SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—Top-seeded South Dakota outscored Western Illinois 10-1 in overtime to earn a 78-69 win Saturday at the Sanford PREMIER Center in the first game of the Summit League Tournament.
The Coyotes (22-10), winners of seven in a row, advanced to the semifinals for the second time in the last three seasons. They will play again at 6 p.m. Monday against the winner of South Dakota State and Denver. Those two teams compete at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Matt Mooney scored 24 points and
Tyler Flack added 19 for South Dakota. Flack scored the Coyotes' first five points of overtime and added to his personal highlight reel with a number of acrobatic dunks that came at opportune times down the stretch.
Western Illinois (8-20) got a game-high 25 points from four-time all-Summit League guard Garret Covington, but failed in its bid to become the first No. 8 seed to pull off the upset. Covington was 9 of 24 from the field and 4 of 10 from beyond the arc. The Leathernecks were 10 of 25 from downtown compared to 4 of 16 for South Dakota.
Mooney hit a step-back 3 with the shot clock winding down with 31 seconds left in regulation that broke a 65-65 tie. Western Illinois tied the game with a corner 3 by C.J. Duff with 11 seconds left. Duff also hit a deep 3 at the first-half horn that tied the game at 37-37. Duff had 12 points and six rebounds.
Flack had a 15-foot jumper bounce away in the closing seconds of regulation, and Dalan Ancrum's half-court prayer for the Leathernecks was nearly answered. Western Illinois is the first No. 8 seed to force overtime.
But South Dakota held Western Illinois without a field goal in the extra frame. The Leathernecks were 0 for 9 from the field and 1 of 3 from the line in overtime. They also turned it over twice.
South Dakota led by nine at several different points during the game, but never could extend it into double figures. The Leathernecks' largest lead, and only lead of the second half, was 65-63 with three minutes to go. Flack drilled a jumper from the left elbow a minute later to tie it and neither team scored again until Mooney's and Duff's heroics in the closing seconds.
As it had in the team's two meetings during the regular season, South Dakota had a big advantage from the free-throw line. The Coyotes were 22 of 28 there compared to 9 of 13 from Western Illinois. USD point guard
Trey Dickerson was 6 for 6 from the line and had 10 points.
Craig Smith opening statement…
"I thought Western Illinois played a fantastic game. They really defended very well. That's the lowest percentage we have shot in quite some time at 41 percent. I credit Western Illinois in that they played fantastic. We made some uncharacteristic mistakes in particular in the first half. Some really sloppy turnovers. I felt like we had some chances in that first half to blow it open and we didn't and they capitalized on our mistakes. Their guys made some big time plays down the stretch. They showed a lot of poise and confidence that we have displayed all year.
"Overtime, we held them to one point and stopped them on six straight possessions. That has been our calling card all year is our defense and our defense at the end of the day won the game for us. That's the story of the Summit League this year. Every game comes down to the wire it seems like. Survive and advance and we're going to have to play better on Monday with whomever our opponent is."
More on the game…
"I really felt like we grew up the second half of the conference season. It's one of those deals. You go to tonight, the league has been so even the whole way through. Their two best players – Covington is a guy who has played every minute and he certainly showed it in that first half. Every mistake, he made us pay for.
"That first half they had 37 points, and 22 of them were off our turnovers and offensive boards. We have been a pretty good defensive rebounding team this year, especially late. We have been one of the best teams in the country in not turning it over. So some glaring things that we let happen that typically we don't. Hopefully we can carry this through and keep our momentum going."
Matt Mooney on surviving and advancing…
"Western Illinois is a good team. They gave us everything we could handle. I heard people say before that it's hard to beat a team three times and they really proved that tonight. It was tough. Every time we had a little bit of separation, they came back, and then we got a little more separation, and they came back.
"They took the lead on us and then Flack made a big shot and we were able to put ourselves in a position to win the game in overtime and separate ourselves a little bit."
Tyler Flack on what Western Illinois was doing that made the game so tough…
"They were a good defensive team. They played a lot of teams close this year. I knew that we would have to do a lot on our defensive end to stop them. They were doubling me a little bit and that made it tougher and switching it up a little bit. They were playing good team defense."
Matt Mooney on pressure of having the No. 1 seed…
"Being the one seed, you could say there's pressure associated with that, but that's what we wanted to be. We want to be a one seed. The pressure is a privilege. It's also self-imposed. They gave us everything we could handle. They played a really good game and it's madness, it's fun. It's good to get the win."
Both Flack and Mooney on the environment…
Flack: "It was extremely fun. It felt a bit like a South Dakota State game. We had a lot of fans here tonight and we were really grateful for that. They were great for us. It was a lot of fun. It was like a championship in the first game of the tournament. It's awesome."
Mooney: "This setup they have here in the PREMIER Center is pretty cool. I wasn't able to play last year as I was sitting out and I have just been looking forward to it for a long time and so now to be able to play in it, it was a lot of fun. We appreciate the fans for coming out. I saw a lot of red out there. That's cool."
