The Yotes picked up a big win in conference on Saturday evening, taking down rival SDSU in Brookings to advance their record to 6-5 in Summit League action.

The team came in on an up-and-down stretch of the conference season, having won three of its last six.

For the Jacks, they entered in need of a win in a big way, having lost three of their past four.

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BROOKINGS, S.D. — For just the second time in the 21^st century, the South Dakota basketball team won in Brookings, South Dakota 68-67 over SDSU Saturday night to take the first game of the Interstate Series, presented by First Interstate Bank.

The Coyotes felt right at home from the jump, taking a 13-4 lead six minutes into the game on a Jordan Crawford 3-pointer, one of three triples from the Yotes in the opening six minutes. South Dakota was 15-for-31 from the field in the opener, while holding the Jackrabbits to 10-of-28. Behind six rebounds from Cameron Fens and four from Vince Buzelis, the Coyotes won the rebounding battle 21-14 and allowed just one offensive rebound for the Jacks.

The Yotes, who held the lead for 16 minutes in the first half, took their largest lead of the half off a Jake Brack layup to go up 24-12 with 10 minutes left. The Jacks would go on a run of their own over the next five minutes, tying the score at 28-all. South Dakota, however, controlled the rest of the first half by outscoring the Jacks 15-4 with a combined 10 points from Crawford and Fens. Crawford gave the Yotes a double-digit lead at the break, knocking down his third trey of the half and the Yotes took a 43-32 lead into half.

The Jackrabbits stormed out for the second half, putting together a 19-2 run in the first seven minutes to pull ahead 51-45. A jumper from Crawford weathered the storm, and the Yotes scored six straight to regain the lead, 52-51. The lead changed hands 11 times in the final 12 minutes with neither team held a lead larger than four points.

The Jacks grabbed a 3-point lead with two minutes left, on a jumper from Joe Sayler, but Crawford answered right back with his fifth 3-pointer to tie the game at 67-67 with under two minutes left. Uzziah Buntyn's free throw was the difference in the final minute and a half, putting the Yotes up 68-67. The Coyote defense held firm in the final minute, forcing three straight empty SDSU possessions to secure the rivalry win.

South Dakota returns to the SCSC Wednesday to host North Dakota at 7 p.m.

Per GoJacks.com:

BROOKINGS, S.D. – South Dakota State nearly completed a double-digit comeback, but was unable to find a game-winning field goal late as the Jackrabbits fell 68-67 to South Dakota on Saturday inside First Bank & Trust Arena.

After making the opening field goal of the first half, South Dakota State trailed for a majority of the opening 20 minutes. South Dakota used an 11-point scoring run to bolster its advantage and went up 24-12 at the 10:57 mark of the first half.

SDSU used defense to work its way back into the contest. The Jacks forced three turnovers in three consecutive possessions as SDSU made it 45-41 following a Jaden Jackson 3-pointer at the 17:07 mark. It forced USD to call timeout.

The Jackrabbits outshot 53-35% from the field in the second half. However, South Dakota made four 3-pointers to SDSU's one in the final 20 minutes. It made a difference despite SDSU outscoring USD 35-25 in the second half. The Jacks and Coyotes had 12 lead changes and three tie scores during the final period.
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South Dakota State returns to the road for its next two games. The Jackrabbits head to Denver to take on the Pioneers at 8 p.m. CT on Thursday.

Sources: GoYotes.com and GoJacks.com