Men's basketball heads for Denver

Wednesday, January 8

Denver, Colo.

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

South Dakota State University

Denver

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

1/6/2020 2:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball

GAME 19: South Dakota State (11-7, 2-1) at Denver (4-13, 0-3)

When	Wednesday, Jan. 8 \| 8 p.m. CST / 7 p.m. MST
Where	Magness Arena \| Denver, Colo.
Live Audio / Radio	Jackrabbits All-Access \| Jackrabbit Sports Network I WNAX 570 AM \| Tyler Merriam
Television / Live Video	Altitude 2 \| Pioneers All-Access \| Todd Romero & Greg Lackey
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Denver
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook

Previewing the Game
South Dakota State heads West this week in search of its third-straight victory. The Jackrabbits travel to Denver to face the Pioneers Wednesday at 8 p.m. CST / 7 p.m. CST.

South Dakota State (11-7, 2-1 Summit League) opened 2020 with back-to-back offensive showcases, Oral Roberts (96-79) and Western Illinois (91-56) at home.

Denver (4-13, 0-3 Summit League) has dropped eight straight contests, most recently in a narrow 80-78 setback at South Dakota.

The Jackrabbits lead the all-time series with Denver, 16-6, and have won six straight in the series. SDSU is 5-4 in series matchups at Magness Arena.

About South Dakota State
Growth and competition were areas of focus throughout the 2019-20 nonconference slate and head coach Eric Henderson's first two months at the helm. After securing a winning nonleague record, the Jacks are in their third week of Summit League play looking to build on those two areas.

South Dakota State has blended seven newcomers and nine underclassman into a roster with six returning letterwinners, framing together a defensive unit that has held opponents to 69.4 points per game. The Jacks have limited opponents to under 60 in seven games, including the final three of nonleague play against Nebraska-Kearney, Florida Gulf Coast and Idaho.

Offensively, the Jackrabbits are shooting 47.3 percent with 134 3-pointers, third-most among Summit League teams. SDSU has buried 235 of its 342 free throw efforts and is 10-1 in games where it shoots more free throws than its opponents.

Douglas Wilson is one of two Jackrabbits averaging double figures, leading the team with 17.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest. The Des Moines, Iowa native has five 20-plus scoring performances and four double-doubles, sinking 10 or more field goals in four games. He is third in the Summit League in scoring entering the weekend. The two-time NJCAA All-American and 2018-19 NJCAA Player of the Year is shooting 61.7 percent from the field.

Matt Dentlinger, second on the team with 10.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest, has turned in a trio of double-doubles, most recently in a 12-point, 10-board performance against Idaho. A 57.1 percent shooter, Dentlinger put together a run of 13 consecutive makes between the Arizona, Mississippi Valley State and Samford contests (going 8-for-8 against MVSU). He set a new career high with 18 points against Oral Roberts and followed that game with another double-figure scoring performance (14) against Western Illinois.

Alex Arians and Noah Freidel have elevated their play in the last month and are both shooting over 45 percent from the field.

Arians has started all 18 games and is fifth on the team in scoring at 8.6 points per game, sinking 20 3-pointers to go with 102 rebounds (5.7 per game), 25 assists and 18 steals. The Madison, Wisconsin guard has posted four consecutive double-figure scoring games and scored 10 or more in five of his last six appearances, including a double-double against WIU on Jan. 4.

Freidel, the 2019 Argus Leader Class A Player of the Year, sits third on the team in scoring (9.4 points per game) and first in 3-pointers (34) after a pair of 20-plus scoring performances to start Summit League play. From Tea, South Dakota, Freidel scorched the nets for 28 with six 3-pointers at Omaha and followed it with 23 points and four 3-pointers against Oral Roberts. He has buried five or more 3s in two games this year, and has come up with 12 steals and 19 assists.

Brandon Key (9.2 points per game) has been a catalyst at the point, posting four or more assists in 11 games, including five straight entering league action. Though he did not play in SDSU's first three Summit League games, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin guard has six double-digit scoring games with 71 total assists, dishing 4.7 per contest. Key holds a 1.6 assist-to-turnover mark and is back for the Jackrabbits after redshirting a year ago. He had 112 assists in 2017-18.

David Wingett (8.4 points per game) has started the last five contests and is currently second on the team with 33 3-pointers. The Winnebago, Nebraska native is one of six Jackrabbits with double-digit steals (12), sitting tied for fourth (alongside Freidel) in swipes behind Arians (18), Key (16) and Wilson (16).

