PIONEERS PULL AWAY FROM JACKS

Saturday, March 1

Denver, Colo.

2 p.m.

South Dakota State University

20-11,11-5Summit League

Denver

11-20,5-11Summit League

South Dakota St.

Denver

Photo by: Justin Tafoya/Clarkson Creative Photography

3/1/2025 9:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Andrew Pedersen

DENVER, Colo. – Denver led for nearly the entire contest as the Pioneers defeated South Dakota State, 78-62, inside Hamilton Gymnasium on Saturday. The game served as the regular season finale for both squads ahead of the 2025 Summit League Men's Basketball Championship tournament.

The Pioneers scored the meeting's first eight points before the Jackrabbits got on the scoreboard. SDSU slowly worked its way back into the matchup and eventually took a 16-15 lead at the 10:23 mark of the first half.

Denver's Josh Pickett connected on a 3-pointer on the Pios' next possession. The Pioneers would break the game open from there.

Denver used an 11-point scoring run to push its advantage into double digits for the first time. Kalen Garry and Jaden Jackson scored a combined six straight points to get the margin within four, but SDSU wouldn't get the score closer the rest of the way.

The Pioneers took a 44-35 lead into halftime. The Pioneers capitalized from 3-point range shooting 8 of 14 from deep, while they forced the Jacks into eight turnovers during the opening half.

An Isaiah Carr layup 90 seconds into the second half put Denver up by double digits for good. The Pioneers eventually held a lead for over 39 minutes of the contest against the Jackrabbits.

Denver held SDSU to 34.6% from the field in the second half. The Pios took advantage of 17 Jackrabbit turnovers on the day. SDSU had a slim 36-33 edge on the boards. Denver also went 11 of 13 at the free throw line while State was 13 of 23 (56.5%).

The Pios avenged a Jan. 2 91-70 loss to the Jackrabbits in Brookings. Denver improved to 11-20 overall and 5-11 in conference action. SDSU fell to 20-11 (11-5).

NOTES

South Dakota State was held to a season-low point total. The Jackrabbits' previous season low was a 63-point output at Nevada on Dec. 11.
The Jackrabbits were led in the contest by Garry. He scored 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Jackson and Stoney Hadnot had seven rebounds apiece while Joe Sayler had a team-high four assists. Oscar Cluff finished with 13 points and four rebounds.
Denver had four double-digit scorers in Sebastian Akins (17), DeAndre Craig (16), Isaiah Addo-Ankrah (12) and Pickett (11). Jon Mani had game highs in rebounds (8) and steals (4).
The loss sealed the Jackrabbits' slot in The Summit League standings. SDSU finished the 2024-25 Summit League slate third in the standings behind Omaha (13-3) and St. Thomas (12-4).

UP NEXT
South Dakota State looks ahead to its quarterfinal appearance in the 2025 Summit League Basketball Championships. The Jackrabbits will open tournament play against No. 6 seed North Dakota. The Jacks and Fighting Hawks will play 25 minutes following the conclusion (approximately 8:15 p.m.) of the No. 2/7 seed game between St. Thomas and Denver which begins at 6 p.m.

-GoJacks.com-