South Dakota State gained revenge, claiming a season split of its arch rival and at least a share of its third-consecutive Summit League regular season title Sunday with an 85-80 victory over South Dakota.
But the Jackrabbits dearly hope they didn’t lose their best player for Wednesday’s regular season finale at second place North Dakota State and early March’s Summit League Tournament in the process.
Junior college transfer Doug Wilson, a lock for All-Summit league first team honors who USD coach Todd Lee called the “probably the best player in the league,” fell to the floor after defending a USD drive with two minutes remaining as a season-high crowd of 4,572 drew silent.
The junior from Des Moines via Kirkwood (Iowa) Community College winced in pain for about a minute, clutching his right leg, before he hobbled off the court without any pressure on that leg, his arms draped over coach Eric Henderson and another SDSU staffer.
After the game, Wilson was able to limp toward SDSU’s locker room with the assistance of just one person, a teammate.
Henderson said after the game he didn’t know the specifics of Wilson’s injury, only that Wilson was spending time after the game in the Jacks’ training room and not the locker room with his teammates.
Wilson, who leads the Jacks at 18.5 points per game and scored 20 on Sunday, had entered the game with some soreness in his foot, Henderson said, but the coach didn’t know if that was related to the injury he suffered late in the game.
Until that point, his presence had been felt by a Yotes squad that did not have to face him due to another injury in USD’s 99-84 win over SDSU on Jan. 19 in Vermillion.
“He’s a tough matchup,” Lee said. “He’s the best player in the league. Hard to guard.”
South Dakota State (22-8, 13-2 Summit League) shot 50 percent from the field and used a 9-0 run midway through the second half to put the Coyotes away.
Noah Freidel led all scorers with 26 points, draining three 3-pointers and burying 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
The freshman from Tea (SD), an hour away, scored 21 points in the second half, via drives, free throws, and three pointers at major stretches to give the Jacks enough cushion to lead for most of the final 10 minutes, igniting the crowd with each play he made.
“He has a lot of confidence,” Henderson said. “He’s a composed kid. He loves the big moment.”
Henderson added Freidel’s growth in maturity since he set foot on campus in August has been significant, especially in his focus and attention to detail. The Jacks’ coaches have assigned him more difficult defensive challenges in the last three weeks, part of SDSU’s 7-game winning streak.
Sunday’s 26 points were not a season and career high for Freidel, who poured in 28 in a win at Omaha on Dec. 29.
Asked if lighting it up in a key, conference title-clinchimg win in the home finale over the in-state rival in front of an electric home crowd was part of the reason Freidel flipped his commitment from Wright State in Ohio to SDSU last spring when a defection left open a spot on the Jacks’ roster, Freidel said:
“I’m in the right spot. I enjoy it here. I love it here. It was a great decision. I had a lot of family at the game today to come and watch. That was something that was important to me. I try not to think about (what it’d be like had he still gone to WSU), but I’m definitely in the right place, that’s for sure.”
Alex Arians and David Wingett each scored 13 points. Arians, who matched Matt Dentlinger and Brandon Key with a team-high three assists, recorded seven rebounds.Wingett and Freidel each brought down six boards.The Jackrabbits roared out of the gates on a 9-2 run, thanks in part to a Wilson dunk and Wingett 3-pointer in the early-going. USD answered back with a 10-2 run, making it a one-point game just past the under-12 break (18-17). The teams traded runs once more on their way to a 31-27 Coyote lead, when a triple for Wingett at 3:51 set up a competitive finish to the half.
South Dakota State trailed South Dakota at the break, 34-32.An Arians jumper moments into the half started a back-and-forth flurry that featured nine lead changes before the under-12 media timeout. Down 59-56 with 8:10 to play, an old-fashioned 3-point play from Freidel opened a nine-point Jackrabbit rally as State took control for good.The Coyotes stayed within striking distance the rest of the way, but the Jacks buried six of their final eight free throw attempts down the stretch to hold off any USD charges.
The Jacks’ win Sunday combined with NDSU’s loss Saturday at North Dakota puts SDSU 1.5 games ahead of the Bison, who have two games left, including Wednesday’s tilt in Fargo with SDSU. A Jackrabbit win that night or an NDSU loss in the Bison’s finale next weekend would give the Jacks the outright league title and No. 1 seed in the tourney, which begins March 7.
Stanley Umude led USD with 15 points, followed by Triston Simpson’s 14 and 13 from Cody Kelley, who nailed three of his four 3-pointers in the final 10 minutes, the last two keeping the Yotes within 3 points each time.
But USD simply couldn’t make enough plays down the stretch nor get to the line enough, Lee said. The Yotes are 2nd out of 353 Div. I teams in the nation in free throws made, but finished with just 11 on 19 attempts while the Jacks were 17-of-26.
Senior All-Summit forward Tyler Hagedorn, USD’s leading scorer, posted 12 points, 6.5 below his season average, in his second game since turning an ankle in a loss at Oral Roberts last Sunday. Lee said Hagedorn – who missed all of the Yotes disappointing campaign last season with a torn ACL – had been limping around all week.
But Lee wouldn’t speculate if Hagedorn’s 0-for-4 game beyond the arc was a result of the soreness, saying, “he had some good looks, just couldn’t knock them down.”
The same could be said for senior Umude, the team’s second-leading scorer who was 5-of-19 from the field. Umude and Hagedorn are a combined 15-of-51 from the field the last two games — losses to the top two teams in the league.
Now USD, which had been the hottest team in the Summit, having won eight straight before losing the last three, must win its its season finale on Saturday at home against UND to clinch the No. 3 seed for the league tourney.
The six days rest, especially for Hagedorn’s ankle, will do the Yotes a world of good, Lee said. Their three combined losses to SDSU and NDSU have come by a combined 10 points.
“We believe we can beat anybody,” Lee said. “This is a senior group. It’s mature. We’re playing for a lot on Saturday.”
Hear plenty about the game, including interviews with Henderson and Midco Sports Network analyst Brad Newitt, on Monday’s “Sports Talk with Craig and John.” The show airs weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m.
