Jacks Bounce Kangaroos at Frost Arena

Saturday, December 6

Frost Arena

1:00 PM

South Dakota State University

Kansas City

12/6/2014 5:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

South Dakota State opened Saturday's game against Kansas City on a 9-0 run, and added runs of 6-0 and 8-0 in the first half to cruise to an 81-61 win over the Kangaroos.

The Jackrabbits move to 4-3 with the win to get over .500 for the first time this season, while the Kangaroos fall to 3-6, with their lone Division I win being a 69-61 season-opening win at Missouri.

“Our defense was really good in the first half. I know that they made some 3-pointers, but that's the only way they stayed in the game. They only made two 2-point shots,” head coach Scott Nagy said. “They worked themselves back into the game in the second half, but our kids did a good job of not panicking, and making good plays. We lost our aggressiveness a little bit against their pressure, but we found it again with about seven minutes to go.”

Along with its good defense in the first half, SDSU shot the ball well, finishing the first frame with a 56.5 shooting percentage, 13 of 23, which included a 5-11 mark from 3-point range.

The Kangaroos shot 31 percent in the first half, 8 of 26, but went 6 for 9 from deep, but still trailed 44-25 at halftime.

Kansas City came our firing in the second half, and cut the SDSU lead to as few as 10 points at 60-50 with 7 minutes, 45 seconds left in the game, but the Jacks answered with a 12-3 run, and pushed the lead to as many as 24 points with just over two minutes to play.

Cody Larson and Jake Bittle led all players in the game with 18 points. Larson added a career-high six blocks and Bittle a game- and season-high eight rebounds. Deondre Parks added 14 points and Keaton Moffitt a season-high nine points in the win.

Martez Harrison led a pair of Kangaroos in double figures with 12 points, with Deshon Taylor adding 10 of the Kangaroos' 29 points off the bench. SDSU finished with 15 bench points.

The Jackrabbits look to make it three in a row on Tuesday, when they travel to St. Louis, Mo., to take on the Saint Louis Billikens at 7 p.m.

NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series with UMKC 12-5, with wins in each of the last six meetings ... the Jacks and 'Roos played in front of a crowd of 1,301 at Frost Arena ... SDSU improves to 4-0 at home this season and extends its home winning streak to eight games ... Larson's career-high six blocks tops his previous career-high of three, which he accomplished three times, and marks the first time a Jackrabbit recorded five or more blocks since Connor Devine's five at Texas Tech on Nov. 21, 2013 ... Devine finished with a season-high three blocks in the game ... Larson remains the only SDSU player to score in double figures in every game this season