by SIOUX FALLS – Baylor Scheierman’s career night paced the South Dakota State men’s basketball team to an 83-59 win over Utah State in the consolation bracket of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic Friday at the Sanford Pentagon.
A sophomore from Aurora, Neb., Scheierman scored 23 points, a career best, with 13 coming over a four-minute first-half spurt. He added four rebounds, three steals and two assists while leading a group of five Jackrabbits in double figures.
“He’s so versatile and with his size he can guard almost every position on the floor,” head coach Eric Henderson said of Scheierman. “He does so many things for our basketball team that are selfless. That’s our whole team, really. We can be very explosive offensively, but once we started to get stops tonight, we were able to make runs. If we can play with good pace we have the potential to be pretty good offensively.”
SDSU (1-1) scored on its first five attempts while embarking on an 11-0 run to take control of the game early. The Jacks led 29-24 late in the first half before Scheierman turned into a one-man show, scoring 13 of the game’s next 18 points.
Ahead by 15 at the half, the Jacks extended their lead with an 11-2 run early in the second period and cruised to the easy win.
South Dakota State shot 56 percent overall and connected on 15-of-27 from deep. Douglas Wilson added 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Alex Arians contributed 13 points, David Wingett 11 and Noah Freidel 10.
The Jackrabbit defense was stout, holding Utah State (0-2) to 36 percent shooting while forcing 16 turnovers. Neemias Queta led the Aggies with 12 points and eight rebounds.
