Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Mayville State (Exhibition) on October 29, 2025 at 8:30 p.m.
/
8:30 p.m.
Men's Basketball
vs Mayville State (Exhibition)
South Dakota State University Athletics
Saturday, March 6
5:45 PM
South Dakota State University
vs
Omaha
Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia
JACKS MEET OMAHA IN TOURNEY OPENER
3/4/2021 9:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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South Dakota State
    The Jackrabbits have their sights set on a return trip to the NCAA Tournament as play begins Saturday in the Summit League Championship at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
    No. 1 seed South Dakota State plays eighth-seeded Omaha at 5:45 p.m. Saturday in the opening round. The two teams did not play during the regular season, as the games set for mid-January in Omaha were canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
    SDSU has won at least a share of the Summit League regular season title in seven of the last nine seasons. This year marks the fifth time in that stretch that the Jacks have secured the top seed in the tournament.
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Omaha
    The Mavericks earned their way into the Summit League Championship last weekend, sweeping Denver by identical scores of 80-76. Omaha started league play 0-10, but won three of its final four, including the two at Denver to earn its way into the field.
    The Mavs been besieged by injuries this year, causing head coach Derrin Hansen to start 10 different players.
    Omaha's leader is 6-foot-8 senior post Matt Pile. The Wichita, Kan., native has terrorized the Summit League since his arrival in the fall of 2017.
    The reigning defensive player of the year in the conference, Pile ranks sixth among active Division I players with 913 career rebounds. His 1,173 points are the eighth-most by an Omaha player since it moved to Division I.
    Pile and Ayo Akinwole are the only two Mavericks to start all 23 games. A 6-foot senior guard from Papillion, Neb., Akinwole scored 12.3 points per game while shooting 45 percent from 3-point range (35-of-77). He scored 49 points in Omaha's two-game sweep at Denver.
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The Series
    Saturday will be the 95th time SDSU and Omaha have met in men's basketball, with the Jackrabbits owning a 60-34 advantage.
    The series began on Jan. 21, 1920, when the Jackrabbits outfoxed the Mavericks 22-10 in Brookings in a contest that was not televised.
    SDSU and Omaha split two games last year, each winning at home. The Mavs began league play with a 81-78 win on Dec. 29, 2019. The Jacks gained a measure of revenge with an 81-64 victory on Feb. 8, 2020.
    The Jacks and Mavericks were scheduled to play Jan. 15 & 16 in Omaha, but the two games were canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
    The two schools have met once in this setting - Mar. 7, 2017, when SDSU outlasted Omaha 79-77 in the championship game to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
3-Point Shooting
    The Jacks have been ringing the bell from long range this season.
    SDSU has made 40.2 percent of its 3-point attempts. State's efficiency from beyond the arc is the second best in Division I.
    Seven times the Jackrabbits have made at least half of their 3-pointers in a game.
    Additionally, SDSU had made 10 or more triples on six occasions.
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Being Offensive
    In addition to ranking second nationally in 3-point percentage, the Jacks are 15th in overall field goal percentage (49.6 percent) and rank 28th in Division I in scoring offense, racking up 79.9 points per game.
    During conference play the Jackrabbits led the league in scoring (82 points per game), field goal percentage (51.3 percent), 3-point percentage (41.8 percent), and assists (14.2 per game).
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Kansas City Roo-ed the Jacks Offense
    Kansas City's defensive strategy in last weekend's two-game series was obvious - take away the 3-point shot and force SDSU to find other ways to score.
    The Jacks responded by making 49-of-72 shots, 68 percent, and more specifically 43-of-58 (74.1 percent) on attempts inside the arc.
    SDSU set a school record in Saturday's finale, shooting 73.5 percent (25-of-34). That also established a Summit League record for shooting percentage in a conference game.
    One thing Kansas City was able to do was turn the Jacks over. SDSU committed 17 on Friday and 16 Saturday. That's two of the five highest turnover counts for the Jacks this year.
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Double the Scheierman, Double the Fun
    Sophomore guard Baylor Scheierman has become a double-double machine.
    The Aurora, Neb., native has racked up 12 double-doubles, seventh most in the country.
