South Dakota State holds on to beat TCU 76-67
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) South Dakota State coach Scott Nagy found out a lot about his team in a gritty 76-67 victory over TCU on Saturday afternoon.
On the road for the second time in three days, South Dakota State (4-0) led its Big 12 Conference opponent by 22 with 15 minutes remaining. But then things changed.
TCU (2-1) turned up the pressure defensively and went on a 17-1 run over the next six minutes to cut the lead to six at 56-50. In that 7-minute span, the Jackrabbits had 10 turnovers and went 0 for 8 from the field.
''I told our kids at one of the timeouts, this is good for us,'' Nagy said. ''We need this. We need to feel this pressure because we've not been in a game when it's tight. Now we'll see who the experienced guys are, who will make plays for us. And our kids did.''
Down just six, TCU, whose energy had gotten the team back in the game, returned the favor by making four straight turnovers, putting the Jackrabbits back in the driver's seat.
Two players who stepped up for Nagy late were seniors Deondre Parks, who finished with a game-high 21 points, and George Marshall, who scored 12.
Each player had four points in the final two minutes. The big blow was Marshall's 3-pointer from the left baseline with 1:36 remaining that turned a 67-62 lead into a 70-62 advantage.
Parks was 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the late stages and finished the game 10 of 11.
TCU, which had scored 90 in each of its first two games this season, was led by Malique Trent's 18 points. Trent was just 6-of-23 shooting however, making just 3 of 15 from 3-point range. Brandon Parrish finished with 17 points and made three of his 4 3-point tries.
Both teams had 18 turnovers. South Dakota State shot the ball better, making 41.8 percent of its field-goal tries (23 of 55).
''We've got to get some things cleaned up,'' TCU coach Trent Johnson said. ''We've got to take care of the ball. Once we decided to play, we got into a situation we're we could've made some plays and maybe had a chance to win.''
TCU had its 20-game nonconference winning streak snapped after shooting just 33.3 percent from the field (22 of 66), including 7 of 27 from 3-point range.
Mike Daum added 17 points, while Reed Tellinghuisen had 11 points and seven boards for South Dakota State, which moved to 2-0 in the Cancun Challenge, which now moves to neutral site games in Mexico.
South Dakota State was held under the 80-point mark for the first time this season. The Jackrabbits held a 43-32 lead at halftime.
TIP-INS
South Dakota State: South Dakota State moved to 4-0 on the year and 2-0 in the Cancun Challenge, which features two stateside games for all teams prior to heading to Mexico. ... South Dakota State won at Illinois State 83-67 on Thursday night, giving the Jackrabbits two true road wins in the tournament.
TCU: TCU's previous nonconference loss came against Harvard on Nov. 30, 2013. . It was the first nonconference loss for the Horned Frogs in 11 games at Wilkerson-Greines, the team's primary home for the past two seasons. The team's $72 million arena will be ready in time for a Dec. 20 game.
NOT UP FOR GRABS
South Dakota State held the lead for the game's final 26:55 after taking its first lead of the game at 12-11 with 13:05 left in the first half.
BENCHMARK
TCU's Devonta Abron had eight points and 12 rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench.
UP NEXT
South Dakota State plays Houston Baptist in the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico.
TCU plays Rhode Island on Tuesday in the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico.
