by Tyler Merriam, SDSU Communications
South Dakota State used a lethal combination of inside and outside shooting, defeating Western Illinois 92-63 Saturday night in Frost Arena.
The Jackrabbits (8-3, 2-0 Summit League) shot 53 percent overall, 31-of-58, and hit 11 of 21 3-pointers (52 percent) to claim their third win of the week.
Noah Freidel collected 25 points and tied his career high with eight rebounds to lead an SDSU offensive attack that saw five score in double figures.
“When we get stops and get that ball moving up the floor pretty quick, we can score at a pretty high level,” head coach Eric Henderson said. “I thought in the second half we were able to do that, get shots and secure first-shot rebounds, and then we were able to get out and go offensively.”
The game was tight early, as the teams exchanged the lead seven times along with seven ties, the final at 35-all in the final minute of the opening half.
Freidel broke the deadlock with a pair of free throws, then rolled in a straight-on triple to send the Jacks into the locker room with a 40-35 halftime lead.
It took the first seven minutes of the second half until State finally started to shake the Leathernecks. SDSU embarked on a 14-0 run, highlighted by six points from Douglas Wilson and five more from Freidel, to build a 64-45 edge with 9:52 to play.
A minute later, the Jacks started an 11-0 spurt, bookended by a pair of Baylor Scheierman jumpers that removed any doubt of the result.
Scheierman recorded his sixth double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds. Wilson posted 14 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes, while David Wingett (15) and Alex Arians (11) also cracked double digits in the scoring column.
