Men's basketball faces Colorado State Tuesday

Tuesday, December 10

Fort Collins, Colo.

8 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. MT

South Dakota State University

Colorado State

Photo by: Joe Elke

12/9/2019 10:14:00 AM | Men's Basketball

GAME 12: South Dakota State (6-5) at Colorado State (6-5)

When	Tuesday, Dec. 10 \| 8 p.m. CST / 7 p.m. MST
Where	Moby Arena \| Fort Collins, Colorado
Live Audio / Radio	Jackrabbits All-Access \| Jackrabbit Sports Network I WNAX 570 AM \| Tyler Merriam
Television / Live Video	Mountain West Network
Live Stats	CSURams.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Colorado State
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook

Previewing the Game
Jackrabbit basketball wraps up the road portion of its 2019-20 nonleague schedule Tuesday, traveling to Fort Collins, Colorado to face Colorado State. South Dakota State and the Rams tip at 8 p.m. CST / 7 p.m. MST from Moby Arena.

South Dakota State (6-5) aims to get back in the winner's column after a pair of setbacks in its last two games, falling 64-50 at Indiana and 77-70 at Montana State.

Colorado State (6-5) is in a similar position, dropping a pair of conference games last week against San Diego State (79-57) and Boise State (75-64).

This is the third meeting all-time between the schools, with SDSU holding a 2-0 edge in the series. The last matchup was a 78-65 Jackrabbit win at the Gulf Coast Showcase in 2018-19.

About South Dakota State
The two-time defending Summit League regular season champions bring a new look to the court in 2019-20 with Eric Henderson patrolling the sidelines and seven newcomers (including two redshirt freshman) making their Jackrabbit debut. The fresh start has yielded positive results through 11 games, as SDSU is averaging 74.5 points per game with a plus-2.7 rebounding margin (39.9 boards per game).

The Jackrabbits are shooting 45 percent from the field and have found their way to the line 231 times, burying 166 from the charity stripe overall.

Douglas Wilson is off to a fast start in his first season at South Dakota State, reaching double figures in nine contests alongside a team-leading 16.5 points per game. That scoring mark ranks fourth in The Summit League, and comes alongside three double-doubles for the Jackrabbits. The two-time NJCAA All-American and 2018-19 NJCAA Player of the Year is adding a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game while shooting 59.2 percent from the field.

Brandon Key (10.8 points per game) has been electric at the point, posting six double-digit scoring performances on the season with 47 assists (4.3 per game). He has a 1.31 assist-to-turnover ratio and is back for the Jackrabbits after redshirting a year ago. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin native had 112 assists in 2017-18.

Matt Dentlinger has turned in a pair of double-doubles in the opening month of the year, most recently in a 17-point, 11-rebound performance against North Alabama. Dentlinger is third on the team with 9.9 points and second at 5.9 rebounds per game. He has sunk 42-of-69 (60.9 percent) from the field, including a run of 13 consecutive makes between the Arizona, Mississippi Valley State and Samford contests (going 8-for-8 against MVSU).

Alex Arians (24.5 minutes per game) and Noah Freidel (23.3 minutes per game) join the three Jackrabbits above as every-game starters.

Arians' 5.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game provide a steady-presence in the three-spot.

Freidel, the 2019 Argus Leader Class A Player of the Year, currently sits sixth on the team in scoring (7.1 points per game) and first in made 3-pointers (17). He has reached double figures in four games, burying five 3-pointers in a win over Samford with a 20-point effort.

Baylor Scheierman, David Wingett and Tray Buchanan have been the top three options off the bench for SDSU.

Wingett (7.2 ppg) has sank 16 3-pointers and has 10 steals, second on the team in swipes behind Brandon Key's 11.
Buchanan is fourth in scoring after back-to-back 15-point games, tallying 7.6 on average with a .564 field goal percentage.

Scheierman has played 19.7 minutes per game in his first collegiate season, dishing 17 assists with 76 points (6.9 per game). The Aurora, Nebraska native has also pulled down 4.5 rebounds per contest and hit eight 3-pointers.

About Colorado State
Colorado State takes a break from Mountain West action this week as South Dakota State comes to town, where the Rams are 3-2 at Moby Arena.

CSU (6-5, 0-2 Mountain West) is averaging 71.3 points per game with a .462 team field goal percentage. The Rams have hit 78-of-220 3-pointers for the year, burying 7.1 treys per game.

Defensively, CSU is allowing 71.2 points on average and opponents are shooting 45 percent in those games, hitting 7.9 3-pointers per game.

Nico Carvacho has been the team's top performer through 11 games, averaging a near-double-double at 13.5 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Carvacho has eight double-figure scoring performances and four double-doubles in 2019-20.

Isaiah Stevens (11.5 points per game) and Adam Thistlewood (10.0 ppg) round out the double-figure scorers for Colorado State, as Stevens has a team-high 38 assists and Thistlewood has sank 22 3-pointers.

Niko Medved is 18-25 in his third season coaching the Rams.

