Week 2: What You Should Know About Jacks MBB

The Jacks come home to Frost Arena tonight after nearly two weeks on the road. This week will feature two home games Nov. 19 and Nov. 24 against North Alabama and Mississippi Valley State, respectively. In between the two games will be a road contest against a Pac-12 opponent in the University of Arizona Nov 21.

Here’s what we can expect out of the week’s opponents:

North Alabama

The Lions have had a similar schedule to the Jacks that has included two Power-5 schools, including Indiana, who the Jacks will play next week. UNA ( 2-2) includes three double-digit scorers, all of who are guards. 

Jamari Blackmon was the team's top scorer from last season and is averaging 10.8 points per game. C.J. Brim has been a consistent scorer who averages 11.8 ppg. 

North Alabama came into the season ranked sixth in the Atlantic Sun preseason poll and is coming off a 10-22 season in 2018-19. 

Don’t expect to see a lot of scoring as the Lions average 69 ppg, but they do have 41 steals in four games played, which could play a role with a Jacks team who has turned the ball over a lot. Blackmon has 11 steals to lead the team. 

UNA has been in reach of games in the first half this season. They were within 10 at halftime against South Carolina and seven against Indiana, but poor second-half play by the Lions broke both games open.

Keys to the game:

I already hinted at this before, but limit the turnovers. While they don’t have much size, those guards can hurt you with steals and pressure.

Backcourt defense is going to be important for the Jacks. That is where most of the UNA points will come from.

This is going to sound cheesy, but take advantage of playing at home. North Alabama has struggled in road environments this year and it’s State’s first home game in what seems like forever.

Arizona

This will be one of the toughest games of the season for SDSU. In the most recent AP poll, Arizona was ranked 14th. 

Arizona (4-0) is trying to improve after a disappointing 2018-19 season. The Wildcats lost their final three games and went 8-10 in the PAC-12, which was a step back from previous back-to-back PAC-12 tournament titles. 

Nico Mannion was listed on both the Wooden and Naismith award preseason watchlists and is averaging 13.3 points per game. However, he is not the team's leading scorer. Zeke Nnaji is putting up 21 ppg.

Nnaji scored 26 points in 21 minutes against San Jose State and is shooting 84.6% from field goal range. The Hopkins, Minn. native has played in just four games as a freshman, but his size and athleticism makes him one of the most dangerous bigs in the country.

The Wildcats have the 12th-best 3-point percentage in Division I, shooting 43.6% and the 15th-best field goal percentage with 52.7%, so you can expect a balanced offense. 

As a team, they score 87.8 ppg and have won each game by at least 21 points.

Keys to the game: 

Stay calm and confident. Trying to do too much right away will put the Jacks in an early deficit, which is not what you want with a top-scoring team like Arizona. 

Interior play is going to be huge. It is the Jacks’ biggest strength and stopping Nnaji will be important if they want to win. Also, staying out of foul trouble. Seven Jacks players are in double figures in fouls on the season, which you can’t afford to have a player like Doug Wilson foul out. 

Mississippi Valley State

To wrap up the week, the Jacks will host the Delta Devils.

It has not been pretty for MVSU this season. They are 0-4 and have given up 100+ points in all but one game. That includes a 143-49 loss against Utah and a 134-78 loss against Central Michigan----no, neither of those scores are typos.

The Utah loss was an NCAA Division I record in terms of scoring margin. 

The Devils were 6-26 last season and failed to win a game on the road in 20 tries. 

Lindsey Hunter is in his first season leading the team. The head coach served as the interim head coach of the Phoenix Suns in 2012-13 and was the 10th overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft, so he’s got a good-looking track record. 

Michael Green is the only double-digit scoring player with 21.3 ppg. 

Keys to the game:

Limit Green, who is MVSU’s biggest scoring threat. He can put up 3s, but most of his shots have come inside the arc this season. 

Don’t overlook the opponent. The stats tell us that this has the potential to be a blowout, but you never know. It is still early in the season and you never know if the Devils bring more energy or the Jacks start beating themselves up with mistakes. 

On a non-basketball note, Sunday’s game is Epilepsy Awareness Night. This is a great opportunity for fans to come out and support a good cause. I’m not sure what the athletic department is planning yet, but it should be a special day to generate awareness for this disorder. 

What’s going right?

Doug Wilson continues to provide offense and energy for the team. He’s been the Jacks’ leading scorer with 15 points in the last two games. 

While Wilson continues to play well, there is a different guy to step up each night. Brandon Key has played well, David Wingett was 4-for-6 from the field against USC, Tray Buchanan had his best game as a Jackrabbit against Nebraska with 13 points and so on. They just need more consistency from a few more guys, which I expect to come by the time conference play gets here. 

What’s going wrong?

If you missed the game against Nebraska and wondered what happened, the Jacks just couldn’t get anything going in the first half. They played well in the second half, but ultimately, the slow start hurt them in what was a winnable game Starting the game strong is something that will help them compete these next few weeks against good teams. 

3-point shooting. I said this last week and it continues to be a problem. They went 1-for-13 from 3-point range in the first half against Nebraska and now are down to shooting just 25% for the season. Maybe this team isn’t going to be a good 3-point shooting team, but I certainly see some potential there and balance would be nice when you run into good competition.

Stat of the week: Credit to Jackrabbit Illustrated for bringing this up on Twitter a few days back. There are six Jacks MBB alum playing professionally around the world. As their seasons progress, I’ll try and find some highlights among the guys on this list. 

G-League

Tevin King- Austin

Skyler Flatten- Sioux Falls

AJ Hess- Wisconsin

Israel

Nate Wolters- Maccabi Tel Aviv

Deondre Parks- Hapoel Hevel Modi'in

Spain

Mike Daum- Monbus Obradoiro

If you like what you read or have any recommendations, you can find me on Twitter @Carson_Herbie or email me at carson.herbert@jacks.sdstate.edu