By Andrew Holtan
The Brookings Beacon
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The South Dakota State men began the season with a shocker on Tuesday night as the Jackrabbits took down Kansas State 68-66 at Bramlage Coliseum.
It was the first time since 2020 that the Jacks beat a power conference team as they beat Iowa State on Dec. 2, 2020. It’s just the fifth time that SDSU has beaten a power conference team and head coach Bryan Petersen said it was a big victory for the program, especially since the Jackrabbits had their first losing season since 2010 last year.
“So much gratitude for our guys, our staff, our fan base,” Petersen said. “It’s been a work in progress over the last year and a half, and obviously this is a great win. It can’t be the pinnacle of our season by any means, but it is [a nice win]. I’m just so grateful for what our team looked like out there, and our identity really showed up, and I’m happy for our staff and players. This was a big-time night.”
It was 60-60 with just under three minutes to play and redshirt freshman Davis Kern knocked down two free throws to give the Jacks the lead. He then hit a three to push the lead to 65-60 with 2:31 to play.
Kalen Garry then hit a triple with 1:40 to go to make it 68-62. Brandon Rechsteiner made a lay up and Isaiah Abraham hit two free throws for K-State to cut SDSU’s lead to 68-66 with 39 seconds left.
The Wildcats would then have two chances at tying the game but Dezdrick Lindsay missed a lay up and Rechsteiner missed a jumper in the lane at the buzzer to seal the victory for the Jacks.
Petersen said his team struggled to close out the game, but he was happy with the win and was happy to see his team come together in the first game.
“We haven’t been in a lot of those situations this year with this team,” Petersen said. “Our two scrimmages, you know, we didn’t get a lot of those moments to execute those things. Obviously it’s a little different when you’re in a Big 12 arena against another really well coached team.
“So we can learn from this. … The one thing that’s really stood out to me is, this team plays very hard. They’ve been very connected since they’ve been together and it was really cool to see that happen on night one.”
It was Kern’s first game of his collegiate career and he was thrusted into the starting lineup after Jesse Van Kalsbeek and Alec Squires were each out with back injuries. Kern started off his time with the yellow and blue hot, hitting three 3-pointers in the first five and a half minutes to give SDSU a 9-7 lead.
Kern finished with 24 points and eight rebounds, and was 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. The 24 points were the most in a Jackrabbit debut since Douglas Wilson scored 24 in 2019. The 6-foot-9 forward from Marion, Iowa said after the game that he was supposed to split time with Squires but he ended up playing 36 minutes on Tuesday.
“We didn’t know about [Squires] until this morning,” Kern said. “I kind of had an idea I was going to start. I think the plan was me and [Squires], but then once [Squires] went out with his back, he was trying so hard to be able to play. But you know, I just knew that I was going to have to play a lot of minutes, and I’m just so blessed that my coaches believed in me and put me out there in my first game for that long.”
SDSU’s biggest lead of the night came with 7:12 left in the first half as a Kalen Garry lay up made it 25-14. The Jacks then led 35-28 at halftime as true freshman Semaj Stampley hit a three just before the halftime buzzer.
K-State came out hot to start the second half as the Wildcats went on a 16-3 run and led 44-38 with 15:30 left in the game. The Jacks would cut it to 45-43 but K-State then scored five-straight to go up 50-43 with 11:39 left.
It was then 54-49 and SDSU went on a 9-0 run to go up 58-54 with 5:42 to play. The Wildcats then knocked down four free throws to tie things up and that set up SDSU outplaying K-State down the stretch.
Petersen said it was nice to see his team respond after getting down at the beginning of the second half.
“One thing we’ve really focused on this fall in particular is just not negatively reacting. … They’re going to make some shots. So we just have to find a way to respond, and think about the next play, and just continue to stack possessions. Our group did a nice job of that. Obviously, they came out and threw the punch in the second half, and it was really nice to see our guys respond,” Petersen said.
SDSU shot 44% from the field and was 10-of-24 from three. Colorado State transfer Jon Mekonnen had 14 points and four rebounds. Garry also had 14 points and grabbed eight boards. Joe Sayler had 10 points.
K-State shot 42% from the field and was 8-of-28 from deep. The undersized and undermanned Jackrabbits were out-rebounded 34-27, but SDSU had seven offensive rebounds that led to 13 second chance points.
SDSU will return home on Friday and take on Briar Cliff. Tip off is set for 8:30 p.m. and is part of a doubleheader with the Jackrabbit women who play Northern Iowa at 6 p.m.
