BROOKINGS – The South Dakota State men were happy to be back at Frost Arena on Thursday night as the Jackrabbits blew out North Dakota, 96-73.
SDSU (13-11, 8-4) played its past three games on the road and in the Jacks first game back at home they shot a season-high 61.7% from the field and were 14-of-24 on three’s. Jackrabbit head coach Eric Henderson said he thought it was the best the Jacks have played on offense all season.
“It sure felt good to be back at Frost Arena and in front of our great fans. … When you make shots that’s certainly a big part of [success on offense]. We made a big emphasis of putting the ball in the paint too and still scored 44 points in the paint. The balance was good. We had six guys in double figures and it’s been a long time since we’ve done that. So, when you have balance and you score inside and you score outside, it probably was our best [offensive performance of the season],” he said.
Redshirt freshman Matthew Mors led the Jacks with a career-high 23 points. Mors, a native of Yankton who transferred from Wisconsin, had a bit of a tough start to the season but has come along in conference play. He said his play has grown as he’s become more confident.
“It takes awhile [to get the confidence going], just being new and involved in a different program. But we’ve taken steps as a team and I’ve just been able to step along with them and they’ve been helping the whole way,” Mors said.
Henderson said if Mors can continue to play like that it will change how teams have to guard his offense.
“Everybody forgets that he’s a freshman and the expectations are just so high,” Henderson said. “It takes some time. This year was his first year of college basketball and you can see him loosening up and everything is slowing down for him. … [Teams] have to make some tougher choices if he’s going to continue to play with that amount of confidence and that amount of aggressiveness and be efficient the way he was. It just gives the other team some tougher choices.
“When you’re not aggressive and passive, [teams] can maybe stuff the paint a little bit more. But he’s loosening up, and we try not to handcuff any of our guys and try to give a bunch of confidence to every one of them. But they also have to feel that success and feel those plays be successful. It is a combination of that and hopefully tonight helped that.”
The Jacks got off to a hot start as they led 9-2 just over four minutes into the game. UND then went on a 7-2 run and cut the lead to 11-9 with 12 minutes left in the first half. SDSU would work its way back to a seven-point lead thanks to seven-straight points from Mors.
SDSU then led 30-25 with just under four minutes to play in the first half and would outscore UND 14-10 the rest of the half and took a 44-35 lead into the locker room.
The Jacks then really got things going in the second half as they began the half on a 13-5 run to take a 57-40 lead with 15:33 left in the game. SDSU’s largest lead of the game was the final score as the lead gradually grew throughout the second half.
Mors was one of six players that scored in double figures on Thursday night for SDSU. Zeke Mayo had a 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Matt Dentlinger had 13 points and William Kyle III had 12 points and seven rebounds. Matt Mims had 11 points.
Junior guard Charlie Easley made his return to the SDSU lineup on Thursday after missing 13 games with a foot injury. Easley scored 11 points and was 3-for-3 on 3-pointers. Henderson said having Easley back in the lineup gives his team more confidence.
“I think [Easley] being back brought some energy and excitement for everybody. He’s been a big part of our team the past three years and he’s a tremendous player. Everybody feels bad when something bad happens to someone like that and to have him back, it brought a shot of confidence to our group and we played like that tonight,” Henderson said.
UND shot 44% from the field and was 10-of-32 from three. The Fighting Hawks were led by Tsotne Tsartsidze who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. B.J. Omot and Matt Norman each had 17 points. Brady Danielson had 11 points.
SDSU scored 44 points in the paint, while UND had 30. The Jacks won the rebound battle 37-25. SDSU had 10 turnovers and was 8-9 at the free throw line. The Fighting Hawks had six turnovers and was 7-11 at the line. SDSU outscored UND 11-2 in fast break points.
The Jacks also saw the return of Alex Arians on Thursday as he missed the past three games due to personal reasons. Henderson said having Arians and Easley back gives SDSU a sense that the Jacks are going to be playing their best basketball in March.
“You want to be at full strength and you want to be playing your best basketball at the end of the year, especially in leagues like ours that our one-bid leagues. We play every game to win, but we also are cognizant of that we want to be playing the best at our end of the year,” Henderson said.
Up next, SDSU will welcome North Dakota State (9-14, 6-5) to Frost Arena. The Bison will be coming off of a 71-62 loss to USD that they suffered on Thursday night. The past 10 meetings between the Jacks and Bison have been decided by six points or less, including a 65-59 NDSU win earlier this season. Mayo said he’s excited for the environment on Saturday and hopes to get revenge.
“It’s going to be a fun one. [NDSU] has a great squad and a great coaching staff. I’m really looking forward to it and we’re hoping for that revenge,” Mayo said.
