by SIOUX FALLS – South Dakota State’s four-game win streak was snapped on Saturday, as the Jackrabbits fell 91-78 to South Dakota in the CU Mortgage Direct Dakota Showcase at the Sanford Pentagon.
SDSU (5-3) never led and trailed by as many as 22 points, then were never able to draw closer than nine to the Coyotes (1-5).
Xavier Fuller had the hot hand early for USD, scoring eight points in the game’s first 3:01, as the Coyotes built a 10-2 lead. Then Stanley Umude took over.
Umude scored 41 points, making 17-of-26 shots. He also collected 11 rebounds for USD.
The Coyotes held an 84-63 lead with 7:05 to play, but the Jackrabbits switched to a zone defense that slowed the USD offense and spurred on their own. Charlie Easley and Matt Mims hit back-to-back triples, and Alex Arians connected on four straight free throws. The 10-0 run brought State to within 84-73.
USD answered when Umude buried a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:32 left, essentially ending any hopes of a Jackrabbit comeback.
Arians led SDSU, scoring a season-high 18 points and hitting all eight of his free throw attempts.
Baylor Scheierman added 15 points and eight rebounds, Noah Freidel chimed in with 13 points and David Wingett (Winnebago) had 11 points and a career-high eight rebounds.
The Jacks shot a season best 29 free throws and made 26, shooting 89.7 percent for the night.
USD made 12-of-24 3-pointers (50 percent), while SDSU was only 10-of-30 from deep (33 percent)
