combination of inside and outside shooting, defeating Western Illinois 92-63 Saturday night in Frost Arena.
The Jackrabbits (8-3, 2-0 Summit League) shot 53 percent overall, 31-of-58, and hit 11 of 21 3-pointers (52 percent) to claim their third win of the week.
Noah Freidel collected 25 points and tied his career high with eight rebounds to lead an SDSU offensive attack that saw five score in double figures.
"When we get stops and get that ball moving up the floor pretty quick, we can score at a pretty high level," head coach
Eric Henderson said. "I thought in the second half we were able to do that, get shots and secure first-shot rebounds, and then we were able to get out and go offensively."
The game was tight early, as the teams exchanged the lead seven times along with seven ties, the final at 35-all in the final minute of the opening half.
Freidel broke the deadlock with a pair of free throws, then rolled in a straight-on triple to send the Jacks into the locker room with a 40-35 halftime lead.
It took the first seven minutes of the second half until State finally started to shake the Leathernecks. SDSU embarked on a 14-0 run, highlighted by six points from
Douglas Wilson and five more from Freidel, to build a 64-45 edge with 9:52 to play.
A minute later, the Jacks started an 11-0 spurt, bookended by a pair of
Baylor Scheierman jumpers that removed any doubt of the result.
Scheierman recorded his sixth double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds. Wilson posted 14 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes, while
David Wingett (15) and
Alex Arians (11) also cracked double digits in the scoring column.
Tamell Pearson scored 13 points and Adam Anhold added 11 points and seven rebounds for Western Illinois (2-9, 0-4)
Notes
- SDSU extended its home court win streak to 26 games and won its 30th straight conference home game.
- Freidel (5) and Wingett (4) both made season highs for 3-pointers.
- SDSU ended the game by making 14 of its last 15 field goal attempts.
- Freidel scored all 25 points during his final 18 minutes, after not scoring in his first 11.
- The Jacks are one of three undefeated teams in Summit League play
Up Next
South Dakota State is scheduled to play at Omaha Jan. 15-16. Each game is slated for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena in Omaha.
-GoJacks.com-