‘Rabbits romp over ‘Roos, 75-47

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BROOKINGS – Despite having only eight players available, the Jackrabbits had more than enough weapons to dismantle Kansas City on Wednesday night at Frost Arena.

South Dakota State scored the first eight points of the game and outscored the Kangaroos 30-17 in the second half to pull away for a 75-47 nonconference win.

Mike Daum, who was honored before the game for eclipsing Nate Wolters’ SDSU scoring record, finished with game-highs of 26 points and 18 rebounds, and now has 2,425 points for his career.

Daum’s old-fashioned three-point play gave the Jacks a 12-point lead at 17-5 with 14:29 to play in the first half.

UMKC pulled to within three – 17-14 – following a 3-pointer by Jordan Giles at the 11:48 mark, but SDSU went on an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to go up 28-14.

Ryan Krueger’s only basket of the game – a 3-pointer with 3:23 left in the half – gave the Jacks an 18-point advantage at 40-22 on the way to a 45-30 edge at halftime.

The Kangaroos never got closer than 15 points in the second half as Alex Arians’ basket in the paint pushed the SDSU lead to 21 points – 60-39 – with 9:59 to play.

The redshirt freshman sandwiched two more inside baskets around a UMKC free throw to give the Jacks their biggest advantage of the contest at 31 points – 73-42 – with 5:35 on the clock.

Arians posted the first double-double of his career with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Skyler Flatten also contributed 11 points and Tevin King chipped in with 10 as SDSU improved to 6-2.

Xavier Bishop led the Kangaroos, 1-7, with 11 points, while Brandon McKissic and Rob Whitfield added 10 apiece.

“I felt our guys really had great focus the last couple days leading up into this game,” SDSU head coach T.J. Otzelberger said to SDSU Sports Information. “Overall, I thought it was a very complete win for us, and great for us to get all five freshmen some quality minutes, as well.

“We continue to say how the more minutes we can get those guys, the more it’ll continue to pay off.”

Game Notes (From SDSU SID) – South Dakota State is 15-6 all-time against Kansas City. … SDSU is fifth nationally with 32 consecutive home nonconference wins. … Owen King earned his first career start. … Daum recorded his 38th double-double and now has 2,425 career points – 89th all-time on the NCAA’s scoring chart. … The Jackrabbits held an opponent under 50 points for the first time since Dec. 19, 2014, against CSU-Bakersfield in a 53-49 victory.

Up Next – The Jackrabbits head to Minneapolis on Saturday for a matchup against Northern Iowa in the U.S. Bank Stadium Basketball Classic. Tipoff is at 8 p.m.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 75, KANSAS CITY 47

Kansas City (1-7)

Xavier Bishop 4-11 0-0 11, Brandon McKissic 5-14 0-0 10, Danny Dixon 2-6 0-0 4, Marvin Nesbitt Jr. 1-3 0-0 3, Jamel Allen 0-6 1-2 1, Rob Whitfield 4-10 0-0 10, Jordan Giles 1-4 0-2 3, Kaleb Roy 0-1 3-4 3, Aleer Leek 1-3 0-0 2, Brandon Suggs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-58 4-8 47.

South Dakota State (6-2)

Mike Daum 9-14 8-13 26, Alex Arians 4-8 3-4 11, Skyler Flatten 5-13 0-1 11, Tevin King 3-5 2-4 10, Owen King 3-9 0-0 7, Matt Dentlinger 3-3 1-1 7, Ryan Krueger 1-2 0-0 3, Alou Dillon 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 14-23 75.

Halftime – SDSU 45-30. 3-point goals – UMKC 7-31 (Bishop 3-8, McKissic 0-5, Nesbitt Jr. 1-3, Allen 0-4, Whitfield 2-7, Giles 1-3, Roy 0-1); SDSU 5-17 (Daum 0-2, Arians 0-3, Flatten 1-3, T. King 2-2, O. King 1-6, Krueger 1-1). Rebounds – UMKC 29 (Giles 5); SDSU 46 (Daum 18, Arians 10). Assists – UMKC 10 (Bishop 4); SDSU 13 (T. King 5). Steals – UMKC 5 (Whitfield 2); SDSU 5 (Flatten 2). Blocks – UMKC 4 (Giles 2); SDSU 4 (Daum 2). Turnovers – UMKC 13; SDSU 11. Total fouls – UMKC 23; SDSU 13. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None. A – 1,494.