The South Dakota State Jackrabbits defeated South Dakota 78-65 on Monday to advance to the Summit League championship game where they will face North Dakota State. It was the second win of the season for the Jackrabbits over South Dakota, the Coyotes beat South Dakota State just nine days ago behind a double-double from point guard Tre Burnette.
It would be Deondre Parks who would lead all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting. George Marshall contributed 14 points, 12 of which came from three-pointers. The team as a whole shot 11-of-26 from behind the arc. South Dakota State improved to 20-1 this season when leading at halftime.
South Dakota only made two of their first 13 field goal attempts of the game, while the Jackrabbits jumped out to an early 17-5 lead with 12 minutes left in the first half. Later in the half, South Dakota State went on a 15-4 run to give them a halftime lead of 44-25.
In the second half, South Dakota State seemed to have an answer for everything that South Dakota threw at them. The lead grew to 26 as South Dakota State started the second half on a 7-0 run. From there, the lead would not dip below 18 as the Jackrabbits punched their ticket in the Conference Championship Game.
The Coyotes were led by Tyler Larson who scored 19 points with 10 rebounds. Trey Norris contributed 15 points in 30 minutes off the bench with Brandon Bos added 12 points. South Dakota struggled to find their range shooting just 4-of-19 from beyond the arc. Tre Burnette was held in check with just four points and eight rebounds before fouling out in the second half.
The Summit League Championship game will feature the Jackrabbits - North Dakota State at 8:00 pm CT on Tuesday Night.