NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 12 South Dakota State vs. No. 5 Ohio State

By James Grega on March 15, 2018 at 8:35 am
Keita Bates-Diop
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BOISE, Idaho – Let the madness begin.

Ohio State is back in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed in the West region, set to take on the No. 12 seed South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the first round from the Gem State on Thursday.

Who Where When TV
South Dakota State (28-6, 13-1) Taco Bell Arena 4 p.m. TNT

The Buckeyes enter the Big Dance having dropped three of their last five games dating back to Feb. 15, when Ohio State was blasted by Penn State in State College, Pa. On the other side, South Dakota State hasn't lost since late January, and dropped just one conference game in the Summit this year. 

Chris Holtmann said Wednesday that he doesn't believe Ohio State's struggles down the stretch of the regular season have discouraged his team at all heading into the NCAA Tournament. 

"Everybody has a loss or two at the end of the year. So you could look at a lot of college basketball teams and say that. I think we had a challenging closing schedule," Holtmann said. "I don't think our guys were deterred by that by any stretch. Obviously you want to stay in this tournament as long as you can. And that's what we're trying to do.

"But I don't sense that they're fragile. I think they've got great respect for who we're playing. And we had a great closing win in regular season," he continued. "And obviously got bounced earlier in the Big Ten tournament earlier than we wanted to. I think our guys are in a good place and want to play well."

Opponent Breakdown

As previously mentioned, South Dakota State enters the tournament having won 11 straight games, in large part thanks to its stellar shooting from behind the 3-point arc. 

As a team, the Jackrabbits have connected on more than 40 percent of shots from distance this season, which is good for 11th in the country. 

South Dakota State's Projected Starting Five
Player Pos HT WT Min PPG RPG APG SPG BPG
MIKE DAUM F 6-9 250 31.0 23.8 10.4 1.3 0.5 0.7
DAVID JENKINS G 6-2 190 29.2 16.1 3.3 1.6 0.3 0.0
REED TELLINGHUISEN G/F 6-7 215 30.8 12.0 4.7 1.6 0.5 0.6
TEVIN KING G 6-2 200 27.0 9.3 5.5 3.0 1.7 0.2
SKYLER FLATTEN G 6-6 215 26.4 7.0 3.1 1.2 0.5 0.4

In their last NCAA Tournament game – a 66-46 loss to eventual national runner-up Gonzaga last year – the Jackrabbits shot just 31 percent from the floor and 25 percent from behind the arc. This year, however, South Dakota State is confident it will be able to find the bottom of the net.

"I think this is the best shooting team we've had in the past three years," said senior forward Reid Tellinghuisen. "Just doing what we do offensively, moving the basketball, and taking open shots, I think that's one of our strengths."

Tellinghuisen shoots the ball at a solid 39.5 percent clip from long range, yet he is far from the Jackrabbits' best shooter from the perimeter. Junior guard Skylar Flatten has made more than half of his three-point shots this season, hitting 55-of-109 attempts. Do-it-all forward Mike Daum also shoots it well from distance, at 42.1 percent. 

In order to limit South Dakota State's production from three-point range, Ohio State senior guard Kam Williams said the Buckeyes will have to be quick to their close-outs when the Jackrabbits rise up to shoot.

"We've got to make them feel us. It's hard for shooters if somebody is jabbing at you every single play and somebody is being physical with you every single play," Williams, a solid shooter himself, said. "We have to make them feel us on closeouts. Just be active and aggressive and I feel like that can disrupt what they do."

Buckeye Breakdown

During arguably its biggest win of the year against No. 3 Purdue on the road in February, Ohio State had a tremendous amount of success with its smaller lineup, which featured Bates-Diop at the 'five' while sophomore Andre Wesson got extended minutes alongside C.J. Jackson, Andrew Dakich and Musa Jallow.

That same lineup helped Ohio State climb back into a game against Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament, despite the Buckeyes falling just one point short of a victory. 

With South Dakota State lacking size, yet with a dominant stretch player in Daum, the option of going with a smaller lineup against the Jackrabbits in extended minutes could be a possibility for Ohio State. 

"It's a difficult matchup going big against these guys for us because they have a pro at the five and because of how they shoot it," Holtmann said. "The way they shoot threes, it's a difficult matchup. Could we play more of our versatile lineup? Yes. What that looks like in terms of personnel, I don't know."

When Ohio State has utilized its small lineup, it has found more offensive success, but has struggled on the defensive end. Down the stretch of the loss to Penn State at Madison Square Garden, the Buckeyes found themselves trading baskets for the better part of the second half. 

As Holtmann has repeatedly said over the course of the last week, guard play is critical come tournament time, a statement Williams said he was happy to hear. 

"It's a confidence booster. They give up a lot of threes and go under a lot of screens, so that is right in me and C.J.'s wheelhouse," Williams said of South Dakota State's defense. "We just want to keep being aggressive, do what we do, and try to alleviate the mistakes we make when we lose."

How It Plays Out

The Buckeyes opened as 8.5-point favorites over the Jackrabbits, yet Ohio State is considered a popular upset pick in the opening round of the tournament.

Holtmann is aware of this and said it is justified because of the season South Dakota State has had in the Summit League. 

"I understand why people are picking them a lot. They have a pro. They have great experience. They've got a really talented team. It's not just Daum. They have really talented guys around them, a terrific freshman guard (Jenkins)," Holtmann said. "I think when you get into this thing, you realize that any team you play in this thing is good. But certainly when you get in kind of those middle-seeded games you're playing a really talented team. And we certainly are."

While Ohio State has not played in 13 days and has lost three of its last five, the Buckeyes have the edge in athleticism over the Jackrabbits. Even though they don't have the experience, their talent should be enough to get them into the second round. 


Prediction: Ohio State 75, South Dakota State 68

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