Jackrabbit Men's Hoops Update: One Final Stretch
memorable season.
Coming into matchups against North Dakota (tonight), South Dakota
(Sunday) and North Dakota State (Feb. 27), the Jackrabbits hold sole possession of first place in
the league standings. However, a bad three games could move them down a few spots as the Bison and
Yotes are close behind.
Here’s a breakdown of each of the upcoming opponents:
North Dakota:
The Fighting Hawks have floated around .500 since the last time we
saw them. UND is 7-2 overall at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, so the Jacks should be in for a test
tonight.
Marlon Stewart continues to lead UND in scoring, averaging 18.1
points per game, while De'Sean
Allen-Eikens, Filip Rebraca and Kienan Walter are the other
scorers averaging double figures.
Stewart and Rebraca are two players to watch. Stewart has made 49
3-pointers on the season and
Rebraca has 11 total double-doubles. A cold start for the Jacks
didn't have much of an effect on the
game's result on Jan. 15. SDSU did a good job of preventing any
chance for UND to get back into the
game.
I like State’s chances tonight, but like I have said all season,
home court advantage is huge. Mims,
Freidel and Dillon stepped up in the previous matchup to support
Wilson and they’ll need more than Wilson’s scoring in the paint to win again tonight.
South Dakota
Redemption will definitely be in the Brookings air Sunday when the
Coyotes come to town.
USD’s offense was too much for SDSU in Vermillion. Will having
Wilson this time around make much of a difference? I’d say yes. Wilson is the most consistent scorer on
the team and while Dentlinger played one of his best games in the last rivalry game, Wilson’s
explosiveness has fueled SDSU all season long.
USD shot 64 percent (!) in that game and all five Coyote starters
scored in double digits. Road
environments against other top five conference foes hasn't been
friendly to USD. They scored just
70 points in a heartbreaker in Fargo and fell 94-80 just recently
on Feb. 15 to ORU in Tulsa. All together, they are 5-7 on the road in
2019-20.
Since then, the Coyotes went on an eight-game winning streak, but
saw it end with their road game at ORU.
With the previous stats and SDSU’s long home winning streak at
Frost, the Jacks will be favored, but I wouldn’t get too comfy. It is still a rivalry game and USD still
has dynamic scorers that will make things interesting. Hagedorn hasn't scored over 20 since Feb. 2, but he
still is the league's top scorer. Stanley Umude has been on a tear in the last two games, which has brought
his scoring average up to 17.1.
The Coyotes host NDSU tonight. Even though it is a game between
two enemies, I think it is one worth turning your tv on for.
It was a test even for last year’s Jackrabbit team to host the
Coyotes on Senior Day, so we will see if it will be the same story this time around. I felt like I was
watching an NBA game with the game in
Vermillion. Each team has its strengths in terms of scoring, but
who will step up on defense?
Keys to the game for the Jacks:
control the paint
hold on to the momentum
defend home court
North Dakota State
If things hold on from now to next Thursday, it will be a regular
season finale featuring the top two teams in the league.
Like USD, the Jacks gave NDSU its last loss. Since the game at
Frost Arena, NDSU has won
six-straight and shared first place with the Jacks for a large
chunk of that time.
Vinnie Shahid has been good since the loss vs. SDSU. The point
guard scored 31 at home against ORU a few weeks ago, including six 3s. Tyson Ward dropped 24 on the
Jacks earlier in the season and is shooting 53% from the field on the season while averaging 15.5
ppg.
Rounding out the trio is Rocky Kreuser, who finished with 18
points against the Jacks. Kreuser can shoot the 3 and is not afraid to be aggressive and go to the free throw
line.
SDSU used a solid effort in the paint to win by five on Jan. 22.
Dentlinger and Wilson each had
impressive games while Arians recorded an impressive line of 14
points, 11 rebounds and six assists at the point.
NDSU hasn't lost at home since November. It will take SDSU’s best
game of the season to come out of Fargo with a win. They have the capability to do it, but the Jacks
haven’t played well on the road in big games. We saw it to open the conference season in Omaha as well as
USD. But things have changed since those two games and it would be a great way to head into the
postseason.
Keys to the game:
Arians will need to continue his impressive play at the point,
especially against Shahid.
Avoid an early deficit. The Jacks made it look easy against Purdue
Fort Wayne, storming back in the
second half to claim a win. But a comeback on the road will be
much more difficult.
Final thoughts on the Jacks:
I like the inside-out game. Wilson has done great, but he’s even
better when outside shooters, like
Wingett and Freidel can take the load off. The style of offense
makes it hard for defenders to guard.
Battle at the point. Arians has fit in well at the point guard
position. Is this permanent for the rest of the season, or even into next year? I like Mims coming off the bench
right now, but he could very well compete for more minutes. What about Brandon Key? He was a big
part of the offense early on. The injury put him out of rhythm and he hasn’t played as much as some
were expecting.
Hot and cold. The good and bad halves have been on display as of
late. I mentioned the PFW game.
Games against Denver and WIU have been the same story. From my
observations, it’s just a matter of
getting the ball in the basket or getting stops on defense when
your offense is cold. Playing all 40 minutes is huge. They can’t rely on
comebacks all the time to save the day.
All eyes at the top. As long as they stay in the top three, I
don’t think seeding matters beyond an
automatic bid to the NIT for the Jacks. We learned that the hard
way last year. No one is playing to host the tournament like other Summit League sports. But there are
bragging rights at stake, especially when you are going up against your rivals.
A Summit League preview will be posted as we get closer. Get ready for the madness that is March.
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.
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