Summit League roundup: Jacks men rally for road win at Denver; USD women snap losing streak

South Dakota State rallied back from an 18-point deficit to beat Denver 80-75 on Thursday in Denver, the Jackrabbits' fifth straight win.

SDSU (16-11, 11-4) found themselves down 59-41 with 12:27 left when they began their comeback, which was unsurprisingly spearheaded by Zeke Mayo. The sophomore guard had 27 points, going 8-of-15 from the floor and 9-for-9 at the line as SDSU shot 59 percent in the second half, during which they went 16-of-18 at the stripe.

Matthew Mors and William Kyle had 11 points each and Matt Dentlinger had 10.

Justin Mullins and Tevin Smith had 17 points each for the Pioneers, who fell to 13-15, 4-11.

Despite SDSU's win, Oral Roberts clinched the Summit League regular season title by improving to 15-0 in conference play.

SDSU will visit Omaha on Saturday.

OMAHA 80, USD 72 in Omaha — A game-high 27 points from Omaha’s Frankie Fidler helped UNO to an 80-72 win over South Dakota Thursday night at Baxter Arena.

The win helped the Mavericks snap two losing streaks at once. Omaha had lost nine straight coming into tonight’s game and had dropped the last seven games to South Dakota in the series. The Mavericks improved to 8-20 (4-12 Summit) on the year while the Coyotes lost their third straight game and fell to 11-16 (6-9 Summit) this season.

Four Coyotes scored in double-figures led by Kruz Perrott-Hunt’s 16 points. Perrott-Hunt went 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from behind the three-point line. Tasos Kamateros and A.J. Plitzuweit had 12 points each. Kamateros added a team-high seven rebounds and five assists on the night as well. Max Burchill had a career-high 12 points off the bench in 22 minutes. Burchill was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor including two three-pointers. He also sank both of his free-throw attempts. South Dakota shot 45.5 percent from the floor and 42.3 percent from the three-point line in the game.

USD will travel to Denver on Saturday.

SDSU 82, DENVER 34 in Brookings — South Dakota State improved to 15-0 in the Summit League behind a ridiculous defensive performance. The Jacks held the Pioneers to only 15 first-half points and a mere 19 more in the second, limiting Denver to a 12-of-54 shooting effort (22 percent), which included going 3-for-25 from outside the arc.

Makayla Minett had 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting for Denver, while the rest of her teammates were a combined 7-of-47 for 23 points.

The Jacks (22-5) meanwhile, had no such difficulties on offense, making 58 percent of their shots from the floor.

Myah Selland had 18 points, going 7-of-8 from the floor, while Tori Nelson was 8-of-10 for 17 points and Haleigh Timmer and Paige Meyer had 11 points apiece.

The Jacks will host Omaha on Saturday for the home finale.

USD 61, OMAHA 41 in Vermillion — The Coyotes snapped a four-game losing streak with a powerful defensive effort, picking up their 12th straight win over the Mavericks.

USD forced 20 turnovers and held Omaha to a 12-of-47 effort from the floor. Kennedi Grant had 21 points for Omaha (12-15, 7-9), but the rest of her teammates were hamstrung by the Coyotes' swarming defense. The Yotes took control with a 17-0 run in the first half, during which time Omaha missed 14 straight shots and committed seven turnovers.

Grace Larkins had 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists and six steals for USD (12-14, 8-7), while Walker Demers had 11 points and nine boards.

USD will host Denver on Saturday in their final home game of the regular season.