    Scheierman currently ranks third in Division I with 8.57 defensive rebounds per game.
    How rare is what Scheierman is doing? He is only the fifth sophomore in State history to compile 10 or more double-doubles in a season. One freshman has also turned the trick.
    Since SDSU moved to Division I in 2004, Scheierman is the sixth player with 10 or more career double-doubles.
    As a point of comparison, Mike Daum had a total of 11 double-doubles in his first two seasons. He went on to set a school record with 54 in his career.
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Wilson Excels
    Douglas Wilson isn't the reigning Summit League Player of the Year for nothing.
    The Des Moines, Iowa, product has eclipsed the 20-point mark once in every two-game conference series.
    In league-only action, Wilson is averaging 16.8 points per game, tops on the team and eighth in the conference.
    He's shooting 53.7 percent against the league, which ranks third, and is hauling in 4.9 rebounds per game while playing an average of just 26.6 minutes.
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Arians at the Stripe
    Junior guard Alex Arians has been incredibly efficient at the free throw line this a year.
    The Madison, Wis., native has made 61-of-69 at the stripe. That's 88.4 percent, which ranks in the top 30 nationally.
    Arians had a string of 28 consecutive makes this year, including his first 18 in league play.
An Appel A Day...
    Luke Appel has been a model of efficiency in the low post for the Jackrabbit offense.
    Appel was limited to only 21 minutes in the first five games. He has logged at least nine minutes in 13 of the last 16, scoring in double figures in seven of those tilts.
    In Summit League play, Appel is scoring 8.8 points in only 14 minutes per game.
    He's made 40-of-62 attempts, shooting 64 percent in conference play.
    Last weekend's series against Kansas City was Appel's most productive weekend since arriving at State. He led the team in scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game, making 11-of-14 from the field and 11-of-14 at the free-throw line.
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Easley Does It
    Sophomore transfer Charlie Easley has risen to the occasion in February.
    He's started the five most recent games, and played 20-plus minutes in six of the last seven.
    During this seven-game stretch in which his name has been called regularly, he's scored 54 points - an average of 7.7 per game - and made at least one three in every game.
    He's shooting 17-of-34 overall and 12-of-21 from deep, including the game-winning triple with 16 seconds left at North Dakota State Feb. 19.
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Dentlinger Picking Up Steam
    A year ago, Matt Dentlinger was an honorable mention all-conference player.
    He'd lacked consistency this year in the first 14 games - three times scoring double figures, twice going scoreless.
    Down the stretch, however, he has reverted to his old form.
    Dentlinger tied his season high with 21 points against South Dakota (Feb. 6). In the two games at Oral Roberts last weekend, he scored 16 and 10.
    He followed that up with scoring efforts of 13 and 15 in the two-game series at North Dakota State, making 5-of-6 from the field in each.
    Last weekend against Kansas City, Dentlinger made 10-of-12 for the field, scoring 29 points.
    Over this seven-game stretch, the Arcadia, Iowa native has done more than just tie shoes. He's averaged 14.9 points and 5.0 rebounds while making 41 of his 52 shots - that's 78.8 percent.
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Mims On Reserve
    A veteran presence off the bench can be vital and Jackrabbit fans were reminded of that with the recent performance of guard Matt Mims.
    The pride of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has logged big minutes in SDSU's last four games.
    Mims scored 16 points in the two games at North Dakota State, then followed that up with by burying a triple in each game against Kansas City.
    He's committed only one turnover while playing 93 miuntes, dishing out five assists and collecting six steals. He's average 5.3 points per game during the stretch.
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Freidel's Season Ends Early
    Sophomore guard Noah Freidel was on his way to another all-conference season when the Tea native announced his season was over on Feb. 17.
    Alongside head coach Eric Henderson, Freidel made the following statement to the media:
    "After meeting with Coach Hendo and my family, we have decided that I am not going to play for the remainder of the year, as I have been struggling with depression and anxiety. I am going to take this time to get healthy and work through these mental health issues. I am so thankful for my amazing teammates and I cannot wait to get back on the floor with them soon."
