TUSCON, Ariz. – South Dakota State led for the final 16 minutes of the first half, but 14th ranked Arizona proved to be too much handle as they topped the Jackrabbits 71-64.
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TUSCON, Ariz. – South Dakota State led for the final 16 minutes of the first half, but 14th ranked Arizona proved to be too much handle as they topped the Jackrabbits 71-64.
The Jackrabbits (4-3) took a 9-8 lead with 16:06 to go in the first half and led by 10 multiple times in the first half, taking a 32-29 lead into the locker room. The Jacks didn’t relinquish the lead until the 14:28 mark in the second half. That was during a 12-0 run by the Wildcats, which gave them a 46-39 lead.
SDSU cut the Arizona lead to 55-51 with 5:38 left in the game, but Arizona (5-0) went on a 6-0 run to boost their lead to 10 and wouldn’t look back. Arizona’s largest lead was 11 with 43 seconds left.
“We’re not into moral victories, but certainly proud of our guys’ competitive level. They didn’t come in intimidated. You know, we have a young team and we’re inexperienced, but we are confident. We’re very selfless and care about each other and we know who is on our team and we’re ready to go to battle with each other more times than not,” said SDSU head coach Eric Henderson.
The Jacks were led by Douglas Wilson who had 15 points and four rebounds. Brandon Key finished with 13 points, six assists and three rebounds. Matt Dentlinger had 11 points and grabbed seven boards and David Wingett knocked down three triples to give him nine points.
Josh Green had 15 points for the Wildcats. Zeke Nnaji, who was averaging 22 points coming into the game, was held to 12 points and six rebounds. Nico Mannio had 14 points.
SDSU outrebounded Arizona 17-12 in the first half, but the Wildcats flexed their muscles in the second half, grabbing seven more rebounds than the Jacks (20-13).
“I probably could have said [Arizona head coach Sean Miller}’s speech for him. ‘We’re going to throw the ball inside and we’re going to rebound like crazy. What happens is they did exactly that. They got us pretty good on the boards there in the second half and then they throw it inside and we foul them and they get a bunch of points from the foul line,” Henderson said.
Even with the loss, Henderson found a lot of positives out of the game because they hung around with the No. 14 team in the country about 85% of the game.
SDSU shot 45.5% from the field for the game and 36.4% from three. The Jacks held Arizona, who was a top-15 three-point shooting team in the country heading into the game, to 3-17 from beyond the arc Thursday night.
“We’re continuing to be a work in progress and we’re going to be for a while,” Henderson said. We’re still growing together and we’re still learning together. I love this group. I really like this group of guys. … Today our approach was very business-like and we were ready for this challenge. You have to take advantage of every opportunity you get. So when you get the chance to step on the floor with a team like [Arizona], who I have respect for and think they can make it to the Final Four, you have to take advantage of that.”
SDSU will return home this weekend and will Mississippi Valley State on Sunday. It will be Epilepsy Awareness Day and tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
NO. 14 ARIZONA 71, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 64
South Dakota State (4-3)
Douglas Wilson 5-7 5-7 15, Brandon Key 4-10 4-5 13, Matt Dentlinger 5-7 1-2 11, David Wingett 3-6 0-0 9, Noah Freidel 2-7 0-0 6, Alex Arians 2-5 1-2 6, Baylor Scheierman 1-4 0-0 2, Tray Buchanan 0-0 2-3 2, Owen King 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-47 13-19 64.
Arizona (5-0)
Josh Green 4-13 7-8 15, Nico Mannion 4-9 4-6 14, Zeke Nnaji 4-5 4-6 12, Ira Lee 3-3 0-0 6, Stone Gettings 3-5 0-1, Jermari Baker Jr. 1-3 3-4 5, Devonaire Doutrive 1-6 0-0 2, Max Hazzard 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 23-53 22-30 71.
Halftime – 32-29 SDSU. Three-point field goals – SDSU 7-19 (Wingett 3-3, Freidel 2-6, Arians 1-2, Key 1-4, King 0-1, Scheierman 0-3), ARIZ 3-17 (Mannion 2-5, Smith 1-3, Gettings 0-1, Doutrive 0-1, Hazzard 0-1, Baker 0-2, Green 0-4). Rebounds – SDSU 30 (Freidel 7), ARIZ 32 (Jeter 7). Assists – SDSU 13 (Key 6), ARIZ 9 (Mannion 4). Steals – SDSU 6 (Arians 2), ARIZ 7 (Green 3). Blocks – SDSU 3 (Dentlinger 2), ARIZ 3 (Jeter, Lee, Doutrive). Turnovers – SDSU 21, ARIZ 15. Total fouls – SDSU 26, ARIZ 19. Technical fouls – none. A – 12,828.
