BROOKINGS Oscar Cluffs career night propelled South Dakota State to a 91-70 win over Denver in the Jackrabbits conference opener on Thursday night at First Bank & Trust Arena.
Cluff had career highs in both points and rebounds as he finished with 30 points and 19 rebounds. Cluff exited the game with just under five minutes to play. Had he grabbed another board Cluff would have become the first Jackrabbit with a 30-20 game since Mike Daum in 2019 and would have been the fourth Division I player this season to have a 20-20 game.
SDSU head coach Eric Henderson said Cluff impacts the game in a lot of different ways.
Hes a weapon, theres no doubt about that, Henderson said. His efficiency is off the charts. He didnt even play 25 minutes and he did what he did. He impacts the game in big ways. Hes a physical presence obviously, but the skill is underrated. He makes everyone around him better and is extremely unselfish and tonight he was pretty amazing.
Denver led 6-2 a minute and a half into the game and then SDSU went on a 17-3 run to go up 19-9 with just over 11 minutes left in the first half. That run extended to 31-7 and the Jacks led 33-13 with 6:34 to play in the half. SDSU eventually took a 46-19 lead into halftime.
The Jacks held the Pioneers to 6-of-30 shooting from the field in the first half. Henderson said his team did a good job of foring Denvers guards to play on the perimiter.
We kept them out of the paint and were challenging them on the arc. Those guards are electric. Theyre dynamic, and I thought we did a great job of keeping them out of the paint and making them shoot challenging shots. We also got first shot rebounds and then we were able to play with great pace, Henderson said.
SDSU led 57-33 six minutes into the second half but the Pioneers then went on a 14-2 run to cut the lead to 59-47 with 11:21 left in the game. The Jacks answered with an 8-0 to push the lead to 20 with 9:20 to play. It was then 71-55 with 7:33 left in the game and SDSU went on a 13-5 run to fully put the game out of reach.
The Jacks shot 52.3% from the field and were 10-of-25 from three. Owen Larson had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Matthew Mors and Stoney Hadnot each had 11 points. Kalen Garry had nine points and Damon Wilkinson had eight points. Joe Sayler also had eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Larson said having a guy like Cluff down low makes things easier for everyone on offense.
When [we throw it to him and] its one-on-one, hes going to get a bucket. If they double, then we have either wide open shots or we can attack closeouts. Its huge having a big guy like him down low, Larson said.
Cluffs 19 rebounds were the seventh most in a game in SDSU history. Hes currently averaging 11.7 rebounds per game, which is fourth in the country. He said there isnt anything specific that he does that helps him grab so many boards.
Its not my jumping because I cant jump. I just try to position myself early. Im always battling for position and once I get that position set, its hard for them to move me around, Cluff said.
There was one thing that Henderson was not happy about on Thursday night and it was the way his team took care of the ball in the second half. SDSU finished with 19 turnovers and the Pioneers scored 21 points off of them.
We got a little stale in the second half and then there were even some moments where we were just nonchalant with the basketball and there were some turnovers that I didnt think were really even forced, Henderson said. We just have to have a little more ball security because thats going to be really important moving forward. 19 turnovers is a recipe for disaster if we continue to do that.
Denver finished the night shooting 34.9% from the field and the Pioneers were 12-of-34 from beyond the arc. Nicholas Shogbonyo led Denver with 18 points. Sebastian Akins had 17 points and six rebounds and DeAndre Craig had eight points.
Cluffs performance on the glass led to a 53-24 advantage in the rebound battle for SDSU. Denver had nine turnovers. The Jacks were 13-of-16 at the free throw line and the Pioneers were 14-of-18.
SDSU will hit the road next. The Jacks will take on St. Thomas on Jan. 8 in St. Paul. The Tommies and Jacks are two of the three teams in the Summit League with a NET ranking in the top 120. The other team is North Dakota State and UST beat the Bison 89-85 on Thursday night in Fargo.
Cluff said the Jacks were trying to make a statement on Thursday night because it was the first conference game and they wanted to show other teams in the Summit League that theyre going to be near the top all season long.
Theres a lot of talk around the Summit League right now about what teams are going to be good and what teams are going to be bad. I think today was kind of a statement game for us. Were trying to let everyone know who we are. They already want to come to our place and beat us, naturally. Were just going to roll with that and show teams who we are, Cluff said.
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