VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota State big man Douglas Wilson had 25 points to lead the Jackrabbits to an 89-79 win against South Dakota Saturday night inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. SDSU (21-4) stayed unbeaten in Summit League play at 12-0.
 
South Dakota (13-9, 6-5) got 15 points from Kruz Perrott-Hunt and a near double-double from Hunter Goodrick (13 pts, 8 rebs), but lost its third straight in the series. It was the first game in six that was played in Vermillion.
 
Wilson led a contingency that successfully pounded the paint and produced points. The Jacks shot 60 percent from the field, got 23 of their 30 field goals near the rim and added 25 free throws. Wilson was 10-of-15 from the field. Luke Appel scored 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting off the Jackrabbit bench.
 
South Dakota State attempted just nine 3-pointers, significant because the Jacks average nearly 10 made triples per game. They lead the nation in three-point percentage so no double teams arrived down low and SDSU won the 1-on-1 battles. SDSU made four of its nine 3-point tries.
 
Six Coyotes scored in double figures. They included Mason Archambault (14), Tasos Kamateros (11) and Boogie Anderson (10). USD shot 46 percent from the field, made 8-of-19 from beyond the arc and was 11-of-13 from the stripe.
 
"The balance was good to see, we take that, but we came in at halftime down five (40-35) and I felt like we should be winning the game because we didn't shoot the ball very well and missed some layups," said USD head coach Todd Lee. "We had nine turnovers, they had 10, and we outrebounded them on the offensive boards by five. We just needed to make more shots.
 
"Defensively, you got to pick your poison. If you're going to double, then they get you in rotations and they're hard to guard. Besides shooting it well, they pass the ball well. We needed to be better offensively if (Wilson) was going to have that kind of night. We just didn't have an answer for him."
 
The big story for South Dakota was the return of junior forward Xavier Fuller, who had missed eight consecutive games due to injury. Fuller is a two-year starter and the team's third-leading scorer this season at nearly 13 points per game. He showed no signs of injury nor rust in scoring 12 points in 18 minutes of work. Fuller was 4-of-8 from the field and made both 3-pointers he took.
 
"He got tired, but I thought he did a pretty good job," said Lee. "He's been out for six weeks, just had one week of practice and it's going to take a week or two to get him back into basketball shape.
 
For South Dakota, it was the start of four games in eight days, a common thread throughout this Summit League slate. Unfortunately for USD, the next three are on the road. It starts Monday at North Dakota State and continues at Omaha Thursday and at Denver Saturday.