Denver Downs Jacks in Summit Opener

Friday, January 2

Denver, Colo.

8:00 PM

South Dakota State University

Denver

1/3/2015 12:14:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

DENVER – Despite a furious late rally, South Dakota State could not overcome a hot shooting Denver squad, and opened Summit League play on Friday with a 76-69 loss against the Pioneers at Magness Arena on the campus of the University of Denver.

The Jackrabbits fall to 9-6 with the loss, while the Pioneers even their record at 7-7.

“The first half was very low energy, and if I could explain that, I'd be a heckuva lot better coach. If we played with the kind of energy we played with in the second half, there would be a different outcome to this game,” head coach Scott Nagy said.

The Pioneers came out hot, sinking their first four 3-pointers, and kept it going in the first half in going 8 for 12 from distance, 66.7 percent, and 15 for 25 overall, 60 percent. The Jackrabbits went 9 for 20 in the opening frame, 45 percent, and 2 for 5 from long range, 40 percent.

Down by as many as six points early, the Jacks came back to tie the game at 18 on a Cody Larson 3-point play, but Denver answered with an 8-1 spurt before taking a 39-28 lead into halftime.

The Jacks scored the first five points of the second half to cut the lead to six points, but Denver used a 10-2 run later in the half to push the lead to its largest of the game at 57-42 with just under seven minutes to play.

SDSU answered with a 7-0 spurt to cut the lead to 57-49 with 5:47 left, and eventually got the lead down to five points at 71-66 with 38 seconds left on a George Marshall 3-pointer, but the Pioneers converted enough free throws and got enough stops down the stretch to secure the win.

Jake Bittle led the SDSU offense with 15 points, adding five rebounds and three assists. Larson posted his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while Marshall added 13 points, 11 of which he scored in the second half.

The Summit League Preseason Player of the Year, Brett Olson scored a game-high 17 points, including 14 in the second half. Nate Engesser finished with 13 and Marcus Byrd 12 points in going 3 for 4 from long range. Jalen Love rounded out Denver's double-digit scorers with 11 points.

The Jackrabbits look to snap their season-long skid on Sunday, when they travel to Fargo, N.D., to take on North Dakota State. The Jacks and Bison tip from Scheels Arena at 4 p.m.

NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series with Denver 6-5, with a 2-1 mark in Summit League play … the Jackrabbits and Pioneers played in front of 1,786 fans at Magness Arena … SDSU falls to 3-5 all-time in Summit League openers … for the first time this season, SDSU did not lead at any point in the game … SDSU did not record a block for the second straight game, its only two games of the season without a block … SDSU lost for the first time this season when shooting more free throws than its opponent (5-1) and when making at least eight 3-pointers (5-1) … SDSU falls to 0-4 this season when Larson records a double-double, compared to 4-0 when he fouls out of the game … Larson's fourth double-double of the season gives him 10 for his career