South Dakota State men’s basketball head coach Eric Henderson picked up his 100th career victory on Sunday as the Jacks split the rivalry matchups with NDSU and USD.
The Jacks (13-1 and 6-3 Summit) moved into a tie with North Dakota for the No. 1 seed in the Summit League as they look ahead to another matchup with Oral Roberts.
“We got to win at the end of the day,” said SDSU head coach Eric Henderson. “And we just got to keep getting better. We have made a couple tweaks as a coaching staff to maybe put our guys in a little bit of a better position. Now honestly, we’re focused right now on our offense and how can we be more efficient.”
North Dakota State
In the first of two rivalry games this past week, the Jacks fell short at home to the Bison on a putback layup with one second to go in overtime.
In a game that saw 16 different lead changes, the first half was controlled by the Bison.
NDSU’s lead grew as much as a double digits in the first 20 minutes of play, but a late 10-3 scoring run by the Jacks cut the lead to three at the halftime break.
But in the closing minutes of the second half, the Bison swung momentum their way, and took a 3-point lead with 10 seconds to go.
The Jacks needed a 3-pointer to push it to overtime, and they got one. Guard Zeke Mayo connected from long range with five seconds to play in regulation.
A missed Bison 3-pointer forced the game to overtime, and after another five minutes of back-and-forth basketball, the Bison were the ones that needed a basket down by one.
A turnover by Mayo with 18 seconds left gave the Bison a chance to win the game, and they did just that.
A missed jump shot from Boden Skunberg led to a putback layup from Noah Feddersen with 1.3 seconds to play. The Jacks missed the game-winner at the buzzer, handing the Bison a 74-73 conference victory in Frost Arena.
Mayo led the Jacks in scoring with 35, followed by 12 from William Kyle III, and another 11 added by Luke Appel.
South Dakota
Following the Bison loss, the Jacks were able to avoid back-to-back rivalry losses by holding off the Coyotes for a 70-67 victory.
Unlike their last matchup, USD guard Kaleb Stewart played a huge role for Yotes, finishing with 27 points. Stewart was a problem for the Jacks in the early going and helped USD build a one-point lead at the halftime break.
It was overall an odd box score as the Jackrabbits held a lead for over 33 minutes of the game.
However, SDSU couldn’t build a lead, as the largest lead they had in the contest was seven points early into the first half.
The Jackrabbits went up by five with 11 seconds remaining and even with a late three from Isaac Bruns with 4 seconds left, there just wasn’t enough time for the Yotes to get a good look at pushing the game to overtime.
Kyle III had a career night, finishing with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. His five blocks were a career high and tied for the second most by a Jackrabbit in the Division I era.
Appel finished with 15 points, shooting a career high in free throws made with seven. Mayo and Charlie Easley each finished with 12 points apiece.
This win also marks the team’s first victory after trailing at halftime this season.
Oral Roberts
The Jacks have just one game this week, a rematch with Oral Roberts inside Frost Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network.
After falling to the Golden Eagles just a few weeks ago, the Jacks have an oppurtunity to avenge that loss on national television.
ORU is currently tied for third in the Summit League, coming into the week with an 11-11 record overall, and 5-4 record in conference play.
The Golden Eagles are one of the better scoring teams in the conference, averaging just over 76 points per contest.
On the other hand, they are in the bottom three when it comes to defense, giving up over 75 points per game.
Oral Roberts is led by Issac McBride, the 6-foot-1 senior guard averages over 20 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest. Jailen Bedford is the team’s second scoring option, averaging nearly 15 points a game.
“[We’re] excited for Oral Roberts to come into town and it was a great game up at their place and we’re looking forward to having them come into Frost Arena,” said Henderson.