BROOKINGS – The South Dakota State men got off to a slow start but eventually pulled away from North Dakota in their Summit League opener on Sunday as they beat the Fighting Hawks 80-61.

SDSU trailed 18-8 eight minutes into the game but climbed its way back and the Jacks led at halftime and eventually pulled away from UND. SDSU head coach Eric Henderson said he was proud of his team for sticking with it after having 10 days between games.

“Sometimes after Christmas [a slow start] can happen. There’s some advantages to having the first night of Summit League action off after Christmas, but it can also catch up to you. … I thought our guys did a great job of settling in and after the first 10 minutes I was really proud of our effort and energy and enthusiasm,” Henderson said. 

The Jacks had a few changes in their starting lineup on Sunday. Matt Mims returned to the lineup after missing the first 13 games with a foot injury. However, Zeke Mayo, who is SDSU’s leading scorer, was removed from the starting lineup. Henderson said there were a couple of reasons that led to Mayo being put on the bench and he was happy with the way he played, scoring a game-high 25 points and grabbing seven rebounds. 

“There were a few specific reasons. I won’t go into much detail, and it’s really not that much, but we just have some non-negotiables within our program and when something like that doesn’t happen you have to make tough decisions sometimes. … I was really proud of how he responded. It wasn’t personal, but it was something that I felt like I needed to do and I did it and Zeke responded well,” Mayo said.

Mims played 25 minutes in his return and had two points, two rebounds and three assists. Henderson said he was excited to have Mims back in the lineup because of the energy he brings.

“The energy that Matt Mims gave our team, being back and being able to play, was pretty special. … [He brings] the ability to make shots, and that will continue to get better. I mean, the dude hasn’t played in a couple months, so you knew it was going to take a little time and trust in his heart that he’s okay. But his ability to make shots, calm our team down and defend, it’s incredible,” Henderson said.

After trailing 18-8, SDSU went on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to two with 8:30 to play in the first half. The Jacks then took the lead with 4:33 left in the half and took a 36-33 lead into halftime.

SDSU opened the second half with a 9-2 run and led by 10 with 16:43 left in the game. The Jacks stretched the lead to 54-39 with 12 minutes left but the Fighting Hawks then cut the lead to 66-59 with 4:36 left in the game. The Jacks would respond as Mayo threw an alley-oop to William Kyle III and that sparked a 9-0 run that put the game out of reach.

Mayo said he thought the second half was the most connected that SDSU has played this season.

“We just have to never get too high and never get too low. We understand that everyone on this team is bought in right now and we played arguably the most connected that we have all year today and we’re going to attempt to keep stacking those days and look forward towards the next game,” Mayo said.

SDSU did a lot of its damage in the paint on Sunday as it outscored UND 44-20 down low. Kyle had 20 points and five rebounds and Luke Appel had 17 points. Kyle said there was emphasis on getting the ball inside against the Fighting Hawks.

“That was what we wanted to do. Take them out of their game. I think there was a stat that said when they score a certain amount of points in the paint, they win a majority of their games. So, we definitely wanted to take them off of that and it was a big thing that we wanted to do tonight,” Kyle said.

The Jacks shot 54% from the field and were 5-of-15 from three. SDSU was 21-of-29 at the free throw line. Kalen Garry had 10 points and four rebounds.

UND shot 31% from the field and was 8-of-37 from beyond the arc. The Fighting Hawks were 17-of-26 at the charity stripe. They were led by Tyree Ihenacho and Tsotne Tsartsidze who each had 16 points and nine rebounds. Eli King had 11 points. 

As a team SDSU outrebounded UND 38-35. Each team had 11 turnovers. The Jacks had six steals and the Fighting Hawks had five.

SDSU improved to 7-7 overall with the win. It has been an up-and-down season so far for the Jacks. Their longest win streak so far has been three games and their longest losing streak has been three games as well. Henderson said Sunday was good to see, but SDSU needs to be more consistent if they want to put together a good season in conference play.

“We’ve had really nice moments this year and over break we talked about consistency. … How do you make sure you’re playing connected every game? Well, you do it every day. … Quite honestly, I told the team over break, do they have a responsibility? Absolutely. They have a responsibility, but so do I and I need to do a better job of holding our guys accountable for those things on a consistent basis and that’s how you get better,” Henderson said.

SDSU will wrap up the non-conference next as the Jacks play at Weber State on Wednesday at 8 p.m. and host Montana State on Saturday at 4:15 p.m.