After grabbing their first Summit League road win of the season last week, the South Dakota State men's basketball team is hoping to carry some of that momentum home this week as they play two at Frost Arena.

First up for the Jackrabbits (10-14/3-6) is Western Illinois, tonight (February 1) in Brookings.

The Leathernecks (7-13/4-5) snapped a four game losing streak with a win over IUPUI last weekend. Cold shooting has been a problem for WIU. They were under 40 percent from the floor in each game during that skid. Their top two offensive threats, seniors Garret Covington and Mike Miklusak were both shooting under 35 percent during that stretch.

Western won the first meeting with SDSU, hitting 16 three-pointers in the 82-74 victory.

Tipoff is 7:00 PM in Brookings.

Saturday (February 4), the Jackrabbits host Oral Roberts.

The Golden Eagles (7-17/3-7) have dropped three straight games (NDSU, Fort Wayne, Denver). They led by 13 in the second half at Fargo, but allowed the Bison to shoot 50 percent in the final 20 minutes, eventually losing by ten.

Against Fort Wayne, the Mastodons shot 60 percent in the first half, 55 percent for the game. The Pioneers shot 59 percent in Tulsa, hitting 11 three-pointers.

ORU beat SDSU 94-88 in the first match-up of the season as Albert Owens scored 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Owens is third in the Summit League in scoring.

Tipoff is 4:30 PM in Brookings.

Last week, South Dakota State lost at Denver, 91-82, Wednesday (January 25) as the Pioneers made eight three-pointers and shot 52 percent from the floor in the first half.

The Jacks were down 15 with 5:27 left in the second half and cut the lead to six, but could get no closer. Mike Daum and AJ Hess combined for 48 points in the loss.

In Omaha Saturday (January 28), SDSU was down seven after the first four minutes, but went on a 33-12 run to lead by nine at the half.

The Mavericks tied the game with 16:45 left in the second half, but the Jacks defense rose up, forcing five UNO turnovers and allowing just one field goal in seven attempts to go back up by as many as 12.

Omaha would get as close as two, but SDSU held on for an 88-84 win.

I talked with South Dakota State head coach TJ Otzelberger about last week's split and this week's match-ups with Western Illinois and Oral Roberts:


See Also:

More From KSOO-AM / ESPN Sioux Falls