‘Rabbits rally to knock off USD

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SIOUX FALLS – Despite what the election results told us in November, South Dakota is a Blue (and Yellow) state.

Michael Orris tied a career high with 20 points, including the go-ahead jumper from the left wing with 1.5 seconds remaining, as the Jackrabbits rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat the regular-season champion Coyotes 74-71 in a Summit League Men’s Basketball Championship semifinal matchup Monday night in front of a record 11,235 fans at the PREMIER Center.

South Dakota State is back in the title game for the fifth time in six years – the Jackrabbits won in 2012, 2013 and 2016 while coming up short in 2015.

Not bad for a team that lost six of its first seven games and was at the bottom of the conference standings at the midpoint of the league season.

The Jackrabbits moved their record over .500 – 17-16 – for the first time this year.

It all changed during an 88-84 win at Omaha (18-13), SDSU’s opponent in the final tonight at 8 on ESPN2.

The Jackrabbits have won eight of their past 10 contests, including five in a row.

Orris, a graduate transfer, was averaging 7.8 points in just 21 games this season entering the showdown with South Dakota.

That didn’t matter.

Orris had 11 markers before teammate and Summit League Player of the Year Mike Daum even found the scoring column, helping the Jackrabbits stay within striking distance early.

Daum’s first points came with 7:27 remaining before the break.

USD twice led by 16 points, the last occurrence coming at 43-27 at the 1:45 mark of the opening half. The margin was 44-33 at halftime.

The deficit was 13 points – 56-43 – with 13:31 to go when the Jackrabbits scored the next nine points.

Lane Severyn got it going with a putback, Skyler Flatten hit a 3-pointer, Daum scored down low and Tevin King added a pair of free throws to pull SDSU within 56-52 with 10:34 left.

The Jackrabbits eventually knotted the score at 65-65 with 3:58 to play and again at 68-68 with 1:33 showing on the clock.

The Coyotes’ Matt Mooney, who dropped in a game-high 30 points, buried a 3-pointer from the right corner with 34 seconds left to make it 71-68.

Daum countered with a pair of free throws on the other end to cut pull SDSU within one and USD’s Tyler Peterson missed the front end of a one-and-one with 13 seconds to go.

Daum grabbed the rebound and passed to Orris, who dribbled around looking to set up a teammate before swishing a 20-footer.

The Coyotes’ long inbounds pass ended up out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Jackrabbits. Tellinghuisen was fouled with 1.2 seconds remaining and made both tosses.

Tyler Hagedorn’s 59-footer as time expired rimmed off, and the Jackrabbits prevailed.

Orris finished 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-4 at the line. He did a majority of his damage getting to the rim, but also went 2-of-3 from deep.

Daum ended up with 18 points, going 5-of-14 from the field and 8-of-11 at the line. He grabbed nine rebounds.

Tellinghuisen contributed 16 points, seven boards and a pair of key second-half blocks. Chris Howell scored nine of his 11 points after halftime.

South Dakota, which already clinched a spot in the NIT, dropped to 22-11.

Notes: SDSU improved to 16-5 in Summit League tourney games. … The Jackrabbits won the season series with the Coyotes 2-1, as the three games were decided by a combined six points. … Daum pushed his season point total to 824 (24.97 average) – the second-highest in league history – and his career total to 1,342 (20.03).

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 74, SOUTH DAKOTA 71

South Dakota State (17-16)

Chris Howell 5-8 1-2 11, Reed Tellinghuisen 5-12 5-7 16, Mike Daum 5-14 8-11 18, Lane Severyn 1-3 0-0 2, Michael Orris 7-12 4-4 20, Skyler Flatten 1-2 0-0 3, Tevin King 0-3 4-4 4, A.J. Hess 0-1 0-0 0, Ian Theisen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-56 22-28 74.

South Dakota (22-11)

Trey Dickerson 4-8 0-0 10, Carlton Hurst 2-4 1-1 5, Trey Burch-Manning 3-5 0-0 6, Matt Mooney 12-24 3-4 30, Tyler Flack 3-12 3-6 9, Triston Simpson 1-3 0-0 2, Brandon Armstrong 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Peterson 1-3 2-4 4, Tyler Hagedorn 2-5 0-0 5, Logan Power 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 9-15 71.

Halftime – USD 44-33. 3-point goals – SDSU 4-22 (Orris 2-3, Flatten 1-2, Tellinghuisen 1-6, King 0-1, Hess 0-1, Theisen 0-1, Severyn 0-2, Daum 0-6), USD 6-20 (Mooney 3-8, Dickerson 2-3, Hagedorn 1-3, Hurst 0-1, Burch-Manning 0-1, Simpson 0-1, Peterson 0-1, Flack 0-2). Rebounds – SDSU 40 (Daum 9), USD 34 (Flack, Simpson 6). Assists – SDSU 7 (Howell 2), USD 8 (Mooney, Simpson, Peterson 2). Steals – SDSU 4 (Orris 3), USD 8 (Mooney 4). Blocks – SDSU 3 (Tellinghuisen 2), USD 1 (Mooney). Turnovers – SDSU 13, USD 9. Total fouls – SDSU 14, USD 22. Fouled out – Burch-Manning, Flack. Technical fouls – None.

A – 11,235.

• Omaha 90, IUPUI 62

The third-seeded Mavericks closed the first half on a 24-4 run to open up a 42-18 advantage en route to the easy win over the seventh-seeded Jaguars.

Reserve Mitch Hahn posted a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Mavericks (18-13). Tre’Shawn Thurman also had a double-double with 15 points and 12 boards.

UNO shot 50.8 percent (32-of-63) from the field despite make just six of its 25 attempts from 3-point range. IUPUI ended up at 31.7 percent (19-of-60), going 6-of-26 from long range.

Tra-Deon Hollins had 19 points and four boards, while Zach Jackson chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds.

For the Jaguars (14-18), Darell Combs tallied 22 points and seven rebounds.

Omaha’s lead peaked at 34 points – 70-36 – with 9:15 remaining.