Box Score VERMILLION, S.D. – A second-half slump spelled defeat for the Drake University men's basketball team in a 93-65 loss at South Dakota Wednesday, Dec. 6, evening. Drake shot 50 percent from the field in the loss, but just 34.8 percent in the second half as South Dakota, the defending Summit League champions, pulled away for the win on its home floor.
South Dakota (8-3) shot 56.9 percent in the win as defensive lapses and 18 turnovers by the Bulldogs kept Drake from ever seriously threatening the Coyotes' lead.
"We didn't do anything to slow them down or take them out of rhythm," said Drake head coach
Niko Medved. "Then when some adversity hit, we didn't respond."
Drake (4-4) was led by 14 points from
Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) while
Casey Schlatter (Iowa Falls, Iowa) added a season-high 12 points with six rebounds.
Ore Arogundade (Chicago, Ill.) contributed 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
USD had four players record double-figure scoring with Triston Simpson's 18 points on 4-of-5 shooting leading all scorers. Trey Burch-Manning added 17 points and nine rebounds. As a team, USD was 11-of-22 from three-point range.
USD held a 47-43 halftime lead after a torrid first half shooting for both teams as they combined to hit 38 of 64 shots in the first half. USD built up a 7-point, 38-31, lead before Drake tied the contest five minutes later at 43-43 on a Schlatter jumper. Schlatter finished the first half with 10 points, but his scoring and Drake's hot shooting couldn't counteract 10 first half turnovers that USD converted into 13 points.
South Dakota opened the second half by attacking the glass and using an early 7-4 advantage in rebounding to stretch their lead back out to nine points, 60-51, with 14 minutes left in the half. The Bulldogs were unable to cut into that margin and three-straight three-pointers from the Coyotes to extend that lead to 23 points at 81-58 with eight minutes left in the contest. The Bulldog offense stayed silent as USD engineered a 15-0 run to take an 87-58 lead with three minutes left in the contest to hand the Bulldogs their fourth defeat of the season.
"We've got to embrace adversity and doing the hard things needed to win," Medved said. "We've got to have a lot more of a will on the defensive side and have that energy when shots aren't falling."
Wednesday's contest was Drake's third-straight on the road and the team hopes to reverse its fortunes at home when it hosts Omaha, Saturday, Dec. 9, at the Knapp Center. Tipoff against the Mavericks is scheduled for 5 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the women's team hosting Nebraska at 2 p.m.
