Jacks Upend Jaguars in Indy, 63-56

Saturday, February 7

Indianapolis, Ind.

12:00 PM

South Dakota State University

IUPUI

Marshall Leads SDSU to a Win in His Home Debut

2/7/2015 4:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

INDIANAPOLIS – The last time South Dakota State played a game on Feb. 7, in the state of Indiana, 2012, Nate Wolters set school records with 53 points and nine 3-pointers in a win at IPFW. No Jackrabbit threatened either record on Saturday at IUPUI, but the Jackrabbits still left with a win, 63-56 over the Jaguars.

SDSU improves to 18-8 with the win overall and to 9-3 in The Summit League, while the Jaguars fall to 8-18 overall and to 4-6 in league play.

"Offensively we weren't good but we had good energy, there wasn't any question about that. The problem was the rebounds, they just physically beat us up out there. If we could have rebounded it would have been a lot easier for us, but you have to give them a lot of credit,” head coach Scott Nagy said. "These are the kind of wins that help you win championships. I'm proud of our kids coming off of really what was kind of a lackluster, not a very energetic game against IPFW. They brought the energy tonight and gave us a chance to win because we could have brought that energy and not won this game, and I still would have been very proud of them for the effort they put into it."

The Jacks won the tip and opened the scoring with a George Marshall 3-pointer from the corner, but IUPUI scored the next six points, part of an 11-2 run, to take the early 11-5 lead, a lead that would reach seven points twice, the last being at 17-10 with just over nine minutes left in the first half.

Another Marshall 3-pointer snapped the Jaguar run and sparked a 5-0 SDSU spurt that cut the lead to 11-10, but the Jags continued to lead until Cody Larson tied the game at 19 from the free throw line and Reed Tellinghuisen gave SDSU a 22-21 lead with a 3-pointer from the wing with 4 minutes, 43 seconds left in the opening frame.

IUPUI regained the lead on its next possession, but Larson got it right back on the next possession, as the Jacks closed the half on a 17-4 run, giving them a 29-23 lead at halftime.

The Jaguars scored the first four points of the second half to cut the lead to two points, and even though they never led in the second half, they did cut the lead to two points 10 different times, the last being at 57-55 with 2:42 left in the game.

Jake Bittle made a pair of free throws a minute and a half later to push the lead back to four points, and IUPUI missed a chance to shave the lead back to two points from the free throw line with under a minute left.

The Jags got the offensive rebound off the second free throw miss, but could not connect on a game tying 3-pointer with 19 seconds left, and a Tellinghuisen layup in transition with 12 seconds left all but sealed the win.

Larson led a trio of Jackrabbits in double figures with 16 points, adding three each in assists and steals. George Marshall finished with 15 points and tied a career-high with eight rebounds. Bittle added 13 points and led the Jacks with four each in assists and steals.

Justus Stanback and Marcellus Barksdale both scored 10 points to lead the Jaguars, with Barksdale adding a game-high 10 rebounds for the game's only double-double.

IUPUI dominated the glass to the tune of 38-22, with a 12-2 edge in offensive rebounds and an 11-0 advantage in second chance points, but SDSU turned 20 Jaguar turnovers into 21 points, while IUPUI scored nine points on 13 SDSU miscues.

The Jacks look to start a new winning streak on Saturday, when they host North Dakota State in Frost Arena at 4 p.m.

NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series with IUPUI 12-6, with wins in each of the last 11 meetings … the teams met for the first time at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on the grounds of the Indiana State Fair, and played in front of 1,386 fans … SDSU improves to 15-1 this season when leading at the half, to 12-2 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent and to 10-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 60 points … SDSU forced at least 20 turnovers for the first time since Jan. 1, 2015, when forced IPFW into 24 turnovers … the Jacks finished with two blocks in the game, which gives them 106 for the season, four more than all of last season … SDSU beat IPFW 80-74 on Feb. 7, 2012, when Wolters set SDSU single-game records with 53 points and nine 3-pointers