South Dakota State stepped up its defense in the second half and put together one of its best 20-minute efforts of the season to hold off an upset bid by Omaha, eventually claiming a 63-55 victory over the Mavs on Saturday in the quarterfinals of The Summit League Championship at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
The Mavericks got off to a hot start offensively and hung with the Jackrabbits throughout the first half. SDSU held a six-point lead at the 14 minute, 55 second mark of the opening half, but Omaha’s over 50% shooting percentage kept the Mavs in striking territory. The two sides combined for five lead changes and four tie scores with the Jackrabbits taking a 40-39 lead into halftime.
Omaha stayed with SDSU by shooting 15-for-28 (53.6%) from the floor, including a 9 of 16 (56.3%) clip from long range. The Jacks shot just 41.4% but went to the line and made all 10 of their free throws.
Following an Alex Arians 3-pointer to begin the second half, Omaha scored five straight points to take a 44-43 lead with just over 17 minutes remaining.
The Jackrabbits responded with two Arians free throws and four straight points by Zeke Mayo. JJ White drained a 3 to cut the Omaha deficit to 48-47. SDSU followed with a 10-2 run to extend its lead to a game-high nine to that point with under three minutes to go.
SDSU’s defensive performance sealed the win for the Jackrabbits. The Jacks gave up a season low to opponents of 16 points in the second half, 10 less than their previous low of 26 in the second half they allowed at North Dakota on Jan. 7.
While both teams shot under 19% from the field in the second half, SDSU took advantage of 16 trips to the free throw line to Omaha’s three. The Jackrabbits also held the Mavs to a 1-for-13 mark from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes of play.
Omaha was paced by a 7-for-11 clip and 19-point performance from Jaeden Marshall in the first half, but the Maverick guard missed all six of his field goals in the second half thanks to a strong stand made defensively by Charlie Easley.
South Dakota State was led offensively by a season-high 18 points by Arians. Zeke Mayo registered a near double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Also contributing in the score column for SDSU was Matt Mims (9), Easley (8), Matt Dentlinger (7) and Matthew Mors (7).
The Mavs were led by Marshall’s 19 points. Frankie Fidler followed him with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Omaha shot 35% overall from the floor, SDSU’s second lowest mark given up to an opponent this year.
Notes
• SDSU’s win improved their record to 12-3 all-time at The Summit League Tournament in quarterfinal contests. The Jacks also are 4-0 versus the Mavericks at the conference championship.
Up Next
The Jackrabbits improved to 19-12 overall in the 2022-23 season. SDSU advances to Monday’s semifinal round and will face the winner of No. 3 seed North Dakota State/No. 6 seed South Dakota at 8:30 p.m.