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Summit League Favorites
    South Dakota State was the pick to win the Summit League in the conference preseason poll, garnering 33 of 36 first place votes. The Jackrabbits return the Summit's coach and player of the year and feature three preseason all-league honorees.
    Douglas Wilson was voted as player of the year, while Noah Freidel joined him on the first-team. Matt Dentlinger was chosen as second-team all-league.
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Power Five Wins
    SDSU's victory at Iowa State Dec. 2 marked the fifth time in the past six seasons the Jacks have defeated a Power Five program. Dating back to 2008-09, SDSU has beaten a Power Five opponent eight times in 13 seasons.
    Iowa State and Iowa have each fallen twice to the Jacks. In fact, SDSU is 4-0 against those two programs since moving to Division I.
    SDSU also has wins over Ole Miss, TCU, Minnesota and Washington in that span.
    That doesn't include a win at No. 16 New Mexico on Dec. 22, 2012 in Albuquerque.
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Summit League Tournament History
    South Dakota State is a top-two seed for the eighth time in the Summit League Championship and has compiled an excellent run of success in the event.
    The Jacks have made it to Tuesday's championship game six times and hoisted the tournament trophy on five occasions, the most recent coming in 2018.
    SDSU's suffered upsets in each of the past two tournaments, losing as the No. 1 seed to Western Illinois 79-76 in 2019, and last year dropped a 77-74 decision to Purdue Fort Wayne as the second seed.
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Run of Success
    South Dakota State has played in eight consecutive postseasons, a run that would likely have grown to nine if not for the COVID-19 pandemic causing all the tournaments to be canceled last March. That includes five NCAA Tournaments, a pair of National Invitation Tournaments and one trip to the College Basketball Invitational.
    Only 16 programs in Division I have played in each of the last eight postseasons.
    During that string of success, the Jacks have won five Summit League Tournaments and claimed at least a share of six regular season league titles.
    The Jackrabbits have won 20 or more games each of the last three years and seven of the previous nine seasons.
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| Summit League Tournament - Round 1 | Omaha (5-19, 3-11) at South Dakota State (15-6, 9-3) |
| When | Saturday, Mar. 6 | 5:45 p.m. |
| Where | Sanford Pentagon | Sioux Falls, S.D. |
| Live Audio / Radio | Jackrabbits All-Access | Jackrabbit Sports Network I Tyler Merriam |
| Live Video | MidcoSN | Midco Sports Plus ($) | ESPN+ ($) | Tom Nieman & Greg Stemen |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Game Notes | South Dakota State | Omaha |
| Social Media | Twitter I Facebook |
South Dakota State
    The Jackrabbits have their sights set on a return trip to the NCAA Tournament as play begins Saturday in the Summit League Championship at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
    No. 1 seed South Dakota State plays eighth-seeded Omaha at 5:45 p.m. Saturday in the opening round. The two teams did not play during the regular season, as the games set for mid-January in Omaha were canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
    SDSU has won at least a share of the Summit League regular season title in seven of the last nine seasons. This year marks the fifth time in that stretch that the Jacks have secured the top seed in the tournament.
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Omaha
    The Mavericks earned their way into the Summit League Championship last weekend, sweeping Denver by identical scores of 80-76. Omaha started league play 0-10, but won three of its final four, including the two at Denver to earn its way into the field.
    The Mavs been besieged by injuries this year, causing head coach Derrin Hansen to start 10 different players.
    Omaha's leader is 6-foot-8 senior post Matt Pile. The Wichita, Kan., native has terrorized the Summit League since his arrival in the fall of 2017.
    The reigning defensive player of the year in the conference, Pile ranks sixth among active Division I players with 913 career rebounds. His 1,173 points are the eighth-most by an Omaha player since it moved to Division I.
    Pile and Ayo Akinwole are the only two Mavericks to start all 23 games. A 6-foot senior guard from Papillion, Neb., Akinwole scored 12.3 points per game while shooting 45 percent from 3-point range (35-of-77). He scored 49 points in Omaha's two-game sweep at Denver.
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The Series
    Saturday will be the 95th time SDSU and Omaha have met in men's basketball, with the Jackrabbits owning a 60-34 advantage.
