BROOKINGS William Kyle III enjoyed a 9-for-9 shooting performance and South Dakota State shot 69 percent as a team as they defeated Montana State 89-61 in their second game of the Big Sky Summit Challenge at Frost Arena on Saturday night.
The Jackrabbits efficiency from the floor was historic as their 69 percent shooting percentage was the second-highest in school history since they moved to Division I at the start of the 2008-09 academic year and Kyles performance set a school record for shooting percentage with a minimum of nine shots in a game.
Ive had games like that before but nothing that was like this, Kyle III said after the game. I didnt know in the moment that I didnt miss a shot, but it was pretty cool to go 9-for-9 and get the win.
The Jacks opened the game with a 9-2 run and displayed a constant ability to get to the rim. Although Montana State cut the lead to 9-7 on a jumper by Tyler Patterson with 15:41 left in the first half and trailed 16-13 on Eddie Turner IIIs 3-pointer with 13:42 left in the first half, SDSU went on a 10-3 run to take a 26-16 lead with 10:03 left in the first half.
The Jacks turned on the jets from there, going on a 19-0 run that broke the game open and led to a 49-26 lead at halftime.
Henderson praised the efforts of Zeke Mayo for leading the offense after finish with 19 points, six rebounds, seven assists and no turnovers in the game but it was Kyle III who was the main beneficiary with 14 points and four dunks in the first half.
We did a great job of getting downhill and our guards just made the opposite big man commit, SDSU head coach Eric Henderson said of his teams shooting. We just did a great job of passing the basketball, made the right reads and the timing of our reads was at a really high level.
After Kyle opened the second half with two more dunks, he finished the game 21 points with six rebounds in 19 minutes as SDSU out-scored Montana State 40-35 in the second half to seal the victory.
Henderson also commended Kyle III after the game, tracing his recent improvement to when the Jacks returned from the Jacksonville Classic in November. While Kyle III was in a reserve role at the beginning of the month, he re-entered the starting lineup after a change in his mindset.
We were able to have some communications and talks about how you can be at your best, Henderson said. It was really just a change in his mindset that this isnt about scoring. This is about our team. This is about others being successful and when he started to play with that mentality instead of Oh, I need to score this, or I need to do this,…it really improved his game.
Kyle IIIs comments after the game echoed that mentality as he credited his teammates for finding him and a patient approach that has produced more quality shots.
I wouldnt say I was selfish but Im definitely just being patient now, Kyle III said. I feel likeat the start of the year, I wouldnt take the best shots and there were some games where I went 1-for-11. But I feel like now Im being patient and just sharing the ball and its coming back to me.
Kyle III is just one of several Jackrabbits improving as they return to Summit League play next week. Luke Appel finished with 11 points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal in the win and Matthew Mors and Matt Mims finished with nine points each.
While Brian Goracke led the Bobcats with 13 points and four rebounds, the Jacks got another dose of confidence from Saturdays win, days after losing to Weber State on a last-second shot by Dillon Jones on Wednesday night.
Obviously winning is fun and we never celebrate losing, butthis team since Christmas break has been a lot more connected than its ever been, Henderson said. We need to keep growing obviously but we went up to Weber State and it was a terrific game and a terrific atmosphere. We just fell a little short. But to be able to bounce back and beat a good Montana State team the way we did, I was really proud of them.
The Jacks, who are now 8-8 on the season, will return to action when they travel to St. Thomas on Thursday night.
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