The SDSU men’s basketball team faced off against the University of South Dakota in the South Dakota Showdown Series on Saturday, Jan. 17 in front of 5,354 people at Frost Arena. The Jacks took the win against USD with a score of 71-57.

The Jacks came into the contest with a 12-7 overall record, 3-2 in the Summit League, and an impressive 7-0 at home. USD came into the game with a 9-9 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the Summit League, which is a league best.  The Jacks started the game slow, allowing the Coyotes to start the game on a 20-0 run.

Before half time the Jacks led the Coyotes by a bare two points at 31-29, but managed to pull through, extending that lead by 12 points within the last three minutes of the game.

“We got out to a flat start and our defense wasn’t very good,” junior Deondre Parks said.

The Jacks shot 33.95 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from beyond the three-point arc. The Coyotes shot 43.6 percent from the field and 28 percent from three-point range. The Coyotes started out hot making nine of their first 15 from the field, but were held to 10 of 41 the rest of the game.

Head coach Scott Nagy, on the 20-0 start for USD, said he was proud of his players.

“…They could’ve gotten discouraged but they didn’t and they fought their way back in it,” Nagy said. “Wins like this are better for your team where you don’t necessarily play great, but you find ways to fight through it.”

The Jacks improved their overall record to 13-7, 4-2 in conference play, and 8-0 at Frost Arena.

Freshman Reed Tellinghuisen continues to impress with his 15 points during the game.

“I knew someone was going to have to make a shot,” Tellinghuisen said. “I mean 20-0 you don’t come back from that very often, but I think once our defense started playing better that led to us scoring more.”

Tellinghuisen started for the third straight game after senior Zach Horstman went down with an injury. Horstman played on Saturday but head coach Scott Nagy kept Tellinghuisen in the starting lineup.

“There’s no reason for us to change it right now,” Nagy said. “Zach’s a great option off the bench with his experience and he isn’t in 30 minutes a game shape.

Tellinghuisen has managed double digits in each of his starts, scoring 18, 17, and 15, in the three games he has started.

Parks also had 15 points.

The Rabbits routed IPFW, 82-53 on Jan. 21at Frost Arena, and Oral Roberts, 76-72 on Jan. 24 in Tulsa, Okla.  

The Jacks now sit atop the Summit League standings at 6-2 in conference play going into home games against Omaha tonight and Denver on Jan. 31.