South Dakota State opened its first game against SouthDakota since 2004 on a 17-4 run, led by 29 points at the half and never let the visiting Coyotes get closer than 26 points for the rest of Thursday's game in an 86-56 win in front of a sellout crowd of 6,216 at Frost Arena.
The Jackrabbits, who improve to 14-5 overall and 6-1 in The Summit League, led by as many as 37 points in the second half before emptying the bench, which allowed every Jackrabbit to score at least one field goal in the game. South Dakota falls to 6-10 overall and 1-6 in league play.
"Obviously we played well in the first half and it was anticlimactic after that, " head coach Scott Nagy said after the win, which boosts his all-time record against South Dakota to 13-9 overall and 8-3 at Frost Arena. "Our goal was to have a lot of energy defensively and be good defensively, because if you're going to win championships, that's what you have to do."
Griffan Callahan led a trio of Jackrabbits in double figures with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting, which includes a 5-for-8 night from three-point range. Nate Wolters added 13 points with six rebounds and five assists. Tony Fiegen finished with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting on the night.
Louie Krogman led the visiting Coyotes with 15 points in a losing effort. Trevor Gruis added 14 points and eight rebounds. Ricardo Andreotti scored seven points and led all players with 13 rebounds.
The Jackrabbits shot 53 percent in the first half on 18-of-34 shooting, but cooled off a bit in the second half to shoot 42 percent on 13-of-31 shooting for a game total of 48 percent.
The Coyotes came out cold to shoot 24 percent in the first half before shooting 40 percent in the second half for a game total of 32 percent on 19-of-59 shooting for the night.
SDSU also won the rebounding battle 42-39 and the turnover battle as well, committing just seven miscues, compared to 15 by the visitors.
The Jackrabbits get a day off before returning to action on Saturday in the 20th Annual Lamb Bonanza at Frost Arena against UMKC. The Jackrabbit women get things started at 5 p.m., followed by the Jackrabbit men against the Kangaroos at 7:30 p.m.
