BROOKINGS, S.D. – South Dakota fought back from a 16-point, second-half deficit to lead by four with six minutes to go, but it was South Dakota State who countered for a 76-72 victory Thursday at Frost Arena.
 
The win avenges the Jackrabbits' 19-point loss to USD in Vermillion back on Jan. 24, and gives SDSU (24-6, 12-1 Summit) its first outright Summit League championship. South Dakota (24-7, 11-3), which could have secured its second straight championship with a win, lost for the first time in seven games and will be the No. 2 seed at next week's Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls.
 
South Dakota guard Matt Mooney scored a career-high 33 points while South Dakota State's Mike Daum finished with 20 points and 12 boards. It was Daum's supporting cast that that provided a Jackrabbit spark. David Jenkins came off the bench to score 18 points, Lane Severyn had 14 points and Reed Tellinghuisen added 13 more for SDSU.
 
Tyler Peterson tallied his first-career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds for South Dakota.

Tyler Peterson with the jumper for ?? points. #GoYotes pic.twitter.com/rGxOaK9wjv

— Coyote Basketball (@SDCoyotesMBB) February 23, 2018

 
SDSU led by 14 points in the first half and took a 40-30 lead into the break. The Jacks made seven triples in the opening stanza and shot 50 percent from the field. Mooney had 14 points and Daum, 11, in the opening stanza.

Mooney is heating up as the Yotes have the deficit under 10 points! #GoYotes pic.twitter.com/xIT02OetFq

— Coyote Basketball (@SDCoyotesMBB) February 23, 2018

 
The lead grew to 51-35 with less than 14 minutes to play before South Dakota made its move. Mooney scored 11 points during a 26-6 Coyote run. Brandon Armstrong made two 3-pointers during the stretch for South Dakota and Tyler Hagedorn served as a catalyst with five quick points near the start. The Coyotes capped the run with seven consecutive made field goals.
 
South Dakota took a four-point lead at 61-57 on a Mooney 3-point basket with 6:04 remaining in the game.

Matt Mooney takes a step back and drains the 3-point basket! #GoYotes pic.twitter.com/D4sF73YrTN

— Coyote Basketball (@SDCoyotesMBB) February 23, 2018

 
Jenkins completed a 3-point play to pull the Jacks back within one and Daum's bucket one possession later put SDSU back in front. Mooney scored in the paint on the other end, but Jenkins hit a trey to make it 65-63 with 4:51 left.
 
The Jacks scored the next six points to make it 71-63 with less than two minutes to play. Mooney's fifth 3-pointer made it 71-69 with 38 seconds left but Tellinghuisen made three-of-four free throws to increase SDSU's lead to five points with 10 seconds left.

Here is Mooney's trey to give him a new career-high of 33 points. #GoYotes pic.twitter.com/U9ZgoWgqpB

— Coyote Basketball (@SDCoyotesMBB) February 23, 2018

 
Peterson, who was fouled on a jumper, sank a pair of free throws to bring the deficit back to three points with less than two seconds remaining. Armstrong intercepted the Jacks full court pass, which was trying to break the Coyote press, and was fouled. After making the first free throw, he intentionally missed the second but missed the iron, giving the Jacks the ball. Jenkins sank two more free throws for the 76-72 final score.
 
South Dakota now turns its attention to the Summit League Tournament where it will play a yet to be determined opponent on Saturday, March 3, at 8:30 p.m.