South Dakota State men sweep season series against South Dakota with 89-79 win

South Dakota men’s basketball guard Xavier Fuller dribbled into the free-throw line and pulled up, but South Dakota State forward Douglas Wilson was all over it. Again.

There was 8:18 left in the second half and SDSU led 73-57. Wilson blocked the ball behind Fuller and raced to grab it, not stopping as he dribbled the rest of the way down the court, left his feet outside of the box and layed in the basket plus a foul. Wilson turned and took a seat against the base of the basket. On the South Dakota sideline, USD head coach Todd Lee emerged from the bench with his arms stretched out beside him. The game was getting away from South Dakota.

"Our stubbornness and willingness to take what South Dakota gave us,” South Dakota State head coach Eric Henderson said, “that's probably what I was most proud of."

South Dakota State (21-4, 12-0 Summit) had an answer for every South Dakota (12-9, 6-5) basket in an 89-79 win over the Coyotes on Saturday at Sanford Coyote Sports Center.

South Dakota had six players in double figures and limited the top 3-point shooting team in the country to nine attempts from deep, but South Dakota State forward Douglas Wilson had 25 to lead all scorers underneath, chipping away at USD’s chances at momentum again and again.

More: South Dakota State women end South Dakota's win streak with 75-65 victory

"They face-guarded Baylor today," Wilson said, "so that really gave (the forwards) the opportunity to go one-on-one with our guys."

The Coyotes cut into SDSU's lead several times in the first and second half, but never had the extra push necessary to pull within one possession of the Jackrabbits, allowing SDSU to maintain control despite at times dwindling leads.

For as much as South Dakota attempted to claw back, the Jackrabbits kept control for the entire first half. The Coyotes didn’t start playing from behind until each team passed 11 points. Baylor Scheierman threw a flat-footed lob to Douglas Wilson for an alley-oop slam, but for all the intrigue the play provided, it simply tied the game at four.

The back-and-forth continued for several minutes, but after the Coyotes hit 11 points, they scored just four more in the next five minutes. South Dakota State kept its earlier pace. The lead was as high as 10 points, and USD could only come back so much from then on.

The next several minutes before the half, South Dakota cut it to five a few times more. Yet South Dakota State always followed with a basket of their own. Archambault drained it to cut it to five again. SDSU got a basket and then another one after SDSU guard Baylor Scheierman walked into the paint, adjusted and then put in an easy layup over a USD defender.

More: Skyforce sign former South Dakota State basketball guard Tevin King

Goodrick faked a 3 and drove in from the perimeter for a layup and USD forced a turnover, but Perrott-Hunt’s 3 missed and after almost getting another steal on SDSU’s counter, Baylor Scheierman darted a pass to a wide open Wilson down low to make it a seven-point game again.

"They were really trying to take away the 3," Scheierman said. "But with that, it leaves a guy one-on-one in the post. We're pretty confident in our guys down low."

Perrott-Hunt hit a leaning mid-range jumper with five seconds to play in the half that cut it to five again and, mercifully, didn’t give the Jackrabbits enough time to get it back. Yet in the second half, they started with three 3-pointers to lead at one point by 10 again. South Dakota and South Dakota State played the same back-and-forth as the first half, just with the Coyotes behind by more.

More: South Dakota State notches 20th win, holds off last-place North Dakota

South Dakota had one last push, cutting the lead to six, and USD guard Mason Archambault caught a pass under the basket and slapped the backboard with his left hand as he attempted to finish it. But with little players around him, he missed it.

"I felt like in the first half we missed a lot of open 3's ... and then we missed some layups," Lee said. "Against them, you got to finish those."

With under four minutes to play, USD required more than the runs they were able to provide to make up for a then-12 point deficit. Scheierman, who had seemingly effortlessly — as Lee mentioned earlier this week he often does — willed his way to his first 13 points of the contest, stepped back on the baseline and drained a jumper to push the Jackrabbits’ lead to 14.

He turned and stared at the SDSU bench on his way back down, with 3:13 to play in the game, providing the last punch to the Coyotes at the end of a largely competitive game. But, as they always nearly always did, SDSU scored last.

Follow Sioux Falls Argus Leader reporter Michael McCleary on Twitter @mikejmccleary.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: SDSU men's basketball sweeps season series against South Dakota