And then, there were two.
South Dakota State’s 94-83 Wednesday night win at North Dakota kept the Jackrabbits (21-8, 12-2) atop the Summit League standings with two games remaining in the regular season.
Douglas Wilson led the charge with a career-high 31 points on 14-of-17 shooting, six rebounds, and four assists. Freshman Noah Freidel of Tea added 21.
North Dakota State’s 77-74 road win at South Dakota kept the Bison (20-7, 11-2) within a half-game of the Jacks while clinching a No. 2 seed at worst in the Summit League tournament, leaving the third-place Coyotes (19-10, 9-5) in position to finish no better than No. 3.
Vinny Shahid’s 27 points paced NDSU as the Bison forced 14 turnovers and made 12 more free throws than USD. Tyler Simpson scored 18 to lead the Coyotes, while Triston Peterson added 17. The team’s leading scorer on the season, Tyler Hagedorn — hobbled by a sore ankle — finished with 13, six below his average, while making just 3-of-10 shots from the field and 2-of-6 behind the arc.
The Jackrabbits host the Yotes on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., then close the regular season at North Dakota State next Wednesday in a game that might determine the regular season title and No. 1 tourney seed.
The league tourney begins on Saturday, March 7, in the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls. As the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, the Jacks and Bison will play that night and, if they win, will get a day of rest on Sunday before Monday’s semifinals.
As a No. 3 seed (or worse) the Yotes will get no such luxury, their fate now being a Sunday night quarterfinal game. The championship game is on Tuesday night.
Hear plenty about it on Thursday’s “Sports Talk with Craig & John” from 3 to 6 p.m. on KWSN.
