Summit League Men: South Dakota State Beaten by Omaha

South Dakota State followed up one of their best performances of the season with one of the worst, losing a Summit League home game for the first time in nearly three years, 80-71 to Omaha.

Two nights after solving the deliberate pace of Western Illinois, the Jackrabbits struggled to hit their shots against a much more up tempo Omaha team.

The Jackrabbits struggled from the floor in the first half, starting the game just 1-of-10 and trailing by as many as seven early.

SDSU did do an effective job of getting Omaha's post players, John Karhoff and Mike Rostampour in foul trouble, with two each.  But even with a distinct height advantage, the Jacks couldn't find their shooting touch with just three field goals in the first 15:30.

South Dakota State, and in particular Brayden Carlson, did do one thing very well in the first half - make free throws.  SDSU was 14-of-16 from the charity stripe (88%), with Carlson (10-of-10) scoring all of his points from the line in the first 20 minutes, moving the Jacks to within 3.

But South Dakota State couldn't overcome 25% first half shooting and trailed 36-29 at intermission. The Jacks top three scorers (Jordan Dykstra, Carlson, and Cody Larson) were a combined 3-of-14 in the first half.

Carlson and Larson did shoot the ball better in the second half (11-of-16), but Dykstra continued to struggle, finishing the game 4-of 17.

Carlson led the way with 26 points, Marcus Tyus paced Omaha with 16.

SDSU really struggled behind the 3-point arc, going just 3-of-19 (16%).

The Mavs also took advantage of Jackrabbit mistakes, converting 12 South Dakota State turnovers into 21 points.

The loss for the Jackrabbits was their first Summit League defeat at home since January 27, 2011 to Kansas City.

SDSU (10-9/2-2) hosts North Dakota State next Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm.