Men's Summit League Tournament Preview
Happy Summit League Tournament eve, everyone! The next four days will feature 14 basketball games at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls. This is the 12th year Sioux Falls has hosted the tournament and it has established itself as one of the best conference tournaments in the country.
Sioux Falls is the perfect host site with the two in-state Division I public colleges being members in addition to NDSU, UND and Omaha being within a reasonable drive down and up I-29.
On the men’s side, most people were predicting a wide open race in 2019-20. But, really, the league has been controlled by NDSU and SDSU for most of the season with USD and Oral Roberts remaining competitive behind them.
Sioux Falls is the perfect host site with the two in-state Division I public colleges being members in addition to NDSU, UND and Omaha being within a reasonable drive down and up I-29.
On the men’s side, most people were predicting a wide open race in 2019-20. But, really, the league has been controlled by NDSU and SDSU for most of the season with USD and Oral Roberts remaining competitive behind them.
Here in Brookings, fans have been entertained by a young and exciting Jacks team, who finished just short of a top seed in the conference tournament. Here are the league accolades SDSU received Thursday.
Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, First Team All-Summit League and All Newcomer Team: Douglas Wilson
Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, First Team All-Summit League and All Newcomer Team: Douglas Wilson
This is the fourth-consecutive year a Jackrabbit has won this award, with Mike Daum claiming the award in the previous three seasons. I think people familiar with the program knew Wilson could make an impact coming into the season, but were they expecting player of the year? Averaging 18.6 points per game and shooting 62 percent from the field, Wilson was great in the paint all season long. All of these awards are well deserved.
Second Team All-Summit League: Matt Dentlinger
Fans saw flashes of Dentlinger last season, but the forward started all 31 games for the Jacks this season. Dentlinger finished behind Wilson in the team lead for points and rebounds per game, but led the entire conference in field goal percentage, shooting 63 percent. Those two were one of, if not the best inside duos in the conference.
Freshman of the Year, Honorable Mention All-Summit League and All-Newcomer Team: Noah Freidel
Re-opening his recruitment last summer worked out pretty well for Freidel, who represented his home state by averaging 11.4 points per game and hitting 38.6 percent of his 3s. Freidel was huge in the final three games of the season as he averaged 23.3 points per game. It’s a good feeling realizing he is only a freshman.
Fans saw flashes of Dentlinger last season, but the forward started all 31 games for the Jacks this season. Dentlinger finished behind Wilson in the team lead for points and rebounds per game, but led the entire conference in field goal percentage, shooting 63 percent. Those two were one of, if not the best inside duos in the conference.
Freshman of the Year, Honorable Mention All-Summit League and All-Newcomer Team: Noah Freidel
Re-opening his recruitment last summer worked out pretty well for Freidel, who represented his home state by averaging 11.4 points per game and hitting 38.6 percent of his 3s. Freidel was huge in the final three games of the season as he averaged 23.3 points per game. It’s a good feeling realizing he is only a freshman.
Eric Henderson: Coach of the Year
Everyone knows the story; new team, first-year head coach and so on. Henderson’s season was remarkable. This should have been an easy vote for all who participated.
Purdue Fort Wayne will be the first round opponent for the Jacks. One thing to note with the Mastodons, this is their final Summit League Tournament (moving to the Horizon League next season in case you didn’t know). As the seventh seed, PFW has that nothing to lose mentality. The Mastodons have never won this tournament and has only reached the championship game once (2013-14).
PFW went 3-13 in conference play, including losing three of its final four games.They weren't very good against the top four teams in the conference, except beating USD on New Year's Day.
Jarred Godfrey is their scoring leader, averaging 15.8 points per game. The Jacks held him to 13 points in the first matchup and 12 in the second while limiting him to just one made 3-pointer between the two games. However, he was good at the free throw line, going 3-for-3 and 7-for-8in the first and second games, respectively.
Two things that stand out: The Mastodons like to shoot the 3, and turn the ball over a lot, over 14 times per game.
