SDSU Survives at Saint Louis

Tuesday, December 9

St. Louis, Mo.

7:00 PM

South Dakota State University

Saint Louis

12/9/2014 11:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

ST. LOUIS – After a back-and-forth first half that saw nine lead changes and four ties, South Dakota State trailed for the vast majority of the second half on Tuesday at Saint Louis, but the Jackrabbits kept it close and closed on a 14-2 run to secure a 62-55 win against the Billikens.

The Jackrabbits first road win of the season boosts their record to 5-3, while the home standing Billikens fall to 5-4.

“I tend to see things in a negative light, and I'm still trying to figure out how we won; 22 turnovers, 16 offensive rebounds. We did not play well, we really didn't,” head coach Scott Nagy said. “We shot the ball well, when we did take care of it and get shots, but the big deal is we held them to 33 percent shooting for the game.”

The Jackrabbits use a 10-0 run midway through the first half to take 19-10 lead, capped by a Reed Tellinghuisen 3-pointer with 8:19 left in the first half that ended with SDSU leading 19-10.

SLU scored the next eight points, part of a 14-2 run over the next five plus minutes to give the Billikens a 24-21 lead with under three minutes to play in the half, but the Jacks scored the final four points of the half to lead 25-24 at halftime.

The Jackrabbits committed 15 turnovers in the first half, but SLU could only turn those miscues into eight points, while SDSU turned eight Billiken turnovers in the half into 10 points. After three quick turnovers in the second half, the Jacks only turned the ball over four times in the final 16 minutes, 30 seconds of the game, and in the end, both teams finished with 16 points off of turnovers.

The 10th of 13 lead changes in the game came with the first bucket of the second half, as the Billikens scored the first eight points of the frame to take a 32-25 lead, a lead they would hold onto until a Connor Devine tip-in with 2:06 left.

The Billikens would answer with a layup on the other end in what would be their final points of the game with 1:36 on the clock.

Zach Horstman put the Jacks up for good with a layup in the next possession. From there, the Jacks got a layup and-1 from Deondre Parks, who sank the free throw to give SDSU a 59-55 lead with 1:20 to play.

Parks, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the final 5:16 of the game, scored the final five points for the Jacks, adding six rebounds and a season-high six assists in the win.

Reed Tellinghuisen led the Jackrabbits with a career-high 15 points in going 5 for 7 from the floor overall, 3 for 4 from 3-point range. Horstman finished with 12 points and five rebounds.

The only Saint Louis player in double figures, Milik Yarbrough led the Billikens with 15 points, adding a game-high nine rebounds in the loss.

SDSU returns home to host the rematch with Idaho on Saturday, the Jacks and Vandals tip at 4 p.m.

NOTES: Tuesday's game marked the first meeting between the two schools since Dec. 2, 1961 and the fourth meeting overall, with all four games played in St. Louis, Mo. … the SDSU win ties the all-time series at 2-2 … the Jackrabbits and Billikens played the game in front of 5,102 fans at Chaifetz Arena … SDSU finished with a season-high 22 turnovers … SDSU improves to 4-1 when leading at the hall, to 3-0 when shooting over 50 percent for a game and to 5-2 when holding its opponents to fewer than eight 3-pointers … Cody Larson's team-high streak of games with at least 10 points ended at eight, as he finished with seven points … Jake Bittle tied a career-high with three 3-pointers … Connor Devine finished with a season-high four blocks, giving him seven in the last two games