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INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI erased a 15-point second half deficit and an eight-point margin over the final 3:15, but eventually succumbed in overtime to South Dakota State inside the Jungle on Thursday night, 97-93. Senior Alex Young led six Jaguars in double-figures with 28 points and classmate Christian Siakam had his first double-double of the year with 11 points and 13 boards in the loss.

Nate Wolters led SDSU (5-3, 1-0 Summit) with 32 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Griffan Callahan closed with 20 points and 10 boards in the victory.

After sitting and watching a large chunk of the second half, Young came off the bench to shoot the Jaguars back in the contest after struggling with his jumper early. The Summit League's Preseason Player of the Year made three straight triples to turn an 80-76 deficit into an 82-80 lead with just 53 seconds left in regulation, sending the Jungle into a frenzy. Wolters answered the call in what looked like a high powered game of HORSE, hitting a contested trey to give the Jackrabbits back the lead with 26 seconds to play.

It looked dire for the Jags from there when senior Stephen Thomas missed a runner and Callahan swished a pair of free throws as IUPUI (2-6, 0-1 Summit) was forced to immediately foul. After an IUPUI timeout, the Jackrabbits opted to foul instead of yielding a shot attempt, but the move essentially backfired. Junior Sean Esposito drew the whistle and hit the first before unintentionally missing the second. Young sliced through two defenders for the offensive rebound, was fouled on the putback attempt and swished both ensuing free throws with 4.0 on the clock to tie the game. Wolters missed badly on a contested 30-footer, sending the game to overtime.

"In the second half, we couldn't string together three or four possessions at a time where we rebounded," IUPUI Head Coach Todd Howard said. "It's been an Achilles heel and it stung us tonight. I thought our defensive effort was fine and then the ball bounces to them or we missed a blockout or they went and got it.

"You've got to rebound to get stops and we just gave up too many offensive rebounds."

In overtime, both teams stayed hot with Greg Rice and Young staking the Jaguars to an early 89-88 lead before Brayden Carlson made it 91-89 with the guests' 14th three of the game. After getting down by as many as four, IUPUI scrapped back to tie the game with 1:02 left when Siakam split a pair at the free throw line. On this night though, it was SDSU that made the most plays down the stretch as Callahan tipped in a Wolters miss with 39 seconds left to take a 95-93 lead and after the Jaguars turned it over on the next trip, they were forced to foul.

Carlson left the door open by missing the second of a two-shot opportunity, but Young clanked a 28-footer and SDSU collected the board and the win.

IUPUI finished the game shooting 43.6 percent from the floor and 11-of-25 (44 percent) from three. The Jaguars went 7-for-10 in the second half before making just 1-of-5 from deep in the overtime period.

"(The threes) were falling because the passing was there," Howard said. "They were falling because we were in transition or we were playing good basketball. Once we relaxed, we probably shot 60 or 70 percent when we made four or five passes and that's got to be the way we play." 

SDSU shot 45.5 percent overall and 14-of-32 (43.8 percent) from three. Jordan Dykstra was the third Jackrabbit to reach double-digits, tallying 15 points off the bench.

Thomas finished with 11 points, a career-high eight assists and five rebounds and sophomore Ian Chiles tossed in 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Both sophomore Donovan Gibbs (12 points) and Rice (11 points) both reach double-figures off the bench with all of Rice's points coming after halftime.

The loss dropped IUPUI to 2-2 at home this year and 6-3 all-time against South Dakota State.

"The urgency came, it was just 12 to 18 minutes too late," Howard said. "I hope our urgency is there from the get-go and I hope it's there tomorrow (in practice). You need to go 1-0, but now we need to get to 1-1 (in The Summit)."

Six different Jackrabbits hit a three in the first half as the guests closed the first stanza hitting 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from long range. SDSU closed the first half on a 17-6 run to turn a 27-25 lead into a 44-31 halftime advantage. During the run, the Jacks connected on 5-of-7 three-point tries including a pair of makes by Zach Monaghan. IUPUI never led by more than two points the entire first half and took its last lead at the 12:18 mark on a Young reverse layup, set up by Jordan Shanklin. However, SDSU scored the next five points and carried the lead for the remainder of the first half.  

IUPUI will cap the two-game Summit League opening homestand on Saturday night when they host North Dakota State at 7:00 p.m. inside the Jungle. Pregame coverage with Scott McCauley (pxp) on WNDE 1260 is expected to begin around 6:50 p.m.. That game can also be viewed on IUPUIJags.com as part of the IUPUI LIVE! subscription service. Students in attendance will be given a free BIG BOLD JAGUARS t-shirt while supplies last. In addition, fans are asked to bring new or gently used gloves, mittens or winter hats as part of a halftime mitten toss, benefitting an IUPUI Student-Athlete winter clothes drive. Those participating will have an opportunity to win great prizes as well.

Tickets are just $10 while children 12-and-under are just $7. Kids 4-and-under are admitted for free, as are IUPUI students with a valid JagTag.