South Dakota State shreds Nevada 102-75 in Crossover Classic opener

South Dakota State’s first half rout fueled a 102-75 rout over the Nevada Wolf Pack in the opening affair of the three-day Crossover Classic on Monday in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The Jackrabbits knocked down 15 of their first 18 shots and 8-of-9 from 3-point range, taking a 40-15 lead with 6:33 left in the first half; Nevada began just 6-of-20 and 1-of-5 from beyond the arc over that span.

The Pack showed some semblance of fight thereafter, rattling off 12 straight to cut the deficit to 13, but the Jackrabbits outscored Nevada 11-4 in the remainder of the first half and 62-48 in total. South Dakota State recorded 51 points apiece in each half — marking the second-and-third 50-point halves the Wolf Pack’s surrendered in their last five halves.

Monday’s the first time since time Nevada’s given up 100-plus points in regulation since Nov. 28, 2013, when it lost 105-84 to UCLA.

South Dakota State, who entered in the top-35 in field goal percentage and 3-point percentage, finished shooting 58.7 percent an 51.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Noah Freidel, the team’s leading scorer entering Monday (19.2 ppg), Baylor Scheierman and Douglas Wilson all made huge contributions.

Wilson tallied a team-high 24 points on a very efficient 9-of-11 shooting. Scheierman recorded his 17th career double-double, totaling 18 points with 10 boards on 6-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range. He added five assists and two steals.

Freidel had 21 points in 22 minutes, knocking down seven of his 14 attempts and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. He is the only Jackrabbit to have double figures in each of the team’s first six games. Zeke Mayo and Cole Easley each added 10 points apiece off the bench in the blowout effort.

Nevada shot 39.7 percent and 31.8 percent from distance. Warren Washington tallied 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting with six rebounds — both team-highS — adding two steals and a block. It marked his second career 20-point game in two seasons (31 games) with the Wolf Pack.

Desmond Cambridge had 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting with four rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. Will Baker added 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting and a pair of 3s.

Grant Sherfield tallied just nine points on 4-of-12 shooting, dishing out a team-high five assists with a steal and three boards.

The Wolf Pack have now dropped four straight and fall to 1-4. South Dakota State improves to 5-1 with its best six-game start since starting 6-0 in 2015-16.

Freidel accounted for the team’s first nine points — sinking his first three triples. Scheierman piled on with the Jackrabbits’ fourth 3-pointer in the first four minutes — giving them an early 14-7 advantage.

Charlie Easley’s fastbreak layup coupled with by Wilson’s three-point play capped a 16-0 run, jumping ahead 25-7. They hit eight of their first nine attempts, including their first five shots from distance. Kenan Blackshear’s triple ended a streak of eight straight Pack misses.

Wilson’s alley-oop layup followed by two makes from beyond the arc gave South Dakota State the 40-15 with 6:33 left in the opening half.

The Pack countered with 12 straight before South Dakota State re-found its offensive groove, ending the half on an 11-4 run — including an 8-2 run in the final 2:35 — to take the 51-31 lead.

South Dakota State shot 66.7 percent (18-27) and 10-15 (66.7 percent) from beyond the arc in the first half; Nevada shot 37.5 percent and just 2-of-8 (25.0 percent) from 3-point range. The Pack were out-rebounded 22-8.

The Jackrabbits even committed 15 first-half turnovers, twice as many as Nevada’s 7.

They missed seven straight 3-pointers to start the second half. Scheierman’s jumper followed by Freidel’s dunk widened the lead to 69-45 with 14:33 remaining. Washington’s putback slam off eight straight and cut it to 71-54, prompting a Jackrabbit timeout.

Cambridge’s 3-pointer — his second — cut it to 76-61 with 9:32 left. Back-to-back Jackrabbit triples extended it to 85-63. Freidel’s fifth triple made it 91-66 with 4:45 remaining. South Dakota State ended the thrashing on a 9-2 run, eclipsing 100 points on David Wingett’s 3-pointer with under 30 seconds remaining.

Next up: Nevada will look to rebound quickly in the second game of the Classic against George Mason on Tuesday at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN+.