Baylor Scheierman has 13 3-pointers and 31 assists in his first collegiate season, averaging 6.1 points over 19.1 minutes per contest. The Aurora, Nebraska guard has also pulled down 4.4 boards on average, helping SDSU to a plus-4.9 rebounding margin at 39.7 boards per contest.

About Denver
Winless in its last eight contests, Denver welcomes South Dakota State to town looking to change its fortunes. The Pioneers are averaging 64.4 points per game and are minus-8.7 in scoring margin. On the boards, DU is minus-2.9 in rebounding margin at 32.9 per game.

Jase Townsend and Ade Murkey are averaging double figures at 15.9 and 14.7 points per game, respectively. Townsend is a 46.3 percent shooter with a team-best 35 3-pointers, adding 5.2 rebounds per game with 31 assists. Murkey has a team-best 5.5 rebounding average and is shooting 47.1 percent from the field with 21 steals.

Robert Jones (7.4 points per game) and David Nzekwesi (6.9 points per game) round out the top scorers.

Roscoe Eastmond has 52 assists as the top distributor.

Rodney Billups is in his fourth season leading Denver and holds a 43-64 record on the bench.

A South Dakota State Win Would ...
Make SDSU 12-7 on the year, 3-1 in Summit League play and 17-6 all-time against Denver ... hand the Jacks their seventh-straight win over the Pioneers ... give SDSU a 1,547-1,047-1 program mark.

A South Dakota State Loss Would ...
Drop the Jackrabbits to 11-8 on the year and 2-2 in Summit League play ... snap a two-game winning streak ... make the Jacks 16-6 all-time against Denver and end a six-game winning streak in the series ... give the Jacks a 1,546-1,048-1 program mark.

Trending Up
The past six games have shown a noticeable uptick in several statistical areas for the Jackrabbits, most notably the team's 3-point shooting and overall shooting percentage.

After sinking just 79 3-pointers through the first 12 games of the season (at a clip of 29 percent), SDSU is 55-of-136 from deep dating back to its Dec. 13 contest with Nebraska-Kearney. The Jacks have shot 40.4 percent as a team in that span with four players sinking five or more treys.
SDSU has taken better shot selection of late, leading to an increase of nearly seven points per game. Additionally, SDSU is shooting 52.2 percent of its last six contests compared to 44.8 percent through the first 12 games.
In line with better shot selection, SDSU has seen an uptick in assists per game (12.8 to 16.2) and a decrease in turnovers per contest (14.8 to 11.0).
After averaging 7.5 and 6.2 points through 12 games, respectively, Noah Freidel and Alex Arians have seen their scoring averages rise to 13.3 and 13.5 points per contest.
Freidel (15), David Wingett (15) and Arians (11) have lit up the nets from deep over the last six games.

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.

On the Line
The Jackrabbits have seen a trend develop through 16 games of its 2019-20 schedule related to the free throw line.

Though SDSU is shooting just 68.7 percent as a team at the charity stripe, the Jackrabbits are 10-1 in games where they attempt more free throws than their opponent. Additionally, State is 1-7 in the seven games where opponents have gotten to the line more.

SDSU has held opponents to single-digit attempts four times this season, including back-to-back games against Nebraska-Kearney (four attempts) and Florida Gulf Coast (eight attempts).

Basketball Coaches Show Every Monday
The Jackrabbit Basketball Coaches Show is live at Cubby's Sports Bar and Grill in downtown Brookings Monday evenings at 6 p.m.. The hour-long show covering the 2019-20 basketball season tips off every Monday through March 2.

Hosted by Tyler Merriam, the weekly look at the South Dakota State basketball teams features interviews with head men's coach Eric Henderson and head women's coach Aaron Johnston, as well as segments with Jackrabbit student-athletes and members of the coaching staff.

Fans can attend in person and will be eligible for weekly drawings.

The show also airs live on flagship radio station WNAX 570 AM and Jackrabbit Sports Network affiliates, and can be heard live or on-demand for free via Jackrabbits All-Access and the Jackrabbit App.

