KSFY News - Sioux Falls, SD News, Weather, SportsDefense key as SDSU routs Mastadons, 74-43

South Dakota State held IPFW to just 43 point in Saturday's Summit League contest in Fort Wayne, Ind., the fewest points allowed by a Scott Nagy coached team in his 16-plus years on the bench.  The Jackrabbits, on the other hand, scored 74 points in the win over the home standing Mastodons.

"The game for us is about defense and rebounds," Nagy said. "I told the players after the game that if this doesn't convince you how important defensive rebounding is, then you'll never be convinced."

All 10 Jackrabbits in uniform played at least five minutes and grabbed at least one defensive rebound. Jordan Dykstra grabbed five of his game-high seven rebounds on defense and, along with Taévaunn Prince, Brayden Carlson and Griffan Callahan, finished with eight points.

Chad White led a well-balanced Jackrabbit offense with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a 4-for-5 effort from three-point range. Nate Wolters added 14 points, with five each in rebounds and assists. Tony Fiegen scored nine points in the win, and added six rebounds, all on the defensive end.

The Jackrabbits improve 17-6 overall and 9-2 in The Summit League, while the host Mastodons fall to 10-11 overall and 4-8 in the league.

Mario Hines led a pair of Mastodons in double figures with 12 points. Frank Gaines added 10 points in a losing cause, as the ‘Dons struggled to shoot 33 percent on the night on 16-of-49 shooting. SDSU shot 46 percent on 24-of-52 shooting.

IPFW led early, but a 9-1 run turned a two-point SDSU lead into a 10-point lead midway through the first half. The Mastodons would cut the lead to seven with 45 seconds left in the first half, only to see Carlson knock down a pair of triples in the final seven seconds, including one at the buzzer, that put the Jacks up 36-23 at the half.

The Jacks kept that momentum rolling into the second half, and never let the home team get closer than 14 points for the rest of the game, with a maximum margin of 35 points.

The Jackrabbits return home to host Oral Roberts on Thursday at Frost Arena at 7 p.m., and then host Southern Utah on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Pork Classic.

Before either one of those games though, the Jacks get to finally put a name to the game when it comes to the SEARS BracketBusters game on Feb. 18. The Jacks find out who they host in that game on Monday evening. Stay with GoJacks.com for more information.