BROOKINGS, S.D. - The IUPUI basketball team fell in a sizable hole and never fully climbed out as the Jaguars fell to Summit League leader South Dakota State, 80-58 inside Frost Arena on Saturday night (Feb. 6). 

Deondre Parks paced SDSU (19-5, 8-2 Summit) with 17 points and his backcourt mate, George Marshall, added 16 including hitting 4-of-5 from three-point range. Freshman Mike Daum added 16 points and five boards off the Jackrabbit bench. 

Sophomore Jordan Pickett led IUPUI (11-15, 7-4 Summit) with 13 points and Matt O'Leary contributed 12 points and nine boards in the loss. 

The defeat dropped the Jaguars into a tie for third-place with Omaha at 7-4 while SDSU climbed to the top of The Summit League standings. 

"We knew the start of the game would be a big key because they're good at jumping on teams early here at home," IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "We just didn't come out aggressive enough and from there we were playing catch-up the entire night. 

"You can't shoot 35 percent from the field and expect to beat a good team like them. Even when we did execute offensively, we didn't finish with a score."

South Dakota State stormed out to an 11-2 lead in the opening five minutes and never relinquished the advantage the entire night. IUPUI got back within five at 15-10 on a Pickett trey, but SDSU repeatedly answered with treys to keep the Jags at bay. 

SDSU led 36-25 at halftime and opened up a 15-point lead early in the second half. The Jaguars used a 7-0 run to get within seven when Marcellus Barksdale dropped in a putback with 15:49 left and got within six 30 seconds later on a Darell Combs bucket. 

However, SDSU outscored the Jaguars 19-5 over the next seven-plus minutes to end any doubt and extend their homecourt winning streak to 27.

South Dakota State shot 52.5 percent from the floor, including making nearly 60 percent of their attempts in the second half. The Jags went the opposite direction, shooting 35.5 percent for the game after sinking just 31 percent in the second half. 

Foul trouble hindered the Jaguars' ability to find any rhythm early as Aaron Brennan collected three first half fouls and Combs was limited to just six minutes in the first half with two quick fouls. Combs, the Jaguars' top scorer, was held to just nine points on 2-of-5 shooting in 19 minutes of action. Junior Nick Osborne finished with eight points and six rebounds off the IUPUI bench, but fouled out late in the contest. 

IUPUI will continue the three-game string of road games on Thursday (Feb. 11) when the Jaguars take on Oral Roberts inside the Mabee Center at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. That game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and will be heard in Central Indiana on 107.5 FM as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) will call the action from courtside.