#FearFrost

The Jacks own a 113-6 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 18 games is tied for fourth-longest in NCAA Division I.
Since 2011-12, South Dakota State has won 95 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

Douglas Wilson led the team in points (25), rebounds (10), steals (two) and blocks (four), and was tied for the lead in assists (four) against Oral Roberts Jan. 2.
The Jackrabbits have trailed for less than one minute in five games this season, including three straight to end nonleague play.
SDSU is first nationally with 714 rebounds on the year, tallying 40 or more boards in nine games.
Douglas Wilson is fifth nationally with 127 field goals this season, ranking 21st in field goal percentage and 22nd in total points.
South Dakota State has played five games against opponents this year it had not previously met.
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.
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 eight times this year and are 7-1 in those contests, with the lone loss coming at Indiana.
At least one Jackrabbit has scored in double figures over the last 392 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 422 consecutive games. The last time the Jackrabbits did not make a 3-point field goal was Jan. 25, 2007
South Dakota State is 94-18 all-time in home openers (where records available). Dating back to 2004-05, SDSU's first year of DI transition, the Jacks are 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. The Jackrabbits are 7-6 in Summit League openers.

Jackrabbits Featured on All-Decade Teams
Former Jackrabbits Mike Daum and Nate Wolters were featured on All-Decade Teams, announced Dec. 31 as 2019 came to an end.

CollegeInsider.com featured Daum and Wolters on the Lou Henson Award team, while Daum also earned Lute Olson Award All-Decade team honors from the organization.

Mid-Major Madness also tabbed Daum as one of 10 selections to its all-decade squad.

Daum posted a 22.4 career scoring average and poured in 3,067 points, closing his time as Division I's No. 7 all-time scorer. He was a 2018-19 consensus All-American and a three-time Summit League Player of the Year.

Wolters wreaked havoc on defenses and closed his career with 2,352 points, 668 assists and 601 rebounds. He was a two-time Associated Press All-American, earning third-team honors as a senior, and picked up a second team NABC All-American nod in 2013.

Mfum Enrolls Early; Will Redshirt
Jackrabbit men's basketball signee William Mfum has enrolled at South Dakota State for the spring 2020 semester and will redshirt with the team. He is eligible to practice throughout the semester, and will look to make his debut in the 2020-21 season.

William Mfum graduated in December from Spring Creek Academy (Plano, Texas). Mfum will redshirt this semester and practice with the team after leaving Spring Creek 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.

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).

Jackrabbits in Two Scheduling Agreements
Summit League teams are in year two of scheduling agreements with the Western Athletic Conference and Big Sky, and this year claimed a 5-3 win in the WAC series.

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; W, 85-57), 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
South Dakota State men's basketball rolled past Western Illinois Saturday, 91-56, as all five starters scored in double figures at the 2020 Lamb Bonanza inside Frost Arena.

Douglas Wilson led the attack with 19 points, shooting 9-of-13 from the field. Alex Arians tallied his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 assists.

David Wingett finished with a career-high 15 points, thanks in part to a fast start that saw the Winnebago, Nebraska guard tally 10 points through the opening seven and a half minutes of action.

Matt Dentlinger dished out a team-leading four assists alongside 14 points, while Noah Freidel added with 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.

SDSU (11-7, 2-1 Summit League) broke 90 and shot better than 55 percent for the second-straight game, while tallying 10-plus 3-pointers for the fourth consecutive contest.

Even at 10 through the opening five minutes, a Wilson layup opened a run of 11 unanswered for the Jacks, who gained a 21-10 separation early thanks to Wingett's hot start.

SDSU endured a nearly three-minute scoreless drought midway through the half, but used a stout defensive effort to keep the Leathernecks down double digits. Trading scores the rest of the half, State took a 40-26 lead into the locker room.

Out of the break, the Jacks rattled off an 11-2 run on the way to their first 20-point lead of the day (57-37) on a Scheierman jumper at 13:47, but couldn't shake the Leathernecks, who fought back to within 15 (62-47) with a burst of eight unanswered near the under-12 media break.

The Jacks, however, put the game on ice with an 18-0 run of their own that started with a pair of Dentlinger free throws at 10:33 and closed with a Wingett free throw at 5:22.

Ahead 80-47 at that point, SDSU emptied its bench, continued the hot shooting, and closed out its 18th straight home victory.

Opponent Last Time Out
VERMILLION, S.D. – The University of Denver men's basketball team gave South Dakota all it could handle before falling 80-78 on Sunday at the Sanford Coyote Sport Center. The Pioneers fought their way back into with a strong second half, nearly erasing an 11-point Coyote deficit.

