Jackrabbits host Lions Tuesday

Tuesday, November 19

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

North Alabama

Tickets

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

11/18/2019 10:56:00 AM | Men's Basketball

GAME 6: South Dakota State (3-2) vs. North Alabama (2-2)

When	Tuesday, Nov. 19 \| 7 p.m.
Where	Frost Arena \| Brookings, S.D.
Live Audio / Radio	Jackrabbits All-Access \| Jackrabbit Sports Network I WNAX 570 AM \| Tyler Merriam
Live Video	Jackrabbits All-Access
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook

Previewing the Game
Jackrabbit men's basketball returns to Frost Arena this Tuesday for a one-game stop, hosting North Alabama. Tip is at 7 p.m.

The Jackrabbits, under the direction of first-year head coach Eric Henderson, are back in Brookings after a three-game and week-long road trip. The Jacks are 3-2 on the season and have won both home games in 2019-20.

North Alabama comes to town with a 2-2 mark, claiming a 61-55 victory over Samford its last time out. Prior to that, the Lions dropped a 91-65 contest at Indiana.

This is the first-ever meeting between the teams.

About South Dakota State
Douglas Wilson is off to a fast start in his first year as a Jackrabbit, reaching double figures in all five games with a team-high 18.6 scoring average. The two-time NJCAA All-American and 2018-19 NJCAA Player of the Year has two double-doubles for the Jackrabbits, adding 8.6 rebounds per game for the season alongside a 56.3 field goal percentage.

Brandon Key (11.8 points per game) has been electric at the point, posting three double-digit scoring performances on the season with 19 assists (3.8 per game). Key is back for the Jackrabbits after redshirting a year ago. He had 112 assists in 2017-18.

Matt Dentlinger turned in a double-double in the season opener (17 points, 14 rebounds), and is averaging 9.6 points and six boards per game through five contests. The big man is 16-of-27 from the field (59.3 percent) and has nine offensive rebounds.

Alex Arians is the most experienced Jackrabbit as a sophomore after starting 33 games a year ago. Arians has logged 26.8 minutes per game in 2019-20 and has 26 points (5.2 per game) and 28 rebounds (5.6 average) for State.

Noah Freidel, the 2019 Argus Leader Class A Player of the Year, has started the first five games of career and is playing 19 minutes per game, posting 10 in the scoring column against CSU Bakersfield for his first collegiate double-digit scoring game. He has four 3-pointers for the year, just behind Baylor Scheierman (six) and David Wingett (seven) for the team lead.

Scheierman (8.2 points per game, 10 assists) has 33 rebounds off the bench, sitting fifth on the team in scoring and second in rebounds.

Tray Buchanan has 8.7 points per game with one double-figure scoring performance, appearing in three games.

Wingett is sixth on the team in scoring for the year at 7.6 points per game, reaching double figures two of the last three games.

Wingett joined the Jackrabbit squad in late May as a transfer from Memphis and received an NCAA waiver for immediate eligibility. The Winnebago, Nebraska product scored over 2,200 points in his high school career and spent a season at Bull City Prep Academy.

Scheierman is a two-time Class B All-State, All-Area and All-Conference selection from Aurora, Nebraska, and as a senior averaged 22.1 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game while helping his team to a state tournament berth.

The Jackrabbits have held opponents under 60 points in two games while averaging 77.6 points on the offensive end, posting double-digit rebounding margins in two contests as well.

SDSU is shooting 43.8 percent as a team and averaging 45.2 boards per game.

About North Alabama
C.J. Brim leads a trio of double-figure scorers for the Lions, tallying 11.8 points per game with a 48.4 field goal percentage. Jamari Blackmon and Christian Agnew each have 10.8 points per game through four contests, as Blackmon leads the team with nine 3-pointers and 20 assists.

Emanuel Littles has 8.8 rebounds per game to pace the squad on the boards.

The Lions are shooting 41.2 percent as a team with 23 3-pointers, burying 24.5 percent from the field. UNA is minus-one in rebounding margin and has 35.5 boards per game.

Tony Pujol is in his second season leading North Alabama and holds a 12-24 record on the bench.

A South Dakota State Win Would ...
Give SDSU a 4-2 record on the year ... make coach Henderson 4-2 in his first season and the Jacks 3-0 in home games this year ... give the Jacks a 1,539-1,042-1 program mark.

A South Dakota State Loss Would ...
Deal the Jackrabbits their third-consecutive loss and put the team at 3-3 on the year ... snap a nearly three-year streak without three consecutive losses ... end a 10-game home winning streak ... give the Jacks a 1,538-1,043-1 program mark.

