South Dakota State Basketball: 3 takeaways from Jackrabbits win over Nevada
South Dakota State goes for 102 points in a beatdown of Nevada. The 102-75 win improves the Jackrabbits record to 5-1. What does this game tell us?
I think it’s fair to say that the Jackrabbits are clearly the best team in the Summit League. They came in the preseason favorite for the conference, however, North Dakota State and Oral Roberts stole some first-place votes due to the return of their star players. Both of these teams have struggled in November, dropping two games apiece. Meanwhile, South Dakota State is 5-1 with their only loss coming in a shootout against now 10th ranked Alabama.
The Jackrabbits used a 16-0 run early in the first half to take control of the game and never looked back. Swift ball movement led to wide-open triples that went down at a 51% clip (17-34) for SDSU. The Wolf Pack looked defeated for most of the second half, giving up even more open looks and easy fast-break opportunities. Nevada led for all of 17 seconds, a dominating victory for the Jackrabbits.
They will play two more games here in the Crossover Classic, dueling with Washington Tuesday night before a matchup with a rising mid-major in George Mason Wednesday. Now let’s take a look at three takeaways from Monday night’s matchup against Nevada.
1. The Big 3 is Even Better
Last year the Jackrabbits were led by the trio of Douglas Wilson, Noah Freidel, and Baylor Scheierman who brought them to the Summit League semifinals, where Oral Roberts ended their season before marching to the Sweet 16. Now the trio returns a year older, thinking that should have been them that had people worldwide glued to their television screen in March.
Wilson led the way tonight with 24 points, while Freidel put through 21 points (5-10 3pt), and Scheierman contributed a bit of everything with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. On the season they combined to average 44.6 ppg while only playing an average of 25 minutes a game.
They all bring something different to the table, complementing each other’s games. Wilson plays inside the paint, using his quickness at 6’7 220 lbs to get around heavy-footed bigs. Freidel is a pure shooter, knocking down nearly every open look he gets with good size at the guard position at 6’4. Scheierman is a mix of both as he has the ability to knock down open shots from the outside while also being an elite rebounder and holding his own inside at only 6’6.
2. Zeke Mayo is the X-Factor
The South Dakota State core is well known with Douglas Wilson manning the middle, while Baylor Scheierman and Noah Freidel light it up from the outside, however, true freshman Zeke Mayo will be the deciding factor for how far this team will go.
Mayo is SDSU’s 6th man, coming in and playing 20+ minutes at either guard position. He brings a change of pace and perimeter defense, two things that have been identified as weaknesses for the post-Daum/Jenkins era Jackrabbits. He provides a guard that can routinely beat his man off the dribble to create for all of their shooters standing out on the perimeter. South Dakota State uses inside out with Wilson to create open looks, however against taller or more athletic teams, defenses might not collapse on Wilson making someone have to beat their man 1-on-1. That is where Mayo could thrive.
Mayo was productive once again Monday night, putting up 10 points (4-8 FG), 6 rebounds, and 2 assists in only 20 minutes of action. Overall, Mayo is averaging 7.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.8 apg on 44% shooting.
3. Turnovers Could be an Issue
The Jackrabbits have struggled to take care of the ball at times this season, and although it may not have hurt their record so far, it could be a serious issue down the road for a team that has March expectations. The Jackrabbits turned the ball over 18 times Monday night against the Wolfpack. You may say that this might have been a case of a team having a big lead and being a little careless with the ball, however it seems to be a theme for SDSU so far in 2021-22.
South Dakota State ranks in the 150s in D1 in turnovers per game at over 13 a contest. We have seen what they are capable of when they are able to keep the turnovers under control, as they went toe to toe with a top 15 Alabama squad on opening weekend.
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They only turned the ball over 11 times that game against the Tide, in a shootout that saw the countless amount of possessions for both teams. With big non-conference games coming up, SDSU needs to take care of the basketball.