Box Score I Box Score (.pdf)

BROOKINGS, S.D. - South Dakota State shot 50 percent overall and 47 percent from three-point range to shoot down IUPUI, 75-64 inside Frost Arena on Saturday (Feb. 25) night. The win snapped IUPUI's four-game winning streak and extended the Jackrabbits winning spell to five-in-a-row.

The same two teams will meet in The Summit League Tournament quarterfinals round next Saturday (Mar. 3) night in a 9:30 p.m. tipoff that can be heard on WNDE 1260 or watched in the Indianapolis area on Hometown Sports and News. IUPUI will enter the postseason as the No. 7 seed while SDSU finished as the No. 2 seed.

Jordan Dykstra led four Jackrabbits in double-digits on Saturday night with 20 points and Nate Wolters added 15 points, six assists and five boards. Sophomore Ian Chiles led three Jaguars in double-figures with 17 points and five boards and Alex Young finished with 16 points and five caroms. Senior Stephen Thomas also closed in double-figures with 13 points and five boards.

"To get out of the gates the way we did was super and showed our road toughness that we've earned and shown as of late," IUPUI head coach Todd Howard said. "It was a great first half despite Alex sitting the majority of it and us not shooting a single free throw.

"We liked how we competed against a fresh team on senior night. Our last three weeks of travel are unprecedented in our league and despite that, we're playing as well as anyone in our league."

Saturday's game capped a stretch of eight out of 11 games on the road dating back to Jan. 19 including two trips to South Dakota, a swing through Oklahoma and Utah and a Sears BracketBuster game in Louisiana. Against SDSU on Saturday, IUPUI (14-17, 7-11 Summit) finished the game hitting 47 percent from the floor and just 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from three.

IUPUI was living right in the early going, using a 15-3 run to blaze out to a 22-9 advantage almost exactly halfway through the first stanza. Chiles and Young ignited the run with back-to-back threes before junior Sean Esposito capped it with an off-balanced, bank three as the shot clock expired at the 9:47 mark. SDSU (24-7, 15-3 Summit) counterpunched with a quick 10-0 run that included five points from Taevaunn Prince. Even after IUPUI stopped the run with a Chiles 15-footer, SDSU kept hitting at the other end.

The Jackrabbits hit three straight threes - two from Dykstra and a third from Brayden Carlson - and finished the half by connecting on their final four three-point attempts. All total, the Jackrabbits used a 28-13 finish to take a 37-35 halftime lead capped by Dykstra's fourth three and a Wolters dunk in transition.

Dykstra, who was a perfect 5-of-5 from three against Western Illinois on Thursday night, continued his that trend by hitting all four of his first half attempts to close with 13 points before the break.

The hosts stayed hot to open the second half, scoring the first five points on a Dykstra jumper and three Tony Fiegen free throws to take a 42-35 lead. IUPUI was able to get no closer than five the rest of the way as the Jackrabbits methodically pulled away late.

SDSU finished the game 8-of-16 from three, including Dykstra's 4-of-5 effort.

Chiles was 6-of-12 from the floor and Thomas hit 5-of-8 shots to pace the attack. Young, who played just nine first half minutes due to foul trouble, was just 6-of-15 from the floor and 2-of-8 from three. For Young, it was his 21st consecutive double-digit scoring game and the 110th of his college career. The 6-foot-6 lefty became the fourth player in school history to amass 200 career treys with his first half connection and upped his career scoring total to 2,276.  

Senior Christian Siakam scored all eight of his points in the first half and grabbed a team-high six boards. Carlson and Dykstra each grabbed six boards for the Jackrabbits while Chad White was the fourth SDSU player to reach double-digits with 11 points off the bench.

SDSU finished the regular season unbeaten at home and swept the regular season series over the Jaguars after winning a 97-93 overtime decision in Indianapolis in early December. Saturday's Summit League Tournament game will be a virtual road game for the Jaguars as Sioux Falls Arena is located less than 60 miles south of the SDSU campus.

After finishing the month of February at 6-2 overall with only road losses at The Summit League's top two finishers, Howard is excited to move to the postseason.

"We're excited about being 0-0. March awaits and we want to put our best foot forward," Howard said.