Wilson Honored by Summit League
Douglas Wilson was selected as the Summit League's Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week, announced Nov. 11.

Wilson is coming off a monster debut week for the Jackrabbits, averaging 21 points and 8.7 rebounds per contest with a trio of double-figure scoring performances. Wilson helped SDSU to a 3-0 record to begin the year, scoring 24, 13 and 26 against UTRGV, Peru State and CSU Bakersfield, respectively. Wilson tallied his first-career double-double in the win over CSU Bakersfield with a game-high 13 rebounds.

New Faces, New Roles
South Dakota State's lineup will feature new roles and new faces throughout the season, as the Jackrabbits return only 16.9 percent of their scoring from 2018-19, and 10.7 percent of their 3-point makes. SDSU's 15.8 points per game returning ranks sixth-lowest nationally, and the 16.9 percent back is the third-lowest margin (according to available records).

#FearFrost

The Jacks own a 105-6 record at Frost Arena over the last seven seasons dating back to 2011-12, which includes perfect home records in five of the last seven years. That span includes two home winning streaks of 30 or more games and three of 25 or more.
Since 2011-12, South Dakota State has won 94.6 percent of its home games, a mark that top all Division I programs in that span. South Dakota State won 34 consecutive games from Jan. 30, 2014 to Dec. 28, 2016. It ended as the nation's second-longest active streak.
The Jackrabbits won 30 consecutive home games from Jan. 29, 2011 to Nov. 14, 2013.
SDSU won 26 consecutive home games from Dec. 31, 2016 to Dec. 22, 2018.
South Dakota State won 34 consecutive home nonconference games inside Frost Arena from Dec. 31, 2016 to Dec. 22, 2018. That mark was the fourth-longest active streak when it ended.
SDSU put together undefeated seasons inside Frost Arena the following years: 1984-85 (18-0), 2002-03 (17-0), 2011-12 (14-0), 2012-13 (13-0), 2014-15 (13-0), 2015-16 (12-0) and 2017-18 (15-0).

Quick Hits

SDSU's 93-91 victory over CSU Bakersfield saw five Jackrabbits reach double figures for the first time in 2019-20. The feat last happened Jan. 31, 2019 against Oral Roberts.
State posted back-to-back 50-rebound games to open the season. The last time an SDSU program had 50-plus rebounds in consecutive games was Dec. 15 and 27, 2002 against Finlandia (60) and Fort Lewis (58). The Jacks also had three-straight games with 50-plus rebounds that season: Nov. 23, 29 and 30.
Douglas Wilson's 24 points on Nov. 5 are the most in a Jackrabbit debut dating back to 2000-01, when game-by-game statistics were readily available.
South Dakota State has not lost three consecutive games since January 2017.
SDSU went 13-0 when holding opponents under 70 points last season (11-9 when not) and scored 70-plus points in 32 of 33 contests. The Jackrabbits were 12-0 when holding opponents under 70 points in 2017-18. The Jacks have accomplished the feat twice this year.
At least one Jackrabbit has scored in double figures over the last 379 games dating back to Jan. 12, 2008 at IUPUI when Anthony Cordova had nine points to lead the Jacks.
State has made at least one 3-pointer in 409 consecutive games. The last time the Jackrabbits did not make a 3-point field goal was Jan. 25, 2007
SDSU is 94-18 all-time in home openers (where records available). Dating back to 2004-05, SDSU's first year of DI transition, SDSU is 12-4 in those games.
SDSU is 75-39 in season-openers all-time. The Jacks are 8-8 in season-opening games at the Division I level.

State adds two on National Signing Day
South Dakota State men's basketball announced a pair of signees on National Signing Day, with William Mfum and Noah King set to join the Jackrabbits in fall 2020.

William Mfum enters his senior campaign at Spring Creek Academy (Plano, Texas) on a high note, earning All-Texas Christian Athletic League and All-City First Team honors as a junior. Mfum averaged 19.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in 2018-19, burying 34 3-pointers and hitting 47 percent from the field. The 6-2 guard scored 20 or more points in nine games a year ago and had one double-double. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Mfum is the son of Stella Nyarko and Seth Adjei and plans to major in business management.

Noah King averaged 19 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game as a junior, helping his team reach the section 1AA semifinals. The 6-2 guard has scored over 1,900 points in his prep career and is closing in on the school's all-time scoring record. King also led Caledonia's football team to a state championship in 2018 and will compete in the 2019 Class 2A Minnesota State Football Semifinals next week. The younger brother of current Jackrabbit Owen King, Noah hails from Caledonia, Minnesota and is the son of Brad and Susan King. He is undecided on his major.

