Men's Basketball Roundup: Jackrabbits Climb to the Top of Summit League Standings

Last week’s action saw the Jackrabbit climb to the top of the summit league rankings while going 2-0 against conferences foes at home. Overall, there is a lot to like about the men’s team. One game was a nail biter against Oral Roberts while the other was blowout win against an overwhelmed Denver squad as the Jackrabbits push their winning streak to seven games.

SDSU 78 – Oral Roberts 75

Rave – Key has been improving

During the game it was evident that the Junior guard has improved his play from earlier in the season. Key made smart decisions that night. Instead of driving down the lane into much larger defenders he penetrated then made on target and timely passes on offense. In fact, he lead the team with seven assists. His play contributed to the comeback the Jackrabbits made late in the first half.

Rant -Turnovers and Transition

The first half was back and forth with a quite few lead changes. But sloppy play helped the Golden Eagles build a near ten-point lead which they would hold until the final seconds of the first half (more on that later). There were a couple of instances where the SDSU offense would commit ugly turnovers which were immediately followed by poor transition defense which lead to easy baskets for Oral Roberts.

Rave-First Half Comeback

Down by six points with 4:44 remaining in the first half the SDSU Jackrabbits mounted a comeback lead by forward Mike Daum that brought Frost arena to its feet. It was a gutsy performance against a team that was currently atop the standings at the time. Down by two on the final possession, Key held on to the ball for most of the shot clock before he fed the ball to Daum at the top of the three-point arc as he knocked a three-point shot as he has done many times this season. The result, the crowd went nuts and the Jackrabbits went into locker room at half time with a one-point lead and would never trail for the rest of the game. It was easily the play of the game including Tevin King's timely offensive rebound in the final seconds of the game.

Rant-Dominated by the Big Men

Forwards Chris Miller and Albert Owens gave the SDSU defense trouble underneath the basket as they were part of a trio  that lead the Golden Eagles in scoring. It seemed that if the Jackrabbit were not on perfect on defense they would get an advantageous mismatch which would lead to easy baskets.

Rave-Most Entertaining Home Game of the Season So Far

This by far was the closet and most thrilling game of the season in Frost Arena. The opponents were tough and played well. The score was always close which is in contrast to most home games this season that have been blowout wins. The finale was  a nail biter as the Jackrabbits led in the final seconds by a single basket. I would have to say the difference in this game  was that Oral Roberts only managed to shoot 62 percent from the charity stripe while the Jacks were 84 percent from the line. I mentioned the importance and value of the Jackrabbits’ free throw accuracy in a previous post. It still hold true.

SDSU 94 – Denver 72

Rave – SDSU Continues Hot Streak

Not sure what to say here. The team has been playing well and they blew out yet another team at home. I could point to the high shooting percentage or the fact that the Jackrabbits shot over 90 percent from the free throw line. They are just playing well right now and sit atop the conference on a seven-game winning streak.

Rant-Not much to say

Hard time thinking of a point to bring up right now. I guess I could say Mike Daum missed his first free throw in five games. He only went a measly 10 for 11 from the charity stripe.

Up Next

The Jackrabbits play the next two games on the road against Western Illinois on January 20^th and against instate rival South Dakota on January 24^th.