    The series began on Jan. 21, 1920, when the Jackrabbits outfoxed the Mavericks 22-10 in Brookings in a contest that was not televised.
    SDSU and Omaha split two games last year, each winning at home. The Mavs began league play with a 81-78 win on Dec. 29, 2019. The Jacks gained a measure of revenge with an 81-64 victory on Feb. 8, 2020.
    The Jacks and Mavericks were scheduled to play Jan. 15 & 16 in Omaha, but the two games were canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
    The two schools have met once in this setting - Mar. 7, 2017, when SDSU outlasted Omaha 79-77 in the championship game to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
3-Point Shooting
    The Jacks have been ringing the bell from long range this season.
    SDSU has made 40.2 percent of its 3-point attempts. State's efficiency from beyond the arc is the second best in Division I.
    Seven times the Jackrabbits have made at least half of their 3-pointers in a game.
    Additionally, SDSU had made 10 or more triples on six occasions.
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Being Offensive
    In addition to ranking second nationally in 3-point percentage, the Jacks are 15th in overall field goal percentage (49.6 percent) and rank 28th in Division I in scoring offense, racking up 79.9 points per game.
    During conference play the Jackrabbits led the league in scoring (82 points per game), field goal percentage (51.3 percent), 3-point percentage (41.8 percent), and assists (14.2 per game).
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Kansas City Roo-ed the Jacks Offense
    Kansas City's defensive strategy in last weekend's two-game series was obvious - take away the 3-point shot and force SDSU to find other ways to score.
    The Jacks responded by making 49-of-72 shots, 68 percent, and more specifically 43-of-58 (74.1 percent) on attempts inside the arc.
    SDSU set a school record in Saturday's finale, shooting 73.5 percent (25-of-34). That also established a Summit League record for shooting percentage in a conference game.
    One thing Kansas City was able to do was turn the Jacks over. SDSU committed 17 on Friday and 16 Saturday. That's two of the five highest turnover counts for the Jacks this year.
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Double the Scheierman, Double the Fun
    Sophomore guard Baylor Scheierman has become a double-double machine.
    The Aurora, Neb., native has racked up 12 double-doubles, seventh most in the country.
    Scheierman currently ranks third in Division I with 8.57 defensive rebounds per game.
    How rare is what Scheierman is doing? He is only the fifth sophomore in State history to compile 10 or more double-doubles in a season. One freshman has also turned the trick.
    Since SDSU moved to Division I in 2004, Scheierman is the sixth player with 10 or more career double-doubles.
    As a point of comparison, Mike Daum had a total of 11 double-doubles in his first two seasons. He went on to set a school record with 54 in his career.
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Wilson Excels
    Douglas Wilson isn't the reigning Summit League Player of the Year for nothing.
    The Des Moines, Iowa, product has eclipsed the 20-point mark once in every two-game conference series.
    In league-only action, Wilson is averaging 16.8 points per game, tops on the team and eighth in the conference.
    He's shooting 53.7 percent against the league, which ranks third, and is hauling in 4.9 rebounds per game while playing an average of just 26.6 minutes.
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Arians at the Stripe
    Junior guard Alex Arians has been incredibly efficient at the free throw line this a year.
    The Madison, Wis., native has made 61-of-69 at the stripe. That's 88.4 percent, which ranks in the top 30 nationally.
    Arians had a string of 28 consecutive makes this year, including his first 18 in league play.
An Appel A Day...
    Luke Appel has been a model of efficiency in the low post for the Jackrabbit offense.
    Appel was limited to only 21 minutes in the first five games. He has logged at least nine minutes in 13 of the last 16, scoring in double figures in seven of those tilts.
    In Summit League play, Appel is scoring 8.8 points in only 14 minutes per game.
    He's made 40-of-62 attempts, shooting 64 percent in conference play.
    Last weekend's series against Kansas City was Appel's most productive weekend since arriving at State. He led the team in scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game, making 11-of-14 from the field and 11-of-14 at the free-throw line.
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Easley Does It
    Sophomore transfer Charlie Easley has risen to the occasion in February.
    He's started the five most recent games, and played 20-plus minutes in six of the last seven.
