Jackrabbits face Mastodons on road

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The South Dakota State men’s basketball team opens the new year Thursday at Purdue Fort Wayne in Game 2 of Summit League action. The Jackrabbits and Mastodons tip off at 6:30 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind.

The Jacks are the three-time defending Summit League tournament champions, and last year earned the program’s first-ever outright Summit regular season title. SDSU, picked first in the Summit League preseason poll, finished the nonconference portion of its 2018-19 campaign with a 10-5 mark. The Jacks opened league play Dec. 28 with a convincing 100-58 victory at Western Illinois.

Purdue Fort Wayne (10-7, 2-0 Summit League) has won four straight games, including two league contests in a two-day span – Saturday at North Dakota 84-73 and Sunday at North Dakota State 90-87 – after winter weather forced schedule changes.

This is the 31st meeting between the programs, with South Dakota State holding an 18-12 advantage in the all-time series. The Jackrabbits are 5-8 all-time in Fort Wayne and have won four straight in the series.

About South Dakota State

All-American Mike Daum paces the Jackrabbit offense with a double-double average of 24.6 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, shooting 51.2 percent from the field with 34 3-point field goals. He is one of three players nationally averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Daum has dished 28 assists on the year and is playing 31.6 minutes per contest. The two-time Summit League Player of the Year now has 2,626 career points, 43 career double-doubles and ranks first all-time on both lists at SDSU. He has scored 40 or more in two games this season.

David Jenkins is second in scoring for the Jacks, dropping 20 points on average with eight 20-plus scoring performances, including a career-best 35 against Memphis when he hit 8-of-11 from beyond the arc. The sophomore guard has 47 treys on the year (with two games of eight 3-pointers) to go with a 49.7 field goal percentage and 51.1 percent mark from deep.

Skyler Flatten rounds out the top scorers for South Dakota State with 15.4 points per game, as the sixth-year senior has hit 38 3-pointers, tallied 15 steals, dished 26 assists and reached double figures in 14 of the last 15 contests. He has four 20-plus scoring performances, dropping in 28 against UTSA, 29 against Savannah State, 20 at Nevada and 20 against Eastern Washington.

Tevin King leads the team with 71 assists and is averaging nine points per game. He is a 54.8 percent shooter from the field and has 20 steals to go with a 6.8 rebounding average.

Alex Arians has started eight games for the Jacks and is averaging 4.8 points per game with one double-double, totaling 11 points with 10 rebounds against UMKC. He is averaging 4.2 rebounds per game and has 14 steals in 23.6 minutes per game.

Owen King is second on the Jacks with 42 assists, dishing 2.6 per game to go with 4.8 scoring and 1.9 rebounding averages. He has tallied three or more assists in eight contests.

Matt Dentlinger (3.8 points and rebounds per game), Ryan Krueger (2.8 ppg, 11 3-pointers) and Alou Dillon (2.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg) have provided valuable minutes as well. Dentlinger has started seven games, including the first six games of the season, and Krueger burst on to the scene with a 16-point performance against Colorado State in the Gulf Coast Showcase, hitting four 3-pointers. Dillon earned his first-career start at Western Illinois and scored nine points.

The Jackrabbits are averaging 85.7 points per contest and shooting an impressive 51.1 percent from the field as a team. SDSU is 155-of-359 from beyond the arc and has hit 266-of-347 at the charity stripe. All told, the Jacks have seven players shooting better than 50 percent from the field with four hitting 40 percent or better from deep.

On the boards, the Jacks hold a plus-6.5 edge in rebound margin and are pulling down 39.6 per game as a team.

About Purdue Fort Wayne

Head Coach Jon Coffman is in his fifth season leading the Mastodons and has an 88-60 record.

Purdue Fort Wayne is averaging 83.2 points per game and shooting 48.7 percent combined and 36.7 percent from deep (177-of-482), sitting first nationally in 3-pointers made and second in attempts. Defensively, the Mastodons have limited opponents to 46.9 points per game with a 44.6 field goal percentage.

Purdue Fort Wayne holds a narrow plus-0.1 edge in rebounding margin with 35.6 boards per contest.

John Konchar is leading the team in points (19.7), rebounds (9.5) and assists (4.7) per game as a 57.1 percent shooter.

Kason Harrell is scoring 16.5 points per game and leads the team with 34 3-pointers as a 52.8 percent shooter overall. Matt Holba is in double figures as well with 10.0 points per game and 31 3-pointers.

Dylan Carl is second on the team with 4.8 rebounds per contest and has a Mastodon-best 19 blocks, just ahead of Harrell’s 18 swats.

Rebounding battle

Konchar ranks third in Summit League history with 1,029 career rebounds and Daum is fourth at 1,025. Konchar is averaging 9.47 boards per game this season and Daum is averaging 10.88.

Oral Roberts’ Caleb Green (2003-07) holds the league record with 1,189 rebounds and Oakland’s Keith Benson (2007-11) is second at 1,103.

More on Daum

The fifth-year senior from Kimball, Neb., is the SDSU and Summit League record-holder with 2,626 career points.

Daum ranks 30th in NCAA Division I history in scoring.

 25. David Robinson, Navy (1983-87) – 2,669 points

 26. Wayman Tisdale, Oklahoma (1982-85) – 2,661

 27. Stephen Curry, Davidson (2006-09) – 2,635

 28. Troy Bell, Boston College (1999-2003) – 2,632

 29. Michael Brooks, La Salle (1976-80) – 2,628

Campbell senior Chris Clemons has 2,617 career points entering the Fighting Camels’ matchup with Allen today.