SIOUX FALLS – South Dakota State is seeking its fourth consecutive title in the Summit League Men’s Basketball Championship, which gets underway Saturday at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls.
The Jackrabbits (24-7, 14-2 SL), who claimed their second consecutive regular-season crown, also won postseason titles in 2012 and 2013. They have a 20-5 record in the event.
“We’re fortunate to be healthy; we’re fortunate our guys are really together as a group,” said third-year SDSU head coach T.J. Otzelberger. “I still believe our best basketball is in front of us. I don’t think we’ve played a great 40-minute stretch – we’ve had glimpses, but I think we’re capable of putting 40 minutes together a little better than we have up to this point.”
The key to accomplishing that is defensive focus from start to finish, Otzelberger said.
“I think we’ve had some really good halves and stretches, but it would be that continued focus on what we’re trying to accomplish every single possession from start to finish,” he added.
SDSU takes on No. 8 Western Illinois (9-20, 4-12 SL) in the quarterfinals Saturday at noon.
The winner faces either fourth-seeded North Dakota State or fifth-seeded Oral Roberts in the semifinals Monday.
The Jackrabbits swept the Leathernecks in the regular season, including an 86-66 home victory in their finale March 2.
The quarters and semis will air live on MidcoSN.
The championship is Tuesday at 8 p.m. and will air live on ESPN2.
No. 1 South Dakota State vs. No. 8 Western Illinois
6 p.m.
Records: SDSU 24-7 (14-2 SL), WIU 9-20 (4-12 SL).
Regular season: SDSU 100-58 on Dec. 28 in Macomb, Ill.; SDSU 86-66 on March 2 in Brookings.
Points-Points Allowed (SL): 85.2-73.1 (85.6-74.2), WIU 70.6-73.1 (67.9-75.6).
Jackrabbits
They have a strong starting five.
Mike Daum leads the way, averaging a double-double with league-highs of 25.6 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.
“I think we’re looking good,” Daum said. “Every day we’re growing closer as a team and we’re just focusing on day-by-day things – the little things – making sure we can control how hard we play and our energy. And then, overall, we just want to play together.
“You know, we’re a group of guys who are super unselfish; we want each other to score; we want each other to have success; and I think that’s what’s going to lead to us winning in the tournament.”
David Jenkins is third in the Summit League with 19.4 points per game. He’s made a school-record 106 3-pointers this season – the 10th most in conference history.
Jenkins, a sophomore, has 1,146 points and 190 3s in his career.
Skyler Flatten is making the most of his sixth season in an SDSU uniform, putting up 15.8 points per contest. He’s knocked down 82 treys.
Flatten has 967 career points.
Senior point guard Tevin King averages nine points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals per contest.
Redshirt-freshman Alex Arians has appeared in all 31 games with 22 starts, averaging 6.3 points and 4.7 boards.
“He’s been phenomenal,” Otzelberger said. “He plays with such great poise and confidence. He certainly doesn’t play like a freshman. He’s a versatile defender; he’s a tremendous passer – his assist to turnover (66:30) is amazing.
“He just kind of knows how to bring what our team needs that day – whatever little things those may be become big things for our team in winning.”
Backup point guard Owen King, a freshman, averages 4.4 points and 2.4 dimes in 17.5 minutes per game. He has also appeared in all 31 games.
“You look at last game, he came in and had six points, four assists, no turnovers – he’s a floor general, a leader, a guy that can make plays for people and get people shots,” Otzelberger said. “I’m thrilled with his development. I mean, he’s going to be a guy I look at and say he’s going to be a three-year starter at the point guard position. He’s only going to get better and going to be an all-conference player down the road. So I’m really excited about where he’s at and where he’ll continue to go.”
Matt Dentlinger averages 2.8 points in 12.2 minutes with 30 appearances.
SDSU’s league losses were 104-88 at Purdue Fort Wayne on Jan. 3 and 85-84 at Omaha on Feb. 14.
The Jackrabbits are the No. 1 seed in the tourney for the fourth time.
SDSU SUMMIT LEAGUE REGULAR SEASON
Dec. 28 – W 100-58 at Western Illinois
Jan. 3 – L 104-88 at Purdue Fort Wayne
Jan. 6 – W 79-61 at South Dakota
Jan. 10 – W 78-66 vs. Denver
Jan. 12 – W 84-65 vs. Oral Roberts
Jan. 16 – W 78-74 at North Dakota
Jan. 24 – W 87-69 vs. North Dakota State
Jan. 26 – W 83-73 vs. Omaha
Jan. 31 – W 86-80 at Oral Roberts
Feb. 3 – W 92-82 at Denver
Feb. 9 – W 80-55 vs. North Dakota
Feb. 14 – L 85-84 at Omaha
Feb. 16 – W 78-77 at North Dakota State
Feb. 21 – W 92-83 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne
Feb. 23 – W 94-89 vs. South Dakota
March 2 – W 86-66 vs. Western Illinois
Daum
Daum, who came off the bench his freshman year, has been Tournament MVP three times, scoring 224 points (24.9 per game) and grabbing 93 rebounds (10.3 average) in nine games in the event. He’s shot 47.9 percent (67-of-140) from the field, including a 19-of-44 mark from long range, and 87.7 percent (71-of-81) at the free-throw line.
Do things feel any different entering his final Summit League tourney?
“It really doesn’t,” he said. “It’s funny, going through Senior Day last week and going to the Summit League now, it feels like just another year, another Summit League tournament. I think it will really set in kind of when the Summit League’s over – ‘that was my last Summit League,’ things like that.
“But as of right now, it’s just a bunch of fun for me and I’m just enjoying the time with my team.”
Daum is the Summit League and SDSU leader in career points (3,026) and rebounds (1,214). He is also the school’s all-time leader in 3-pointers (268) and free throws (780).
