The South Dakota State men’s basketball team toppled The Dakota Wesleyan Tigers 78 – 62 this Monday to extend their record to 7-2.
Oscar Cluff led the charge with 20 points following a 10/10 shooting performance and dominated the glass with 12 rebounds.
Cluff is second in the nation in rebounds per game with an 11.8 average and became the first SDSU men’s basketball player to achieve a perfect shooting performance with 10 or more shots.
“He [Cluff] really is [special]… I’ve talked to his junior college coach a lot, and I’ve told him in the time since he has been here I thought that he could lead the country in rebounding” Coach Henderson said. “He’s terrific on both sides of the ball. He’s a terrific offensive rebounder, but he’s an incredible defensive rebounder.”
Freshmen Stoney Hadnot and Jaden Jackson scored 13 and 10 points off the bench and were the point leaders behind Oscar Cluff on a night where the starting 5 faced trouble shooting the ball. Jackson tallied 3 of the 7 total steals the Jackrabbits had on the night.
South Dakota State had a solid blocking performance in which Nate Barnhart and Oscar Cluff both recorded three. Stoney Hadnot, Jaden Jackson, and Matthew Mors also contributed to the effort with a block apiece.
Despite the size advantage the Jackrabbits possessed over the Tigers, defensive rebounding was a struggle throughout the game, with the Jacks giving up 14 offensive rebounds.
“I thought they played with a little bit more edge tonight,” said Henderson. “They were taking a lot of jump shots, we were doing a good job of protecting the paint, so there’s going to be some long rebounds, and that’s when we talk about all 5 guys getting involved in that rebounding.”
The three-ball also was an area where the Jacks struggled, shooting 27.8% from beyond the arc and saw 5 of their 18 attempts land. SDSU currently averages 34.5% from three and will look to return to their average.
Eastern Washington
Rebounding will be the primary area of focus for the team before they host the Eastern Washington Eagles this upcoming Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Washington has 75 offensive rebounds throughout their 8 games played.
Offensive boards for the Eagles have come from many different players, with even their guards playing a big part in the effort. Guard Nic McClain leads the team with 12 this year.
The Eagles are currently 1-7 on the season and are on a 6-game losing streak in the Big Sky Conference. They average 73 points per game while giving up 82.3.
Protecting the ball will be important for the Jacks, with Eastern Washington averaging 8.9 steals a game. The Jackrabbits have averaged 12 turnovers per game so far this season.
Despite Eastern Washingtons’ record, the Jackrabbits will have to remain mentally sharp and continue to play their style of basketball to walk out with the win.
