BROOKINGS, S.D. ? South Dakota State came out hot in the in the 35th Annual Pork Classic in front of 4,131 fans at Frost Arena, but went cold fast and never really recovered in a 78-60 loss to North Dakota State on Saturday night.
A layup by Michael Loney and a three-pointer by Jose Frias gave the Jackrabbits a 5-0 lead just 56 seconds into the game.
NDSU took its first lead 5:30 into the contest, but the Jacks got it back on a Garrett Callahan layup, only to see it fade away for good on a Mike Nelson three-pointer that started a 14-2 Bison run.
North Dakota State built a 14-point lead with 3:49 left in the first half, but the Jacks put together an 8-0 run before the break, capped by a Casey Mackenzie three-pointer at the buzzer that sent the Jack into the half only down five at 38-33.
The five point margin looked pretty good considering the Bison shot 64 percent (16-of-25) from the field in the first half, compared to the Jacks, who shot 36.7 percent (11-of-30) in the first 20 minutes.
The Jacks turned the 8-0 run into a 10-0 run to start the second half, which cut the Bison lead to three, only to see it go back up to 11 points with 15:49 left, then back to just five points two minutes later.
Up by five with 13:39 left and the game still not in hand, the Bison put the game away with a 13-0 run that stretched their lead to 18 points with 10:21 to go in the contest.
SDSU never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way and the game ended with the Jacks first Pork Classic loss since 2000, the first to NDSU in four Pork Classic meetings.
The Jacks finished the game shooting 34.9 percent (22-of-63) from the field, while the Bison finished the game with a 59.6 shooting percentage (28-of-47) from the field.
Kai Williams led the Jackrabbit attack with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting and came up one rebound short of the double-double.
Michael Loney pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and, along with Frias, added 8 points.
Mackenzie Casey added seven more points to his buzzer beating three to finish with 10 points.
Mike Nelson shot 90 percent (9-of-10) from the floor to set a new Pork Classic record for shooting percentage, he made all four of his three-point attempts and both of his free throw tries to finish the night with a game-high 24 points.
Nelson breaks the old mark, set by former Jackrabbit Lee Colburn who shot 80.9 percent (17-of-21) in the Jacks 100-64 win over Mankato State in the first Pork Classic in 1973.
Brett Winkelman scored 21 points, Ben Woodside scored 17 and Andre Smith scored 10 in the balanced Bison attack.
South Dakota State falls to 5-17 on the season, while the Bison improve to 14-6.
The Jacks return to action on Thursday in Newark, New Jersey when they play the New Jersey Institute of Technology (New Jersey Tech) in the first of a four game road trip.
Tip off at the Fleisher Athletic Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT.)