Jackrabbits in Two Scheduling Agreements
Summit League teams are in year two of scheduling agreements with the Western Athletic Conference and Big Sky.

The Jackrabbits took on Grand Canyon last year in the first year of the Summit League/WAC challenge, defeating the Lopes in the 2018-19 season opener. Year two of the challenge sent SDSU to face CSU Bakersfield Nov. 9, where the Jacks claimed a 93-91 double-overtime win.

The scheduling agreement with the Big Sky is a four-year contract. The Jackrabbits will play the following games as part of the deal:

2018-19: Montana (home), Eastern Washington (away)
2019-20: Idaho (home), Montana State (away)
2020-21: Eastern Washington (home), Montana (away)
2021-22: Montana State (home), Idaho (away)

Tough Tests
South Dakota State has four Power Five (ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, PAC-12) opponents on the 2019-20 schedule, facing USC, Nebraska, Arizona and Indiana this season.

South Dakota State has seven wins over Power Five programs since joining The Summit League in 2007, picking up victories over Iowa State (2008), Iowa (2010 and 2017), Washington (2011), TCU (2015), Minnesota (2015) and Ole Miss (2017).SDSU's wins over Iowa and Ole Miss in 2017-18 came in the shortest time frame of any Summit League team since 1998 (seven days).

The Jackrabbits are the fifth league team to post a win over separate Power Five conferences in the same regular season, and the first to do it since 2009.

Jacks Picked Fifth in Preseason Poll
South Dakota State men's basketball earned two first-place votes and was tabbed fifth in the 2019-20 Summit League men's basketball preseason poll, released in October.

The poll is voted on by league coaches, sports information directors and select media.

Jackrabbits' Last Time Out
LINCOLN, Neb. -- South Dakota State men's basketball fell to Nebraska, 90-73 Friday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

The Jackrabbits (3-2) dropped the final game of a three-game road swing, shooting 41.4 percent in the game with a trio of double-figure scorers.

Douglas Wilson posted his second double-double of the season with a team-high 15 points and career-high 14 rebounds. Tray Buchanan finished with 13 points, and Brandon Key added 12, dishing three assists as well.

The Jackrabbits saw Nebraska fire out of the gates to a 12-2 lead and were unable to string together a run until the final four minutes. The Jacks were plus-four in that stretch and trailed 51-27 at halftime.

State rode the momentum into the second half to bring the deficit back inside 20 (75-56) near the eight-minute mark after 3-pointers from Alex Arians and David Wingett. The double-figure lead held up for the Huskers though as the Jacks dropped their second-straight game.

SDSU could draw no closer, however, as USC used a flurry of free throws down the stretch to hold off a further charge and escape with the home win.

Opponent Last Time Out
FLORENCE – The University of North Alabama men's basketball team opened the second half on a 12-0 run to grab a double-digit lead, then held off Samford down the stretch for a 61-55 victory Saturday evening at Flowers Hall. The win in front of 1,016 fans gave the Lions a 2-2 record on the season and avenges a season-opening loss to the Bulldogs a year ago.

Four players reached double digits in scoring for UNA, but it was the defense that kept Samford off balance throughout the game. The Bulldogs had 18 turnovers on the night and shot 39 percent from the floor.

Samford (2-3) got two free throws in the final minute of the first half to take a 25-24 lead into the break. The Bulldogs, however, would not score for the first 4:33 of the second half as UNA made its move.

A three-point basket by C.J. Brim gave North Alabama the lead and started the run in which five different players scored. A basket by Jamari Blackmon at the 17:27 mark gave the Lions a 36-25 lead.

Samford slowly chipped away at the deficit, eventually taking a 48-47 lead on a three-pointer with 5:15 remaining. After a trey by Blackmon and a jumper in the paint by the Bulldogs tied the game at 50-50, UNA regained the lead for good on a basket by Brim with 3:38 to play.

Nursing a one-point lead with 1:37 remaining, UNA scored six straight points to take a 60-53 lead into the final minute of play. Samford had three missed shots and a turnover while the Lions got baskets from Christian Agnew and Peyton Youngblood. Agnew and Blackmon then each hit 1-of-2 free throws to give the Lions the seven-point lead with 22 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs would get no closer than five the rest of the way.

UNA hit 42.1 percent from the floor, but struggled from three-point range against the Samford zone. The Lions made just 4-of-23 long-range shots with Blackmon and Brim hitting two treys each. Both scored 12 points to lead the Lions, with Brim getting 10 points in the second half alone.

Agnew added 11 points while Mervin James also reached double figures with 10 points. Emanuel Littles pulled down 12 rebounds and just missed a double-double with six points on the night.

-GoJacks.com-