Daum ranks ninth in NCAA Division I history in career points.
He is 36 points off the South Dakota collegiate record held by Eric Kline (3,062 from 1991-92 at Augustana and 1992-95 at Northern State).
Leathernecks
They went 1-7 in the back end of the conference schedule.
Kobe Webster averages 16.7 points – fifth in the league – and 3.3 assists per game.
C.J. Duff adds 11.6 markers and Isaac Johnson 11.1. Seven-footer Brandon Gilbeck has averages of 9.3 points, 8.2 boards and 3.5 blocks.
“It’s going to be defense,” Daum said when asked of the keys for the game. “It seems like every year in the Summit League, defense with everyone increases and that’s what’s going to be leading to teams winning. Everyone in the Summit League it seems like can score and has guys that can score; it’s going to be teams that can get stops. So for our guys, it’s just going to be locking in on the little things; making sure we take away shots from certain guys; have them take the shots we want them to take and then leading to our transition – I think that will help us out the most.”
Western Illinois is the No. 8 seed for the third consecutive season.
The Leathernecks took the No. 1 seed to the brink each of the past two seasons.
They fell 78-69 in overtime to South Dakota in 2017.
WIU led SDSU at halftime last year before falling 66-60. The Jackrabbits led by two with 38 seconds left, before Daum went 4-of-4 at the foul line down the stretch to seal the deal.
“The tough thing is we just played them, so we’re in a similar situation to last year,” Otzelberger said. “So they get a whole week to prepare, adapt some things and change some things and that makes it particularly challenging.
“If you look at Western Illinois the last two years, they came out and they shook things up a little bit.
“I think what’s going to be important is us on the defensive end – getting stops – because we know that we can score the ball at a high level. So if we can get stops consistently, especially early, I think that can put us in a good situation.”
No. 2 Omaha vs. No. 7 North Dakota
8:30 p.m.
Records: UNO 19-10 (13-3 SL), UND 12-17 (6-10 SL).
Regular season: UNO 92-91 on Jan. 10 in Grand Forks, N.D.; UNO 90-72 on Feb. 3 in Omaha, Neb.
Points-P.A. (SL): UNO 79.9-77.4 (82.9-77.6), UND 73.7-73.3 (73.1-75.7).
Mavericks
They went 7-1 in the second half of league play, the lone loss an 84-80 setback at Oral Roberts on Feb. 28 that dropped them to second place in the standings.
Zach Jackson ranks fourth in the conference with 18.3 points per game to lead five UNO players in double figures.
JT Gibson averages 13.6 points, Mitch Hahn 13.4, KJ Robinson 11.6 and Matt Pile 11.2. Hahn averages 7.6 rebounds and Hahn 6.2. Robinson dishes out 3.4 dimes per contest.
Fighting Hawks
Cortez Seales leads the way with 14.3 points, five rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
Marlon Stewart averages 13.5 points, Conner Avants 12.1, Aanen Moody 9.9, Filip Rebraca 8.3 and Kienan Walter 8.3. Rebraca averages 5.8 boards, Avants 5.3 and Walter 5.2.
No. 4 North Dakota State vs. No. 5 Oral Roberts
6 p.m.
Records: NDSU 15-15 (9-7 SL), ORU 11-20 (7-9 SL).
Regular season: NDSU 67-57 on Jan. 26 in Tulsa, Okla.; NDSU 85-73 on Feb. 14 in Fargo, N.D.
Points-P.A. (SL): NDSU 72.7-72.4 (72.9-73.1), ORU 72.3-77.3 (74.9-77.6).
Bison
They beat Purdue Fort Wayne in their finale to snap a three-game losing streak.
Vonnie Shahid leads a balanced offense with 12.6 points per game, while Tyson Ward adds 12.1, Deng Geu 10.4, Rocky Kreuser 9.2 and Jared Samuelson 7.2
Ward averages 6.4 rebounds and Geu 5.2. Shahid has dished out 82 assists in 30 games.
Golden Eagles
They broke a three-game losing skid with a season-ending 84-80 defeat of second-place UNO.
Emmanuel Nzekwesi averages 15.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
Kevin Obanor adds 14 points and 7.1 boards. Sam Kearns puts up 10.1 ppg and DeShang Weaver 9.9. Kearns also contributes 3.6 assists per contest and Kaelen Malone 3.8.
No. 3 Purdue Fort Wayne vs. No. 6 South Dakota
8:30 p.m.
Records: PFW 17-14 (9-7 SL), USD 13-16 (7-9 SL).
Regular season: USD 87-73 on Jan. 13 in Vermillion; PFW 102-71 on Jan. 30 in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Points-P.A. (SL): PFW 83-78.2 (83.2-79.8), USD 70.6-70.3 (74.6-74.7).
Mastodons
John Konchar is the total package.
The 6-foot-5 point guard is second in the league with 19.7 points per game and leads the conference in assists (5.3) and steals (1.9) per contest. He averages 8.5 rebounds.
For his career, Konchar has 2,034 points, 1,133 rebounds, 540 assists, 251 steals and 86 blocks in 131 games.
Kason Harrell adds 15.1 points per game, Matt Holba 11.8, Matt Weir 7.1, Jarred Godfrey and Dylan Carl both 6.8, Marcus DeBerry 6.7 and Dee Montgomery 6.5.
Coyotes
They won four of their final five regular-season contests, the lone loss a 94-89 setback at SDSU.
Stanley Umude totals 14.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Triston Simpson contributes 14 points and 3.5 assists.
Trey Burch-Manning averages 11.4 points and six boards. Tyler Peterson is averaging 11.3 points and Cody Kelley 9.5.
Did not qualify: Denver 8-22 (3-13 SL).
