South Dakota State is headed to their third consecutive NCAA National Championship after they defeated the South Dakota Coyotes 97-87 in the Summit League final.
Summit League Freshman of the Year, David Jenkins Jr., led the way for SDSU with 29 points and six rebounds. Jenkins Jr. was also named to the all-Summit League Tournament team.
“It feels good. I think just part of that was my guys hitting me when they needed to and just being aggressive at all times,” Jenkins Jr. said of the honor.
Mike Daum was in foul trouble for much of the first half. Daum checked out with 11:11 left to play in the first half.
Without the leading scorer in the Summit League, it might have been South Dakota’s window of opportunity. It wasn’t.
Instead, without Daum, the Summit League Most Valuable Player and tournament MVP, the Jacks went on a 27-17 run to end the first half.
Senior forward Reed Tellinghuisen also got back on track Tuesday night scoring 18 points. It was the highest point total for Tellinghuisen since Jan. 11 against Oral Roberts when he scored 24 points.
Tellinghuisen had his second double-double of the season as he corralled 11 rebounds.
Junior point guard Brandon Key came into the game against USD averaging four shot attempts per game and 5.8 points per game. Key shot the ball 12 times and scored 10 points and managed to find his teammates for six assists.
Senior guard Lane Severyn provided yet another spark for the Jacks against the Coyotes with five points and knocking down a three-pointer with a Coyote defender in his face.
In the past two showdowns this season between the teams, Matt Mooney torched the Jacks for an average of 31.5 points per game.
On Tuesday, Mooney scored 30 points, but shot the ball 26 times.
“To Coyote fans, it doesn’t help but I’m sorry. I played really bad,” Mooney said after the game.
But, Mooney didn’t play bad. He led the way for the Coyotes and added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals to his game-high 30 points.
“He didn’t have a bad performance … Matt is a perfectionist,” head coach Craig Smith said. “That’s why he’s Matt.”
The Coyotes had two other players in double figures.
Junior forward Tyler Hagedorn had 15 points and knocked down three shots beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Tyler Peterson also had 15 points for the Coyotes and added six rebounds to his total.
As a team, the Coyotes shot just 37 percent, while the Jacks shot 47 percent.
There were 11,114 fans in attendance, which set a Summit League Basketball Championship record. The record mark fell just short of the maximum capacity of 12,000 fans.
Up next, the Coyotes will hope for a National Invitational Tournament Invitation. They didn’t receive an automatic bid for the NIT as they didn’t win the Summit League Regular Season, but they appear to be on the bubble for an at-large bid.
“If we get a NIT bid, that would be great,” Smith said after the game.
As for the Jacks, they will await their fate at 5 p.m. Sunday, March 11. That’s when the selection show on CBS will determine what seed the Jacks will receive, which will also dictate who they play and where they travel.
Otzelberger hasn’t looked forward to that day yet.
“I’ve had people say it could be a 12 or a 13 (seed) in that range,” Otzelberger said. “At this point in the year, what I’m worried about and focused on is that our guys that we continue to improve.”
