BROOKINGS South Dakota State extended its win streak to four games on Saturday night as the Jackrabbits took care of business against South Dakota in the Interstate Series with a 90-71 win at First Bank & Trust Arena.
The Jacks got off to a fast start as they led 16-5 a little under five minutes into the game. They then pushed the lead to 34-14 with 7:35 left in the first half. SDSU head coach Eric Henderson said he thought his teams ball movement was the key to the hot start.
I think we shared it [well]. We gave up good shots for great shots. We trusted each other and believed in each other. We played inside-out,” he said. “We got multiple guys different touches, and when that happens, when you have multiple guys touching the ball on the same possession, we feel like it gives us energy and maybe it goes in more, and it certainly did tonight for us early.”
South Dakota tried to close the gap towards the end of the first half as the Coyotes cut the lead to 45-32 with 1:32 left in the half. Jaden Jackson then made two free throws and Matthew Mors scored a lay up with 21 seconds left to make SDSUs lead 49-32 at halftime.
The Yotes were hanging around in the first seven minutes of the second half but then SDSU was able to pull away. The Jacks went on a 9-0 run and led 72-49 with 8:36 left. USD got the lead down to 15 with just over five minutes left but SDSU then scored 10 straight points to make it 87-62 and that was the largest lead of the game for the Jacks.
USD head coach Eric Peterson said his team wasnt able to get all the way back in the game because they spotted the Jacks too many points.
Theyre good. Theyre a good team, and when you spot teams points its just hard to catch up. You can get some momentum but good teams usually figure out a way to get fouled or make a key three here and there. Theyre good, Peterson said.
SDSU shot 46.7% from the field and was 4-of-13 from three. Kalen Garry had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead SDSU. Owen Larson and Stoney Hadnot each had career highs with 18 and 14 points, respectively. Mors had 10 points.
Oscar Cluff had 11 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. It was the third straight double-double for Cluff and the seven assists tied his career high. Mors said Cluff does a great job of figuring out what he needs to do to help his team win.
Cluff will do what he needs to do to help the team win. Whether thats scoring, rebounding, passing. Really, we were just getting the ball to him and he was making the right plays. We all just had confidence from that and we knocked down some shots, Mors said.
The Jacks dominated the glass as they had a 49-31 advantage in rebounds. They lead the Summit League in rebounds per game and Mors said they always want to win the rebound battle because that usually results in victories.
I think thats one thing with this squad, were really tough. [Cluff[ obviously helps a lot with that, but I think with all of us, we just know that if we win the rebound battle, then chances are pretty good that well win the game, Mors said.
USD shot 38% from the field and was 4-of-24 from three. Henderson said he thought his team did a good job of keeping the Coyotes out of the paint, especially in the first half.
I thought we protected the paint fairly well. We track some of those numbers and we were doing a good job early of keeping them out of there, and theyre relentless. They have some downhill attack guys, so I thought we did a great job early of shutting some of those driving lanes off, Henderson said.
The Coyotes were led by Chase Forte, Isaac Bruns and Mayuom Buom who each had 11 points. Shey Eberwein and Quandre Bullock each had 10 points.
The Jacks were 16-of-20 at the free throw line and USD was 21-of-30.
SDSU has now won nine-straight games against USD, which is tied for the longest win streak in the rivalry. The Jacks have won 18 of the past 20 meetings between the two teams in Brookings.
The Jacks will hit the road next week with games at North Dakota State on Wednesday and at North Dakota on Saturday. SDSU is now 6-2 in the Summit League after splitting its first four games of conference play. Garry said his team has done a good job of staying engaged throughout the whole game during this win streak.
Were just coming to practice and really just trying to get better every day. Coach [Henderson] has been harping on us to stay engaged. Every possession matters. We have a young team and we kind of relaxed for a couple games, but every possession matters and you have to be ready to go from the jump every game, Garry said.
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