Keys to the game:
Purdue Fort Wayne will be the first round opponent for the Jacks. One thing to note with the Mastodons, this is their final Summit League Tournament (moving to the Horizon League next season in case you didn’t know). As the seventh seed, PFW has that nothing to lose mentality. The Mastodons have never won this tournament and has only reached the championship game once (2013-14).
PFW went 3-13 in conference play, including losing three of its final four games.They weren't very good against the top four teams in the conference, except beating USD on New Year's Day.
Jarred Godfrey is their scoring leader, averaging 15.8 points per game. The Jacks held him to 13 points in the first matchup and 12 in the second while limiting him to just one made 3-pointer between the two games. However, he was good at the free throw line, going 3-for-3 and 7-for-8in the first and second games, respectively.
Two things that stand out: The Mastodons like to shoot the 3, and turn the ball over a lot, over 14 times per game.
Keys to the game:
One could make the case this tournament could go in two ways: the Jacks with Wilson and the Jacks without Wilson. We will have to wait until game time to find out his status. The conference POY really makes a difference on the court and provides the Jacks with energy. The only two conference losses suffered by the Jacks were without him. As good as Wilson is, I think the Jacks are a good team without him, too.
I think getting off on the right foot is the most important part in Saturday’s game. That run the Jacks put together in the second half of their Frost Arena matchup vs. PFW was impressive, but you can’t rely on that in this tournament.
Keys to the tournament:
I think getting off on the right foot is the most important part in Saturday’s game. That run the Jacks put together in the second half of their Frost Arena matchup vs. PFW was impressive, but you can’t rely on that in this tournament.
Keys to the tournament:
Yes, every game matters but the Jacks need to pace themselves. I remember watching the men’s championship game last year and seeing how exhausted both Omaha and NDSU were in that game. It helps that Hendo has an eight or nine man rotation to work with, but three games in four days is tough for any team.
The newcomers will need to play like they have been all season. Only Arians and Key have experience playing at this stage and even Arians has only played in one game. Freidel played high school state tournaments in that building, but this is obviously a higher level. Stage fright is not an option if the Jacks want to go deep.
PREDICTIONS:
No. 1 North Dakota State vs. No. 8 Denver
Saturday 6 p.m.
No. 2 South Dakota State vs. No. 7 Purdue Fort Wayne
Saturday at 8:30
No. 4 Oral Roberts vs. No. 5 Omaha
Sunday 6 p.m.
No. 3 South Dakota vs. No. 6 North Dakota
The newcomers will need to play like they have been all season. Only Arians and Key have experience playing at this stage and even Arians has only played in one game. Freidel played high school state tournaments in that building, but this is obviously a higher level. Stage fright is not an option if the Jacks want to go deep.
PREDICTIONS:
No. 1 North Dakota State vs. No. 8 Denver
Saturday 6 p.m.
No. 2 South Dakota State vs. No. 7 Purdue Fort Wayne
Saturday at 8:30
No. 4 Oral Roberts vs. No. 5 Omaha
Sunday 6 p.m.
No. 3 South Dakota vs. No. 6 North Dakota
Sunday 8:30 p.m.
Potential semifinals
No. 1 North Dakota State vs. No. 5 Omaha
No. 2 South Dakota State vs. No. 3 South Dakota
Final
No. 1 North Dakota State vs. No. 2 South Dakota State
I played it pretty safe, but my guess is that Wilson will be back for the semifinals, which will give the Jacks a big boost. I always think the 4 vs. 5 game is the most interesting. This year I think Omaha can pull the upset off against Oral Roberts, but won’t have enough to beat NDSU in a rematch of last year’s championship game.
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.
Potential semifinals
No. 1 North Dakota State vs. No. 5 Omaha
No. 2 South Dakota State vs. No. 3 South Dakota
Final
No. 1 North Dakota State vs. No. 2 South Dakota State
I played it pretty safe, but my guess is that Wilson will be back for the semifinals, which will give the Jacks a big boost. I always think the 4 vs. 5 game is the most interesting. This year I think Omaha can pull the upset off against Oral Roberts, but won’t have enough to beat NDSU in a rematch of last year’s championship game.
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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