A South Dakota State Win Would ...
Make SDSU 7-5 on the year and 3-0 all-time against Colorado State ... give State a 1,542-1,045-1 program mark.

A South Dakota State Loss Would ...
Deal the Jackrabbits their third-straight loss and move the team to 6-6 on the year ... snap a nearly three-year long streak where SDSU has not lost three consecutive games ... make SDSU 2-1 all-time against Colorado State ... give the Jacks a 1,541-1,046-1 program mark.

SDSU Adjusts Dec. 21 Schedule
South Dakota State men's basketball has announced a time change for its Dec. 21 contest against Idaho. Originally scheduled for 7 p.m., both teams have agreed to shift tip time to noon at Frost Arena.

The move accommodates holiday travel for both programs and respective student-athletes.

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 posted 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 108-6 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.
The Jackrabbits' current home winning streak of 13 games is seventh longest in NCAA Division I.
Since 2011-12, South Dakota State has won 94.7 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 is sixth nationally with 439 rebounds on the year.
South Dakota State has played five games against opponents it had not previously met this year.
The Jackrabbits held Mississippi Valley State to 17 first-half points on Nov. 24, 2019. That is the fewest since South Dakota State held Chadron State to 12 first-half points on Nov. 24, 2014.
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 four times this year and are 3-1 in those contests, with the lone loss coming at Indiana.
At least one Jackrabbit has scored in double figures over the last 385 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 415 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; L, 74-85), Eastern Washington (away; W, 74-64)
2019-20: Idaho (home), Montana State (away; L, 70-77)
2020-21: Eastern Washington (home), Montana (away)
2021-22: Montana State (home), Idaho (away)

Tough Tests
South Dakota State played four Power Five (ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, PAC-12) opponents in the 2019-20 nonleague season, facing USC, Nebraska, Arizona and Indiana in November. Though the Jacks went winless in those games, they led for a majority of the contest at Arizona, and held Indiana (a top-10 scoring offense) to a season-low 64 points.

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
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- South Dakota State men's basketball dropped a hard-fought contest Thursday night at Montana State, 77-70.

The Jackrabbits (6-4) shot 41.9 as a team in front of 4,877 fans, led by four double figure scorers. Douglas Wilson paced the team with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Tray Buchanan matched his career-high with 15 points, hitting 5-of-6 at the line.

David Wingett buried three 3-pointers to finish with 13 points and Brandon Key, who dished a team-high five assists, scored 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers.

Buchanan and Matt Dentlinger each had six rebounds, as Dentlinger tallied three assists and a pair of blocks.

Offense was on display in the first half, with both teams shooting near the 50 percent mark in the frame.

Montana State built a 10-4 lead three minutes into the game with an 8-0 run, but steals from Key and Wilson led to consecutive fast break buckets for SDSU near the under-12 break as the Jacks drew within two, 16-14.

The teams settled into a back-and-forth game from there. South Dakota State pulled within one on eight occasions, eventually going in front 39-38 as Wilson found Buchanan cutting along the baseline for a layup at 1:13. Harald Frey answered on the other end for the Bobcats before the buzzer, though, and the Jackrabbits went to the locker room trailing by one, 40-39.

The second half began with a similar script, as the Bobcats grew their advantage to a game-high 10 (51-41) in the first five minutes, only to see South Dakota State chip away from there.
Free throws from Brandon Key at 10:01 made it a one-possession game (54-51), and three minutes later the Milwaukee, Wisconsin native sank a wide-open 3-pointer to put the Jacks in front, 60-59 as part of a 9-0 SDSU rally.

Ties at 64 and 68 followed as the clock wound down, but the Jackrabbits' comeback effort was thwarted as MSU hit free throws down the stretch and sealed the win with a corner 3-pointer inside the final minute.

Opponent Last Time Out
BOISE, Idaho – A hot start from the three-point arc to open the second half were the difference in the game, as Boise State earned a 75-64 win over Colorado State Saturday night in Boise.
With the loss, the Rams fell to 6-5 overall and 0-2 in the Mountain West, while the Broncos improved to 5-3 and 1-1 in league action.

The Rams started off slow, trailing by eight just over five minutes into the contest. However, CSU continued to work and found a rhythm and eventually went into the halftime break with a 33-32 lead on a David Roddy triple in the final minute. The Broncos opened the second half by hitting 6-of-9 from deep, part of a 9-0 run over 1:11 to go up 53-45 with 13:48 to play. The BSU lead grew to as many as 11 and CSU cut it to five twice but could get no closer over the remainder of the game.

Colorado State finished the game shooting 41.3 percent (26-of-63) from the field and just 28.0 percent (7-of-25) from the three-point line. Boise State was 43.5 percent (27-of-62) from the floor, but a solid 35.7 percent (10-of-28) from the arc, including 8-of-14 in the second half. The Broncos won the boards 39-37.

Colorado State had just two players in double figure as redshirt-senior Nico Carvacho and freshman David Roddy each had 11 points, with the pair combining for 17 rebounds in the game. Boise State was led by Justinian Jessup with 27 points, while Derrick Alston Jr. had 20.

-GoJacks.com-