By Tony Spilde
BROOKINGS, S.D. -- Back-to-back steals and converted free throws opened up a close game here Friday, as South Dakota State pulled away from UND in the second half.
The Jackrabbits beat the Sioux 83-71 in North Central Conference men's basketball at Frost Arena.
After trading baskets after halftime en route to a 55-55 tie with 10 minutes, 16 seconds left, SDSU turned up its defensive intensity. Casey Estling and James Banks stole the ball on subsequent Sioux possessions, which led to four SDSU points. Estling and Casey Walker each made two free throws on those changes of possession, which gave the Jacks a 61-55 lead.
"We weren't as mentally sharp as we needed to be," UND coach Rich Glas said. "(SDSU) is a team that has played with a lack of emotion this year, (but tonight) we lacked a zip in our step while they (didn't)."
UND's Chad Mustard answered the SDSU mini-run with a three-point play, which brought the score to 61-58. But the Jacks' Walker answered, scoring five points in a 7-0 SDSU run to make it 68-58 at the 6:16 mark.
"All week we've been ready to play," Walker said. "Things haven't been going real well for us, but tonight we pushed ourselves defensively, got a couple of steals, and were really energized by the crowd. It feels great."
The closest the Sioux came was within six points, 72-66, when Hunter Reinke hit the back end of a trip to the line with 2:51 left. Reinke and Kyle Behrens were in foul trouble for most of the second half, which was a contributor to the Sioux's lack of offense. With the big guys playing somewhat tentatively, trying to avoid fouling out, SDSU grabbed a 42-31 rebounding edge, 16 on the offensive glass.
"You have to control the rebounds if you want to win," Glas said. "We weren't on the positive end of that tonight."
Mustard was. He hit 8 of 12 field goal attempts and 11 of 11 free throws to score a game-high 27 points. UND was 22 of 27 from the free-throw line. Also in double figures for the Sioux were Reinke with 13 points and Marcus Travis with 10.
UND point guard Hunter Berg had an off night. The senior was 1 of 8 from the field and had four turnovers and just two assists.
Reinke, Behrens and Tom Jacobson all fouled out.
Pacing SDSU was Walker, who had 17 points. Brian Norberg added 16 points, Andy Cone 12 and Estling 11 for the Jackrabbits.
Despite the loss, UND remained tied for second in the NCC. At 5-3, the Sioux are tied with Minnesota State-Mankato, and behind South Dakota and NDSU (6-2). SDSU, the NCC preseason favorite, improved to 11-7 overall and 3-5 in the league.
| UND (71) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Mustard | 8-12 | 11-11 | 27 |
| Travis | 3-7 | 2-4 | 10 |
| Behrens | 3-7 | 2-2 | 8 |
| Berg | 1-8 | 2-2 | 4 |
| Jacobson | 1-5 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Larson | 1-5 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Ristvedt | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Reinke | 4-12 | 4-6 | 13 |
| Badding | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Bernhardt | 0-1 | 1-2 | 1 |
| Totals | 22-60 | 22-27 | 71 |
| South Dakota St. (83) | |||
| Estling | 4-9 | 3-4 | 11 |
| Volmer | 3-6 | 3-4 | 9 |
| Fischer | 1-4 | 2-2 | 4 |
| Watson | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Johnson | 2-5 | 1-4 | 6 |
| Walker | 6-11 | 4-5 | 17 |
| Banks | 3-5 | 4-5 | 12 |
| Jeske | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Norberg | 4-6 | 5-6 | 16 |
| Totals | 27-54 | 24-33 | 83 |