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| The 2011-2012 South Dakota State Jackrabbits |
As a #3 seed in the South Regional of the NCAA Tournament, the Baylor Bears were selected to play a team you probably know nothing about in their Round of 64 matchup. So, here is your chance to get to know the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
South Dakota State is located in Brookings, South Dakota with an enrollment of nearly 11,000 undergraduate students. Adam Vinateri, now an NFL kicker, was once a Jackrabbit and is honestly the only alumni that I truly deem worth mentioning.
The Jackrabbits basketball team has only been a Division 1 member since 2004-2005, and this is their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. South Dakota State, led by head coach Scott Nagy finished the year with a 27-7 overall record. Their 15-3 conference record was good for second in the Summit League, behind only Oral Roberts.
South Dakota State cruised passed IUPUI and Southern Utah in the Summit League tournament knocking off Western Illinois in a 52-50, come from behind win, in the Summit Championship. This earned the Jackrabbits a tilt with Baylor (27-7, 12-6) in the NCAA Tournament.
The Jackrabbits are led by all conference performer Nate Wolters who averages 21.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. Wolters has the 18th highest Usage Percentage in the country (32.1) which means he uses approximately 32 out of every 100 South Dakota State possessions while he is on the floor. Wolters is 6'4" and while he isn't incredibly quick does an excellent job of getting to the basket and finishing with contact. Wolters struggled from deep this year, but hit over 40% of his threes in 2010-2011, and is also capable of knocking down the midrange jumper.
The Jackrabbits will set lots of high screens for Wolters and surround him with three-point shooters. South Dakota State has four different players that play 24 or more minutes and shoot above 40% from beyond the arc. The most notable of the quartet is Jordan Dykstra who is 6'8" and shooting 48.6% from deep and is capable of drawing opposing big men out of the lane.
Defensively South Dakota State typically plays a half-court man to man defense. Against Western Illinois the Jackrabbit guards weren't afraid to switch all guard on guard screens and dribble handoffs which is something that could cause them problems in the tournament. South Dakota State could potentially get abused inside against bigger teams as their starting center is only 6'7" and his front court mate is the 6'8" Dykstra. They bring a 6'9" Sophomore (Marcus Heemstra) off the bench, but he averages only 9 minutes per contest.
How to Beat South Dakota State
Baylor, in my opinion, would be best served continuing what they did in the Big XII Conference Tournament going with a three guard lineup more often than not and using either Freshman Deuce Bello or Junior A.J. Walton to check Wolters. Western Illinois did an array of things when the Jackrabbits set a ball screen when Wolters was the ball handler. On occasion WIU's bigs would simply show, occasionally they would hedge hard, and they also mixed in a trap every now and then. This along with running big bodies at Wolters when he got into the lane was a large part of the reason Western Illinois held Wolters to 5 of 22 from the field.
South Dakota State isn't going to be easy defend. They are the eighth most efficient team in the nation scoring over 115 points per 100 possessions. This is in large part due to only 10.5 turnover per game, good for tenth in the nation, and shooting nearly 40% from three on the season. Baylor's rotations in the man defense will have to be crisp, and I expect them to try to run South Dakota's shooters off of the three point line.
Offensively, I expect Baylor to exploit its two main advantages, size and speed. ESPN Insider identifies the achilles heal of this Jackrabbit team as playing teams that are ultra athletic. After watching the Jackrabbits play Western Illinois, it is clear that there isn't a guard on South Dakota State's roster that is capable of keeping up with Baylor's Pierre Jackson. Jackson and A.J. Walton should have no trouble getting into the lane, it will simply be a matter of making the right decisions win they get there.
The Bears are also sure to feed Perry Jones III, Quincy Acy, and Quincy Miller down low where they will more than likely have a size advantage on their opponents. For this to succeed for the Bears, the bigs will have to do a better job of keeping the ball high, as Kim English for Missouri negated Quincy Miller's height advantage again and again while slapping the ball away from Miller's waist.
More Questions or comments? Bring them on, I'd love it.
