Jackrabbits cruise past Leathernecks

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BROOKINGS – Mike Daum scored 30 points and grabbed six rebounds in 27 minutes of action as South Dakota State picked up its sixth consecutive victory, beating Western Illinois 82-62 Saturday afternoon on Military Appreciation Day at Frost Arena.

“I though it was a good effort from our guys,” said SDSU coach T.J. Otzelberger. “It’s a challenging game; they’re a good defensive team and they came out and kind of slowed the pace down. We didn’t really get in the rhythm we’d like to get offensively – credit to them for doing that. But as the game wore on, we kind of found our stride and did what we had to do to come out with the win.”

The Jackrabbits (23-6, 11-1) can clinch the Summit League regular-season title outright with a win over second-place South Dakota (24-6, 11-2) on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Brookings.

SDSU scored the game’s first five points versus the Leathernecks and never trailed.

The Jackrabbits gradually pulled away to build a 38-23 cushion at halftime.

WIU never got closer than 12 points in the second half as the home team’s lead peaked at 25 points – 69-44 – with 8:29 to go following an 11-2 run.

“I thought our team came out and played very well with a lot of focus right away,” said Daum, who went 11-of-15 from the foul line. “Our guys were locked in, I feel like, for the most part the whole game. Our defense was really good, we rebounded well, and I think we threw them off with how aggressive we were (offensively) and kind of got some of their guys in foul trouble.”

David Jenkins Jr. contributed 20 points and seven rebounds.

Brandon Key scored 11 points off the bench, while Tevin King had 10 to go with eight boards.

SDSU shot 44.4 percent (28-of-63) and turned the ball over just four times.

The Leathernecks (11-14, 2-10), who are in last place in the conference, got a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds from Issac Johnson.

Following the USD game, SDSU closes out the regular season at third-place IPFW (18-12, 7-6) on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Notes: Daum remained 11th in Summit League history with 2,077 career points, three behind 10th-place Dominique Morrison of Oral Roberts (2,080 from 2008-12). … Daum has 681 points and 287 rebounds through 29 games this season, giving him averages of 23.48 and 9.90. … Reed Tellinghuisen is first in starts (121), and second in appearances (133) and minutes (3,872) at SDSU. … Daum’s double-double streak was snapped at seven games. … The Coyotes beat the Jackrabbits 87-68 on Jan. 24 in Vermillion.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 82, WESTERN ILLINOIS 62

Western Illinois (11-14, 2-10 Summit)

Issac Johnson 8-19 3-4 20, C.J. Duff 5-8 0-0 12, Dalan Ancrum 2-10 2-2 6, Kobe Webster 1-10 2-3 4, Brandon Gilbeck 1-3 2-4 4, Delo Bruster 4-4 1-2 10, Charles Gavin 2-2 0-0 4, Jalen Morgan 1-3 0-0 2, Jordan Hughes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 10-15 62.

South Dakota State (13-6, 11-1 Summit)

Mike Daum 8-15 11-15 30, David Jenkins Jr. 7-12 5-6 20, Tevin King 4-9 2-2 10, Skyler Flatten 1-4 1-2 4, Reed Tellinghuisen 1-6 0-0 2, Brandon Key 5-9 0-0 11, Ian Theisen 2-3 0-0 5, Lane Severyn 0-2 0-0 0, Chris Howell 0-1 0-0 0, Beau Brown 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-63 19-25 82.

Halftime – SDSU led 38-23. 3-point goals – WIU 4-18 (Duff 2-4, Bruster 1-1, Johnson 1-4, Ancrum 0-3, Webster 0-6), SDSU 7-24 (Daum 3-5, Key 1-2, Theisen 1-2, Jenkins 1-3, Flatten 1-4, Severyn 0-2, Brown 0-2, Tellinghuisen 0-4). Rebounds – WIU 36 (Johnson 13), SDSU 39 (King 8). Assists – WIU 6 (Webster 3), SDSU 9 (Key 3). Steals – WIU 3 (Bruster 2), SDSU 5 (Key 2). Blocks – WIU 2 (Gilbeck 2), SDSU 4 (Tellinghuisen 3). Turnovers – WIU 8, SDSU 4. Total fouls – WIU 18, SDSU 15. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None. A – 2,873.

Register photo: South Dakota State’s Tevin King challenges Western Illinois’ Kobe Webster during the first half of the Jackrabbits’ 82-62 Summit League win over the Leathernecks on Saturday afternoon at Frost Arena. King finished with 10 points as SDSU improved to 23-6 overall and 11-1 in the Summit.