Jase Townsend had it going, finishing with a game-high 26 points and nine rebounds. The Dallas native was an efficient 9-for-11 shooting on the day, going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.

It was the fifth time in the last seven games the former Skyline High standout has recorded at least 22 points.

Ade Murkey added 19 points and seven rebounds.

DU got a third scoring effort from Robert Jones, who notched 15 points, his first game in double figures since Nov. 30.

USD was led by Summit League leading-scorer Tyler Hagedorn, who poured in 26 points.

The Crimson and Gold's 78 points scored marked a season high.

South Dakota jumped out in front quick with a 10-2 run in the first 2:37, forcing Denver to call a timeout to talk things over. The Pioneers came and got a bucket from Jones to snap the Coyote run.

USD took its first double digit lead midway through the opening 20 minutes after a layup from Stanley Umude, giving him five points on the afternoon.

A three-point play from Jones kept it close for DU, making it 33-26 South Dakota. For the freshman big man, it was his seventh point of the day.

Pioneers held ground rest of the half, going into the break trailing 38-31.

Ball security was key for the Crimson and Gold, finishing with just five turnovers in the half.
Townsend kept up his scoring ways, pouring in 11 points in 18 minutes of action.

Denver opened strong, cutting the USD lead to four at 42-38 after a 3 from Taelyr Gatlin at the 16:45 mark.

South Dakota responded with a 5-0 run of its own to take a nine-point advantage into the under-16 media timeout, up 47-38.

Tyler Peterson gave the Coyotes their big lead of the evening at 59-48 after converting a three-point play at the 10:53 mark.

But the Pioneers showed their mettle, going on a 24-15 run over the next nine minutes to make it two-point contest late, trailing 74-72 with 1:13 left on the clock. The combination of Jones, Murkey and Townsend was the key during the run, getting to the line and being aggressive at the rim.

Denver had a chance late after Townsend stole the ball on a Coyote possession, resulting in Murkey getting fouled and going to the line. The senior only converted one of his free throw chances, making it a 76-74 game.

But South Dakota followed with two free throws from Cody Kelley and DU never got closer than two the rest of the way after being forced to foul.

Last Matchup: SDSU vs Denver (2/3/19)
DENVER -- Skyler Flatten scored a career-high 36 points, Mike Daum tallied his 15th double-double of the season and the Jackrabbit men's basketball team took down Denver Sunday afternoon, 92-82.

Flatten hit eight 3-pointers and finished 14-of-18 from the field inside Magness Arena, burying the third-most 3-pointers for a single-game in South Dakota State's Division I history.

Daum scored 28 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, moving into the top 15 on the NCAA's all-time scoring chart while passing Mark Tetzlaff to claim SDSU's career rebounding record.

Tevin King (12 points) and David Jenkins (11 points) rounded out the top Jackrabbit scorers, as King dished four assists and Jenkins hit a trio of 3s.

Owen King led SDSU with five assists over 20 minutes of action.

South Dakota State improved to 19-6 on the season and 9-1 in Summit League play, maintaining a 1.5-game lead over Omaha while sitting two games ahead of Purdue Fort Wayne in the league standings.

Denver (7-16, 2-7 Summit League) was led by David Nzekwesi's 21 points and Ronnie Harrell Jr.'s nine rebounds.

The Jackrabbits and Pioneers traded buckets through the opening five minutes, drawing even five times before a 3-point play gave Denver a brief 13-10 lead at 14:46. That deficit was short-lived for State, however, as Skyler Flatten scored 13 of the next 15 Jackrabbit points (including seven unanswered) as SDSU built a 25-18 lead before the under-eight break.

The Pioneers cut it to four (25-21) moments later, but the Jacks continued to hit and went up 33-21 over the next four minutes, forcing a Denver timeout at 4:31 after a Jenkins 3-pointer capped an 8-0 Jackrabbit run.

Ahead 42-31 at the half, South Dakota State used a barrage of 3-pointers over the final 20 points to pull away for good, hitting nine from deep in the second frame.

Tevin King put the Jacks up 20 (57-37) at 15:31 after a 3-point play began with a highlight reel steal-and-slam, and two minutes later State saw its lead reach a game-high 25 (65-40) as Flatten buried his fifth 3-pointer of the day.

The Pioneers found their stroke down the stretch and climbed back within 10 inside the final minute, but the Jackrabbits' double-figure advantage held up as SDSU claimed its eighth-straight victory.

-GoJacks.com-