by BOZEMAN, Mont. — South Dakota State men’s basketball dropped a hard-fought contest Thursday night at Montana State, 77-70.
The Jackrabbits (6-4) shot 41.9 as a team in front of 4,877 fans, led by four double figure scorers. Douglas Wilson paced the team with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Tray Buchanan matched his career-high with 15 points, hitting 5-of-6 at the line.
David Wingett (Winnebago) buried three 3-pointers to finish with 13 points and Brandon Key, who dished a team-high five assists, scored 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers.
Buchanan and Matt Dentlinger each had six rebounds, as Dentlinger tallied three assists and a pair of blocks.
Offense was on display in the first half, with both teams shooting near the 50 percent mark in the frame.
Montana State built a 10-4 lead three minutes into the game with an 8-0 run, but steals from Key and Wilson led to consecutive fast break buckets for SDSU near the under-12 break as the Jacks drew within two, 16-14.
The teams settled into a back-and-forth game from there. South Dakota State pulled within one on eight occasions, eventually going in front 39-38 as Wilson found Buchanan cutting along the baseline for a layup at 1:13. Harald Frey answered on the other end for the Bobcats before the buzzer, though, and the Jackrabbits went to the locker room trailing by one, 40-39.
The second half began with a similar script, as the Bobcats grew their advantage to a game-high 10 (51-41) in the first five minutes, only to see South Dakota State chip away from there.
Free throws from Brandon Key at 10:01 made it a one-possession game (54-51), and three minutes later the Milwaukee, Wisconsin native sank a wide-open 3-pointer to put the Jacks in front, 60-59 as part of a 9-0 SDSU rally.
Ties at 64 and 68 followed as the clock wound down, but the Jackrabbits’ comeback effort was thwarted as MSU hit free throws down the stretch and sealed the win with a corner 3-pointer inside the final minute.
