The South Dakota State men showed some fight on Saturday night, but the Jackrabbits dropped both games that they played over the weekend.
SDSU fell 83-68 to Kent State on Friday and then lost 78-65 to No. 11 Alabama on Saturday night. The Jacks (3-6) have now lost three-straight games and five of their past six. They will play at Montana on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Friday
• Kent State 83, SDSU 68
KENT, Ohio – SDSU got in a hole early as the Jacks fell behind 11-0 just under three minutes into the game. They then trailed 32-17 with 5:10 to play in the first half and were down 43-27 at halftime.
Not much changed in the second half and the Golden Flashes lead grew to as much as 23.
SDSU shot 38.2% from the field and were 10-21 from three. The Jacks had 12 turnovers and were 16-23 at the free throw line.
Zeke Mayo led the Jacks with 12 points and four rebounds. Matthew Mores had 10 points. Matt Dentlinger, Charlie Easley and Tanner Te Slaa each had eight points.
KSU shot 50% from the field and were 10-24 from three. The Golden Flashes had 10 turnovers and were 11-12 at the line.
KSU won the rebound battle 35-30. The Golden Flashes had 36 points in the paint, while SDSU had just 22.
Saturday
• No. 11 Alabama 78, SDSU 65
TUSCALOSSA, Ala. – The Jacks showed some positive signs on Saturday as they led for portions of the second half against the No. 11 ranked team in the country.
The Crimson Tide jumped out to a 21-8 lead and led 37-17 with 6:36 left in the first half. SDSU then outscored Alabama 18-5 the rest of the half and went into halftime trailing 42-35.
SDSU would then go on a 16-8 run in the first eight and a half minutes of the second half and took a 51-50 lead.
The Jackrabbit lead lasted three minutes as Alabama went up 56-55. The Crimson Tide then pulled away with a 14-3 run to and went up 12 with three minutes remaining.
SDSU shot 42.6% from the field and was 6-20 from three. The Jacks had 11 turnovers and were 7-11 on free throws.
Charlie Easley and Alex Arians each had 17 points. Arians also had six rebounds. Mayo had 12 points had seven rebounds. William Kyle III had eight points.
The Crimson Tide shot 39.7% from the field and were 13-40 from three. Alabama had 10 turnovers and were 11-15 at the line.
Alabama won the rebound battle 45-37. SDSU had 32 points in the paint and the Crimson Tide had 28. Alabama had 19 second chance points.
