SDSU posts 70-61 victory at Purdue Fort Wayne

Posted

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – South Dakota State men's basketball held off a scrappy Purdue Fort Wayne squad Saturday night to secure its fourth consecutive win, topping the Mastodons 70-61 at Memorial Coliseum.

The Jackrabbits (13-9, 4-1 Summit League) led by as many as 21 after a hot-shooting opening frame, but saw the hometown Mastodons rally down the stretch to pressure State late. 

“I’m really proud of our young guys and how we handled our business on a long road trip,” SDSU coach Eric Henderson said. “For us to come out the way we did in the first half, it was really impressive. We have multiple guys willing to step up and make plays and that was on display for us tonight.”

Down 45-24 with 16:25 left in the game, Purdue Fort Wayne woke up offensively, cutting it to single digits with 4:25 on the clock, then pulled within six inside the final 2 minutes. David Wingett, however, put the game out of reach for good with 1:23 remaining, sinking a contested 3-pointer to cap a memorable night.

Wingett blew past his previous career high with a 24-point showing, burying 9-of-15 from the field with six 3-pointers – 13 of those points came in the opening half as the Winnebago, Nebraska, native helped the Jacks to their fast start.

Matt Dentlinger and Douglas Wilson were in double figures as well with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Dentlinger pulled down five rebounds and tallied two blocks.

Noah Freidel (eight points) and Alex Arians tied for the team-lead with eight rebounds, as Arians dished four assists on the night for a team that had 19 assists on 29 made field goals.

South Dakota State came out firing to build a 12-2 lead in the opening four minutes, then pushed its advantage to 14 – 22-8 – at 12:55 as Freidel buried a 3. The Jackrabbits, who shot 65 percent and went 5-of-8 from deep in the first half, continued to push and carried a 40-20 lead into halftime.

Neither team found its rhythm early in the second, but with 16 minutes left the intensity picked up as the Mastodons made their charge. The double-digit lead proved vital for the Jackrabbits, though, as SDSU capped an undefeated week in Summit League action.

Notes: SDSU leads the all-time series 20-13. ... The Jacks have shot over 50 percent in all five Summit League games this season.

Up Next

South Dakota State is host to North Dakota on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game is on MidcoSN.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 70, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 61

South Dakota State (13-7, 4-1 Summit)

David Wingett 9-15 0-2 24, Matt Dentlinger 6-9 1-2 13, Douglas Wilson 5-7 0-0 10, Noah Freidel 3-8 0-0 8, Alex Arians 2-10 0-0 4, Baylor Scheierman 3-4 2-2 9, Alou Dillon 1-2 0-0 2, Matt Mims 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-55 3-6 70.

Purdue Fort Wayne (9-10, 2-2 Summit)

Brian Patrick 5-17 5-5 16, Jarred Godfrey 5-14 3-3 13, Deonte Billups 2-8 3-4 8, Dylan Carl 3-6 0-0 6, Matt Holba 1-6 0-0 3, DeMierre Black 5-13 2-2 13, Cameron Benford 1-2 0-0 2, Marcus DeBerry 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-67 13-14 61.

Halftime – SDSU 40-20. 3-point goals – SDSU 9-18 (Wingett 6-9, Freidel 2-4, Scheierman 1-1, Arians 0-4), PFW 4-26 (Holba 1-4, Black 1-5, Billups 1-5, Patrick 1-6, Godfrey 0-6). Rebounds – SDSU 40 (Freidel, Arians 8), PFW 34 (Patrick, Billups 6). Assists – SDSU 19 (Arians 4), PFW 7 (Patrick, Godfrey, Black 2). Steals – SDSU 2 (Wingett, Arians 1), PFW 8 (Patrick, Godfrey, Black 2). Blocks – SDSU 6 (Dentlinger 2), PFW 5 (Carl 3). Turnovers – SDSU 14, PFW 6. Total fouls – SDSU 15, PFW 11. Fouled out – Benford. Technical fouls – none. A – 1,314.