SIOUX FALLS — A stunner for South Dakota State.
No. 6 North Dakota pulls off the upset of the tournament, knocking off the No. 3 Jackrabbits, 85-69.
It was a game nobody saw unfolding like it did, especially when you factor in the “home court advantage” the Jackrabbit faithful bring to Sioux Falls. On top of that, the Jacks showed the capability of lighting up UND, scoring 109 points against the team from Grand Forks earlier this season.
But that prior meeting was the last thing on the mind of UND guard Treysen Eaglestaff.
“Personally, no. that game doesn’t get to me at all,” said Eaglestaff on UND’s 109-73 loss to SDSU on Jan. 16. “Coach has emphasized ‘Next play’ since I was like 16 years old. So none of that stays in the back of my head because we’re going to meet them again, and we did.”
Eaglestaff kept the Fighting Hawks in it throughout the game by notching a Summit League Tournament record 51 points, breaking the previous record (38) with nine minutes remaining in the second half. This Eaglestaff’s second game scored 40 or more points, the first coming in a 97-90 loss to Alabama earlier this season.
“It’s probably my favorite game of all time,” said Eaglestaff. “I didn’t win that 40-ball game, kind of sold it on defense. But I’ve learned a lot and defensively, I felt I was pretty good today.”
The Jacks came out in the opening 20 minutes and looked as sharp as ever, outshooting UND from the floor and turning the ball over just three times. At the same time, Eaglestaff was getting it done on the other end, scoring 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, hitting five first-half threes.
“51 is a lot,” said SDSU head coach Eric Henderson on Eaglestaff’s performance. “He played really good in that Alabama game, but he probably played a little better here.”
Up by five out of the halftime break, the Jacks went on an 11-2 run through the first four minutes of the second half, gaining the largest lead of the game at that point.
Outside of Eaglestaff, there wasn’t much offense from anyone wearing black and green inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, and it was only a matter of time before the junior guard would go cold… Right?
Wrong.
Eaglestaff scored 18 of the next 23 UND points, capping off a 23-7 run with three free throws on a foul. SDSU center Oscar Cluff put in a layup on the other end to knot things up at 58 with 8:44 to play.
“He just had it going. We tried trapping him a few times, getting the ball out of his hands, tried to deny him a little bit,” said coach Henderson. “But the tournament does funky things sometimes.”
From that point on, the Jacks had one of their worst-scoring droughts of the season. Aside from free throws, SDSU’s next basket was a Cluff three-pointer with a minute left.
The Jacks missed 16 consecutive shot attempts across that 7:44 scoring drought while UND started seeing offensive production from other players. Fighting Hawk guard Gabe King hit two more threes while Zach Kraft connected from long range, helping build a double-digit lead for North Dakota.
UND built as much as a 16-point lead, stunning nearly every single fan of the 9,202 in attendance.
There will be a new champion in the Summit League with the Jacks loss, and it took a historic performance on both sides to take SDSU down.
For the game, the Jacks shot 31% from the field, including a 3-for-29 performance from beyond the arc.
Oscar Cluff led the charge in the losing effort, tallying 27 points, 17 rebounds, and two assists. Cluff tallied his 22nd double-double of the season, tying former Jackrabbit Mike Daum for most in a season in Summit League history.
“It’s not good, I’ll tell you that,” said Cluff on the early exit in the tournament. “But I think I left it all out there. I think everyone else did too. Sometimes, stuff just happens.”
Kalen Garry had 12 points and seven rebounds while Matthew Mors recorded 10 points and seven boards in the loss.
Eaglestaff finished with 51 points on 15-for-28 shooting from the floor and 8-for-18 from deep, adding four rebounds, and four assists in the win for the Fighting Hawks. Eaglestaff’s eight three-pointers also ties the tournament record on top of his record-breaking 51-point game.
King added 13 points and seven rebounds, while Kraft collected seven points off the bench.
The Jacks could be part of a postseason tournament, but one thing is for sure. It won’t be the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
