BROOKINGS – Mike Daum and the Jackrabbits dropped Purdue Fort Wayne 92-83 in an entertaining Summit League basketball game Thursday night at Frost Arena.

Daum posted a double-double of 38 points and 20 boards to go with a career-high five blocked shots, three steals and three assists. He broke the Summit League career rebounds record and moved into the top 10 in points in NCAA Division I history.

“I’m really proud of our guys for how they locked in, in that second half,” said SDSU coach T.J. Otzelberger. “I thought that was a really high-level college basketball game. They’re a really good team. Obviously, John Konchar is one of the elite players that’s ever played in this league. We have a lot of respect for their group.

“We’re fortunate to have such tremendous leadership on our team. Our seniors stepped up time and time again tonight, especially late. On the defensive end, I can recall plays where Mike had blocks and impacted shots at the rim – I thought those were huge; as much as the points and rebounds, those were huge. Tevin (King) had tremendous defensive plays; Skyler (Flatten) made some big time plays and then hits the two huge 3s late.

“So we’re just really fortunate to have great seniors, great leaders, guys who know how to win and they stepped up when it was on the line.”

South Dakota State (22-7, 12-2) sits in first place in the conference standings, half a game ahead of idle Omaha (17-9, 11-2). The Jackrabbits ensured themselves a top-two seed for the postseason tournament.

“Huge (win),” said Daum, who recorded his 51st career double-double. “For us, getting that extra day down in Sioux Falls is a big time key to success.

“I’m just super proud of our guys for how they battled. From the first half, we really shifted our mindset and I thought our guys came together so much in the second half.

“I just thought our guys made the right play when we needed to and that helped us come out with the victory tonight.”

David Jenkins’ 3-pointer with 3:50 remaining put SDSU on top for good at 81-78. Flatten added a trey with 3:17 left.

A 3-ball from Matt Holba and a layup by Dylan Carl pulled PFW within 84-83 with 1:46 to go. Alex Arians countered with a hoop for the home team with 1:26 showing on the clock.

Konchar tried to draw a foul on a 3-point attempt from the top of the key on the Mastodons’ next possession. The whistle didn’t blow and his shot rimmed off.

PFW had coach Jon Coffman was whistled for a technical foul soon thereafter.

Daum made 1-of-2 free throws with 1 minute to play.

Flatten all but sealed the deal with a 3-pointer with 33 seconds to go.

The Mastodons led by as many as nine points in the first half and took a 53-49 advantage into the halftime break. 

The margin was 64-55 at the under-16 timeout, before SDSU rattled off a 16-4 run. Daum had seven points, Jenkins five and Flatten four during the spurt, which left the Jackrabbits ahead 71-68 with 9:57 to go.

Jenkins finished with 22 points.

Alex Arians had 13 points and eight rebounds. Flatten contributed 12 points, eight boards and five assists.

PFW shot 55.3 percent (21-of-38) in the opening half but just 30.6 percent (32-of-74) in the second.

“In the second half, I thought South Dakota State really raised its physicality,” said Coffman. “They played a very, very physical game. I think that slowed our cutting and we weren’t as good with our ball movement, and I think that affected our shooting percentages in the second half.”

Konchar finished with 27 points, nine boards and six dimes.

Purdue Fort Wayne (17-12, 9-5) holds a half-game lead over North Dakota State (14-13, 8-5) for third place in the standings.

South Dakota State is host to rival South Dakota on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Daum

The senior from Kimball, Neb., passed a pair of legends to move into 10th place on the NCAA Division I career scoring list.

Daum now has 2,981 points, passing Kansas’ Danny Manning (2,951 from 1984-88) and Cincinnati’s Oscar Robertson (2,973 from 1967-70).

Active leader Chris Clemons, of Campbell, is eighth at 3,033.

In all NCAA Divisions – I, II and III – Daum ranks 24th in career points.

Daum pushed his career rebounds total to 1,199, breaking the previous Summit League record of 1,189 held by Oral Roberts’ Caleb Green (2003-07).

Thursday marked Daum’s third 20-20 game and his second 30-20 outing.

He had 34 points and a career-best 21 rebounds at North Dakota on Jan. 16, before totaling 29 points and 20 boards against the Fighting Hawks at home on Feb. 9.

Daum vs. Mastodons

Daum averaged 30.125 points and 11.38 rebounds in eight regular-season games versus the Mastodons.

He went 78-of-155 from the field, including 36-of-80 from 3-point range, and 49-of-58 at the foul line.

Daum scored a career-high 51 in Fort Wayne on Feb. 18, 2017. He hit a school-record 10 3-pointers during a 42-point outing at home Jan. 21, 2017.

In the last six matchups, he posted 35.67 points and 13.17 rebounds per game.

Notes

Jenkins has 104 3-pointers this season and 1,123 points in his career. … The Mastodons led by as many as 26 and beat the Jackrabbits 104-88 in this season’s first meeting Jan. 3 in Fort Wayne, Ind. … Konchar, a 6-foot-5 redshirt-senior from West Chicago, Ill., has 1,990 points, 1,110 rebounds, 535 assists and 261 steals in his career at PFW.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 92, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 83

Purdue Fort Wayne (17-12, 9-5 Summit)

Dylan Carl 3-6 0-0 7, Matt Holba 6-14 0-0 15, Dee Montgomery 1-7 0-0 3, Kason Harrell 4-10 0-0 8, John Konchar 9-17 5-8 27, Jarred Godfrey 1-3 0-0 3, Matt Weir 4-7 0-0 9, Cameron Benford 1-4 0-0 2, Marcus DeBerry 3-6 0-0 9. Totals 32-74 5-8 83.

South Dakota State (22-7, 12-2 Summit)

Mike Daum 13-24 8-11 38, Skyler Flatten 4-14 2-2 12, Tevin King 2-3 1-2 5, David Jenkins 8-20 0-0 22, Alex Arians 5-8 2-2 13, Owen King 1-1 0-0 2, Matt Dentlinger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-70 13-17 92.

Halftime – PFW 53-49. 3-point goals – PFW 14-35 (Konchar 4-9, Deberry 3-5, Holba 3-7, Carl 1-3, Godfrey 1-3, Weir 1-3, Montgomery 1-4, Harrell 0-1), SDSU 13-30 (Jenkins 6-12, Daum 4-8, Flatten 2-9, Arians 1-1). Rebounds – PFW 38 (Konchar, Holba 9), SDSU 46 (Daum 20). Assists – PFW 18 (Konchar 6), SDSU 18 (Flatten 5). Steals – PFW 4 (Konchar 2), SDSU 6 (Daum 3). Blocks – PFW 5 (Carl 3), SDSU 5 (Daum 5). Turnovers – PFW 9, SDSU 11. Total fouls – PFW 15, SDSU 13. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – PFW bench. A – 2,431.