SECOND HALF JACKRABBIT RALLY FALLS SHORT

Tuesday, December 5

Brookings, S.D.

8:15 p.m.

South Dakota State University

4-5,0-0Summit League

Kent State

6-3,0-0MAC

Kent St.

South Dakota St.

Matthew Mors

Photo by: Miranda Sampson

12/5/2023 11:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Andrew Pedersen

BROOKINGS, S.D. — South Dakota State cut into a 20-point deficit and whittled the margin down to two in the second half, but Kent State pulled away late to earn an 82-73 victory over the Jackrabbits in Frost Arena on Tuesday.

The game featured a one-possession margin through the first nine minutes before Kent State's offense started to click. The Golden Flashes went on two separate double-digit runs, going up by as many as 20, and eventually went into halftime with a 41-27 advantage.

SDSU opened the second half with a Nate Barnhart 3-pointer to give the Jackrabbits momentum. A William Kyle III dunk cut the score to 47-43 at the 11:02 mark, but he was called for a technical foul after the play.

The Jackrabbits cut the Flashes lead to 49-47 following a pair of Matthew Mors free throws and another dunk by Kyle III with less than 10 minutes to play. However, Kent State's Reggie Bass was fouled on a 3-point attempt on the Flashes' next possession and he hit all three of his opportunities at the charity stripe.

SDSU again got the margin back to a single possession when Kalen Garry hit a 3-pointer with 6:16 on the clock to make it 54-51. Julian Sullinger connected on a 3-pointer Kent State's next time up. From there, the Jackrabbits were never able to get the score within five again.

Kent State used a 50% shooting clip from both the field and long range in the first half to get out to the double-digit edge. The Jackrabbits, which shot just 33% in the opening 20 minutes, followed that in the second half to go 15-for-29 (51.7%) from the floor. Both teams finished the night under 44% from the field with Kent State hitting 10 3-pointers to SDSU's eight.

The Golden Flashes were strong at the free throw line going 22 of 24 (91.7%). The Jacks finished 13 of 19 (68.4%) at the charity stripe.

Kent State improved to 6-3 overall while South Dakota State dropped to 4-5.

Notes

Charlie Easley scored a team-high 17 points for the Jackrabbits. He also had an SDSU-high five assists to go along with four steals. Kyle III finished with 16 points by making all seven of his field goal attempts. Zeke Mayo scored 12 points for the Jacks and Garry added 10 with a team-high seven rebounds.
Kent State was paced by Giovanni Santiago's 19 points. He was joined in double digits by Sullinger (17), Chris Payton Jr (14) and VonCameron Davis (12).

Up Next
South Dakota State travels to Wichita, Kan., to play Wichita State on Saturday, Dec. 9. The Jackrabbits and Shockers are scheduled to tipoff at INTRUST Bank Arena at 6 p.m.

-GoJacks.com-