FARGO, N.D. – South Dakota State used an 18-0 scoring run to lead by as many as 25 in the first half and cruised in the second half to a 78-61 victory over North Dakota State on Saturday, March 2, inside the Scheels Center.
The early going saw the Jackrabbits and Bison trading baskets. A Jacari White 3-pointer gave NDSU a 7-5 edge with 17 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in the opening half. From there, SDSU took control of the contest.
A 10-point scoring stretch for the Jackrabbits pushed SDSU ahead 15-7. White connected on another 3-pointer for the Bison at the 11:13 mark to cut the deficit to 20-17, but it’s as close as the margin got the rest of the game.
A stepback 3-pointer by Zeke Mayo began an 18-point consecutive scoring spree that ended with an alley-oop from Nate Barnhart to William Kyle III to put the Jackrabbits ahead 45-22. A Barnhart 3-pointer followed by a fastbreak dunk by Kalen Garry gave SDSU its largest lead of 50-25 of the day before the Jacks went into halftime up 50-27.
It took 10 minutes into the second half for NDSU to get the deficit under 20 points when a Lance Waddles 3-pointer made it 66-48. Kyle III had a dunk and jumper in the paint two consecutive possessions for the Jackrabbits to stomp out any potential rally.
The 17-point winning margin was the Jackrabbits’ largest over NDSU in a victory in Fargo during their Division I era. Their previous best was an 11-point win in 2005. South Dakota State closed out its 2023-24 regular season with a 19-12 overall record and 12-4 conference mark. NDSU fell to 15-16 overall and 8-8 in league play.
Notes
- The Jackrabbits outshot the Bison 55-48% from the field. The biggest difference came in turnovers as SDSU committed five to NDSU’s 14. SDSU was 8-for-16 from 3-point range in the first half but didn’t hit another from deep the rest of the game.
- The Jacks out-rebounded the Bison 29-27 and had a 44-18 edge in points in the paint.
- Five Jackrabbits finished the contest scoring in double digits. Mayo led SDSU with 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting. He also had five rebounds.
- Luke Appel scored 14 points on 7 of 10 shooting. He had a team-high six rebounds along with Kyle III who scored 12. Charlie Easley was 6-for-10 from the floor for 12 points, while he had three steals to match Garry for a team high. Barnhart matched his SDSU high of 11 points by going 3-for-4 shooting.
- North Dakota State was led by White’s 16 points. Boden Skunberg had 12 points and Noah Feddersen followed with 11. Andre Morgan had a team-high seven rebounds.
Up Next
The Jackrabbits head into The Summit League Men’s Basketball Championship as the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. SDSU will play the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Saturday, March 9, at 6 p.m. at the PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls.