IUPUI spoils Jackrabbits Senior Night

Saturday, February 27

Frost Arena

7:30 p.m.

South Dakota State University

IUPUI [Family Fun Night]

2/27/2010 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

South Dakota State struggled to shoot 32 percent in the first half and IUPUI shot 72 percent in the second half to propel the Jaguars to an 86-76 win over the Jackrabbits on Senior Night at Frost Arena.

"I can go back in my mind and maybe 20 different instances where we weren't in position where we were suppose to be or had an opportunity to make a play and were caught flat footed," SDSU head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. "For us to beat them, lets face it, we have to be sharp and we were not sharp at all."

The loss ends the Jackrabbits regular season with a Division I best 14-15 overall record, 10-8 in Summit League play, locking the Jacks into a No. 4 seed in next week's Summit League Championships in Sioux Falls, where they open against No. 5 seed IPFW.

Already locked into the No. 2 see for the tournament, IUPUI improves to 22-9 overall and 15-3 in league play.

Clint Sargent led three Jackrabbits in double figures with 22 points. Nate Wolters added 17 points off the bench, while Kai Williams finished his final game in Frost Arena with 10 points.

Alex Young led five Jaguars in double figures with 28 points and added a game-high 10 rebounds. Jon Avery scored 19 points off the bench, Leroy Nobles finished with 13, Billy Pettiford with 12 and Robert Glenn 10 points in the win.

Down by as many as six points early, the Jacks used a 7-0 run to take their only lead of the game at 12-11, and despite the icy shooting in the first half, SDSU trailed by just four points at 35-31 at the half.

Anthony Cordova started the scoring in the second half to cut the IUPUI lead to just two points, but the Jags responded with an 18-6 spurt and the Jacks would get no closer than six points the rest of the game.

With the regular season in the books, the Jacks now turn their attention to IPFW, who they meet on Sunday, March 7, at 6 p.m. in the first round of The Summit League Championships in the Sioux Falls Arena.

The Jackrabbits and Mastodons split the season series, with each team winning on its home floor.

Saturday's game marked the final home game for Jackrabbit seniors Garrett Callahan, Mark Engen and Kai Williams. The three seniors, along with coach Nagy, talked about the experience after the game.

Kai Williams

"Being out there with my parents and having them crying and all that, I was pretty emotional and I'm not an overly emotional guy. But this last game, even though it's a loss, I'll still have memories from it'll mean a lot to me."

Mark Engen

"It's been a good ride at Frost Arena. It's been a great place to play in for the last four years, I'll definitely miss it. The fans are tough to beat. We go a lot of places on the road where we play in front of hundreds, lucky if we get a couple thousand people. To play in front of a crowd like we did tonight, that's tough to beat."

Garrett Callahan

"It's sad because I have a lot of memories here, just a lot of great memories, but I figured I'd enjoy it no matter what, but obviously they won the game and we've got to tip our hat to them."

Coach Nagy

"I'll have very, very fond memories of these three guys, just because they were the ones that stayed committed to us when things were really tough and helped us get this thing turned around. We've made good steps every year they've been here; steps in the right direction. The next step is to become a championship contender. If we do that, we did it on these guys' back. Most people will forget about them, but I won't."