    During this seven-game stretch in which his name has been called regularly, he's scored 54 points - an average of 7.7 per game - and made at least one three in every game.
    He's shooting 17-of-34 overall and 12-of-21 from deep, including the game-winning triple with 16 seconds left at North Dakota State Feb. 19.
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Dentlinger Picking Up Steam
    A year ago, Matt Dentlinger was an honorable mention all-conference player.
    He'd lacked consistency this year in the first 14 games - three times scoring double figures, twice going scoreless.
    Down the stretch, however, he has reverted to his old form.
    Dentlinger tied his season high with 21 points against South Dakota (Feb. 6). In the two games at Oral Roberts last weekend, he scored 16 and 10.
    He followed that up with scoring efforts of 13 and 15 in the two-game series at North Dakota State, making 5-of-6 from the field in each.
    Last weekend against Kansas City, Dentlinger made 10-of-12 for the field, scoring 29 points.
    Over this seven-game stretch, the Arcadia, Iowa native has done more than just tie shoes. He's averaged 14.9 points and 5.0 rebounds while making 41 of his 52 shots - that's 78.8 percent.
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Mims On Reserve
    A veteran presence off the bench can be vital and Jackrabbit fans were reminded of that with the recent performance of guard Matt Mims.
    The pride of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has logged big minutes in SDSU's last four games.
    Mims scored 16 points in the two games at North Dakota State, then followed that up with by burying a triple in each game against Kansas City.
    He's committed only one turnover while playing 93 miuntes, dishing out five assists and collecting six steals. He's average 5.3 points per game during the stretch.
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Freidel's Season Ends Early
    Sophomore guard Noah Freidel was on his way to another all-conference season when the Tea native announced his season was over on Feb. 17.
    Alongside head coach Eric Henderson, Freidel made the following statement to the media:
    "After meeting with Coach Hendo and my family, we have decided that I am not going to play for the remainder of the year, as I have been struggling with depression and anxiety. I am going to take this time to get healthy and work through these mental health issues. I am so thankful for my amazing teammates and I cannot wait to get back on the floor with them soon."
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Summit League Favorites
    South Dakota State was the pick to win the Summit League in the conference preseason poll, garnering 33 of 36 first place votes. The Jackrabbits return the Summit's coach and player of the year and feature three preseason all-league honorees.
    Douglas Wilson was voted as player of the year, while Noah Freidel joined him on the first-team. Matt Dentlinger was chosen as second-team all-league.
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Power Five Wins
    SDSU's victory at Iowa State Dec. 2 marked the fifth time in the past six seasons the Jacks have defeated a Power Five program. Dating back to 2008-09, SDSU has beaten a Power Five opponent eight times in 13 seasons.
    Iowa State and Iowa have each fallen twice to the Jacks. In fact, SDSU is 4-0 against those two programs since moving to Division I.
    SDSU also has wins over Ole Miss, TCU, Minnesota and Washington in that span.
    That doesn't include a win at No. 16 New Mexico on Dec. 22, 2012 in Albuquerque.
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Summit League Tournament History
    South Dakota State is a top-two seed for the eighth time in the Summit League Championship and has compiled an excellent run of success in the event.
    The Jacks have made it to Tuesday's championship game six times and hoisted the tournament trophy on five occasions, the most recent coming in 2018.
    SDSU's suffered upsets in each of the past two tournaments, losing as the No. 1 seed to Western Illinois 79-76 in 2019, and last year dropped a 77-74 decision to Purdue Fort Wayne as the second seed.
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Run of Success
    South Dakota State has played in eight consecutive postseasons, a run that would likely have grown to nine if not for the COVID-19 pandemic causing all the tournaments to be canceled last March. That includes five NCAA Tournaments, a pair of National Invitation Tournaments and one trip to the College Basketball Invitational.
    Only 16 programs in Division I have played in each of the last eight postseasons.
    During that string of success, the Jacks have won five Summit League Tournaments and claimed at least a share of six regular season league titles.
    The Jackrabbits have won 20 or more games each of the last three years and seven of the previous nine seasons.
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Players Mentioned
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