Weekend preview: Fort Wayne and Oakland
Don’t worry - I’ll have more football recruiting info Friday. Just trying to let the dust settle for a minute. Here, instead, is a look ahead to the weekend in South Dakota State hoops. I’ll have live coverage from Brookings today and Saturday:
Men (18-6, 9-2)
Saturday at Fort Wayne (10-14, 3-7), 6 p.m.
Sagarin says: Jacks by 11
Streaks and such: SDSU has won six in a row in the series and seven in a row overall
Of note: The Jacks remained ranked 18th in the latest mid-major poll. … SDSU coach Scott Nagy said he’s glad his team plays the Dons before the Golden Grizzlies this weekend – he thinks that can help the team stay focused, figuring Fort Wayne must be sick of hearing people talk about Oakland when it comes to this particular conference road trip. … The Dons are 8-3 at home this season, although all two of those defeats were in the last three games.
Saturday at Oakland (11-13, 6-4), 4 p.m.
Sagarin says: Jacks by 3
Streaks and such: SDSU has never won at OU (0-5)
Of note: The game will air on Fox Sports North and Fox Sports Detroit. … These teams have combined to win the last three Summit League tournament titles. … OU junior guard Travis Bader (21.7) and SDSU senior guard Nate Wolters (20.8) both rank in the top 10 in scoring in NCAA Division I. … As a team, the Jacks are seventh in D-I in assist-turnover ratio (1.44) and fifth in fewest turnovers (10.1). Meanwhile, Oakland ranks 344th in defensive field-goal percentage (50.0). … OU hosts North Dakota State on Thursday night, carrying a three-game win streak into that contest.
Women (17-6, 9-1)
Thursday vs. Fort Wayne (8-13, 4-5), 7 p.m.
Sagarin says: Jacks by 20
Streaks and such: SDSU leads the series 18-1
Of note: SDSU won the first meeting this season by two on a shot at the buzzer by Megan Waytashek after trailing by nine with less than 4 minutes remaining. That was the first of two 30-point efforts this season by the sophomore. Her total of 33 the last time out was the most by an SDSU player since Rachel Halsrud hit the same number in 1994. … The Jacks moved up six spots to No. 13 this week in the mid-major poll. They sit atop the Summit standing by 2.5 games with six to play. … The Dons have won two in a row, but are 1-7 on the road this season.
Saturday vs. Oakland (8-13, 2-7), 7 p.m.
Sagarin says: Jacks by 21
Streaks and such: SDSU has won five straight in the series
Of note: The Golden Grizzlies will play the entire season without the services of preseason Summit POY junior forward Bethany Watterworth due to injury. They play at North Dakota State on Thursday. … OU has lost five games by four points or less. … If the season were to end today, this would be the 1 vs. 8 matchup in the conference tournament. … Although it often feels like the Jacks are winning because of their defense, they actually rank better nationally in scoring offense and field-goal percentage than they do in scoring defense and defensive field-goal percentage.
Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.
