The South Dakota State men’s basketball team split last week’s road trip, but a few key upcoming matchups could decide the regular-season conference title.

“Certainly, had a great win up at North Dakota State,” said SDSU head coach Eric Henderson. “Got knocked down a little bit in Grand Forks on Saturday. Sometimes you’ve got to give credit where credit is due, and I thought coach [Paul] Sather did a terrific job and had his team ready to go.”

The Jacks will take on the St. Thomas Tommies today, a team that’s currently tied with Omaha for the top seed in the Summit League standings.

Tip-off inside First Bank & Trust Arena is set for 7 p.m. and can be viewed on the Summit League Network through Midco Sports Plus.

North Dakota State

Facing an early double-digit deficit on the road, South Dakota State powered its way back for a 72-62 victory over the North Dakota State Bison.

Through the first 10 minutes of the game, the Jacks came out flat, scoring just eight points. NDSU’s Jacari White cashed in an and-1 to push the lead to 13 and things started to look like a Bison beatdown.

However, SDSU completely flipped the script for the rest of the half with the help of a 20-0 run in just five minutes. The Jacks held the lead the entire second half to steal the victory in Fargo.

Senior center Oscar Cluff led the comeback effort posting 23 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists, shooting 10-of-14 from the floor. Joe Sayler tacked on 19 points, hitting four shots from beyond the arc, Kalen Garry collected 12 points and five rebounds while Owen Larson tallied 10 points and four boards in the win.

NDSU’s Jackson Moni recorded 19 points and eight rebounds, while Tajavis Miller added 14 points off the bench for the Bison.

North Dakota

Eyeing up a 2-0 weekend in North Dakota, SDSU came out sluggish again but this time unable to make a comeback, falling in Grand Forks 80-75.

Despite beating this same North Dakota team just three weeks ago in Brookings 109-73, it was a completely different story in round two and the biggest factor was the offense.

The Jacks put up 59 points against the Fighting Hawks on Jan. 16 but could only muster 35 points on Saturday, allowing North Dakota and its excellent shooting performance to build a 15-point halftime lead.

The Jacks made it interesting late in the game but never got closer than a six-point deficit, losing a much-needed game to the Fighting Hawks.

Oscar Cluff had a quiet night scoring but was dominant on the rebounding yet again, posting ten points and 19 rebounds, Joe Sayler added 20 points, Kalen Garry had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists while Owen Larson collected ten points five assists and four rebounds in the loss.

UND’s Eli King tallied a game-high 24 points while Treysen Eaglestaff had 19 points in the win.

The Fighting Hawks hit 10-of-19 shots from beyond the arc for the game as well.

St. Thomas

South Dakota State has just one game this week but an important one when it comes to the conference standings, a second bout with the Tommies from St. Thomas.

UST has cruised through conference play thus far with just one loss through nine Summit League games, an 89-78 road loss against top-seeded Omaha on Jan. 23.

The Tommies bring the second highest-scoring offense (84.6 ppg) in the Summit League to Brookings today and Coach Henderson knows the Jackrabbit defense will be tested.

“They really share the basketball,” said Henderson. “They have a nine-man rotation and every one of their players averages over one assist a game in league play. They can shoot the ball, so we’ll have to do a good job of guarding the arc and making sure we challenge them.”

The first dance between the Jacks and Tommies was a classic in St. Paul, with UST taking the victory 73-72, after SDSU forward Matthew Mors’ potential game-winning three was released just after the final buzzer.

“That day, we wished the clock was a little bit longer and the game was about 0.3 seconds longer is what we were hoping but it was a helluva game down there,” said Henderson.

St. Thomas’ balanced scoring attack is propelled by Miles Barnstable averaging nearly 15 points per game. Kendall Blue, a six-foot-six junior tallies 12 points per contest, Drake Dobbs and Nolan Minessale each net 11 points on average, while forward Carter Bjerke tallies nine points and eight rebounds a game as well.