by Bryan Boettcher, USD Sports Information
BROOKINGS, S.D.—Zeke Mayo scored a season-high 21 points and Baylor Scheierman didn’t miss a shot in totaling 19 points in an 84-65 South Dakota State win against South Dakota Saturday inside Frost Arena. The Jackrabbits (13-4) stayed unbeaten in Summit League play at 4-0 while South Dakota (7-7), playing for the first time since Dec. 22, fell to 0-3.
Mason Archambault scored 16 points to lead four South Dakota players in double figures. Big man Hunter Goodrick tied his career-high of 15 points. Boogie Anderson and Kruz Perrott-Hunt added 10 points each. The Coyotes were down a starter and a key bench player and played with a seven-person rotation.
South Dakota State, the best 3-point shooting team in the nation, was 10-of-18 from downtown in the win. Mayo made the first five triples he took. Scheierman was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc as part of an overall 8-of-8 effort. He also had seven rebounds and six assists.
South Dakota made 8-of-23 from three-point range and shot 45 percent from the field overall, but fell to 0-5 in true road games this year.
“We kept battling and I am proud of the guys for that,” said USD head coach Todd Lee. “We had eight guys and our guys never gave up against a very good team that’s been sitting at home practicing, ready to go and had a week to prepare. We kept working hard and that was good to see.”
The Jacks jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never trailed. The Coyotes rallied back and climbed within three at 25-22 on a 3-pointer from Tasos Kamateros with nine minutes left in the opening frame. SDSU closed the half on a 24-8 run to take a 49-30 advantage into the break and were never threatened in the second half.
This was the fifth consecutive meeting between the two teams that has taken place outside of Vermillion. South Dakota will stay on the road to face North Dakota (4-12, 0-3 Summit) Monday in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It’s a make-up game from Dec. 30 when the contest was postponed due to COVID-19.
