The South Dakota State men’s basketball team reached the century mark for the third time this season, knocking off the St. Thomas Tommies, 102-86.
The 16-point win marks the largest loss of the season for St. Thomas, all while avenging the Jacks prior loss to UST, a one-point win for the Tommies on Jan. 8.
SDSU improved to 7-3 in Summit League play with the win on a night where South Dakota State’s star center Oscar Cluff was quiet in the stat sheet, showing off the depth and versatility of the young group.
“We’re a ‘Next man up’ mentality type of squad,” said SDSU head coach Eric Henderson. “If Oscar doesn’t necessarily have his night or if he’s in foul trouble which was a big factor tonight, we’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves putting somebody else in, let’s go.”
But it wasn’t easy going for the Jacks in Thursday’s statement win, SDSU trailed by nine points just over five minutes into the game. Coach Henderson said postgame that the turnovers offensively were hurting the Jacks defensively as well.
“Most of it started with turning the basketball over in the first half and then they were able to get downhill and score on our defense that wasn’t set,” coach Henderson said. “They scored 26 points in the paint in the first half and a lot of them were uncontested layups.”
The Tommies shot nearly 57% from the floor in the first half, but after the Jacks’ halftime adjustments, that dropped to 40% from the field in the second half. On the other side, SDSU scored 61 points in the final 20 minutes, shooting over 66% from the floor and a season-high 52.6% from three-point range.
“We were a little disappointed with how we guarded the paint in the first half,” said coach Henderson. “We talked about trying to keep that ball out of there and we took care of the ball. We got a shot on all but four possessions.”
Owen Larson made his presence felt the most in the second half, exploding for 16 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field, adding five rebounds. Matthew Mors scored all 13 of his points in the second half as well.
“Late in the first half, at about the eight minutes, I got downhill once and hit a layup and that kind of got me in the zone,” said Larson, who finished with 22 points on the night.”
But the guys that made the biggest difference in the win came off the bench. Redshirt freshman Damon Wilkinson, freshman Stoney Hadnot and freshman Jaden Jackson combined for 25 points and eight rebounds, playing in much largerroles than the last time these teams squared off.
“I’d probably be silly if I didn’t mention our young guys,” said SDSU head coach Eric Henderson. “Oscar didn’t have his best night as a Jackrabbit, but for some of our young guys, in particular Damon [Wilkinson], Stoney [Hadnot], obviously what Owen [Larson] did, Jaden Jackson. How they stepped up was pretty special.”
Another freshman in the starting lineup, Joe Sayler, dropped 16 points in the win. Kalen Garry played over 36 minutes and netted 16 points. Wilkinson totaled 10 points, four rebounds and two assists while Cluff had nine points and five rebounds.
Hadnot recorded eight points with Jackson scoring seven points and three boards in the win.
Up next
The Jacks are back in action next Thursday with the current No. 1 seed in the Summit League standings, the Omaha Mavericks. Tip-off inside First Bank & Trust Arena is set for 7 p.m.
