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Men done in by SDSU in NCC semis
 B.J. Brant
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BROOKINGS, S.D. � Going into the semifinal of the Wells Fargo NCC tournament at South Dakota State on Friday night, the SCSU men's basketball team knew they had a large chore at hand.
They were going onto SDSU's home court and had to deal with 4,127 screaming fans, about 4,000 of whom were cheering for the Jackrabbits.
Nothing came easy for the Huskies as they couldn't stop the dribble penetration and shooting of guards Austin Hansen and Andy Moeller. They also couldn't deal with the dominance of freshman center Matt Jones. Those three players killed the Huskies in a 91-77 SDSU victory.
Things didn't look good for SCSU early as the Jacks jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on the strength of a Hansen three and a powerful slam by Jones. But to the Huskies' credit, they came back. Trailing 16-5 with 15:37 remaining in the first, junior guard Forrest Witt started to go insane.
Witt hit three in a row from beyond the arc on three straight SCSU possessions to cut the Jack lead down to two at 16-14. Witt's fifth trey gave the Huskies the lead at 25-24 with 9:34 left. However, after a media timeout, the rest of the game belonged to the Jackrabbits.
Hansen, who guarded Witt for most of the game, said he was lackadaisical during Witt's hot stretch.
"I was really lazy on defense in the first," Hansen said. "When you relax on 'D,' you're going to get into trouble. Witt went off, and I was really disappointed in my effort. You don't want him to keep going, because he carries that team."
"Austin played me tight all night long," Witt said. "My shot was there in the first half, and I was just hitting it. They didn't switch anything differently onto me defensively."
The late first half was a showcase of SDSU's strength in the paint. Senior forward Andy Cone and reserve center Josh Cerveny combined for 10 points in the last nine minutes as SDSU went on a 14-1 run to finish the half. With that run, SDSU was back on top by eight at the break, 46-38.
The Huskies got to within three after two Steve Trull free throws with 18:26 left in the second half. In the next six minutes, SDSU's guards began their penetration into the Husky defense. A 17-7 run led by Hansen and Moeller's passing and finding the open man gave the Jacks their double-digit lead back at 12 with 12:15 remaining.
"When they (Hansen and Moeller) got by our guards, we didn't rotate defensively, and they got by us," SCSU head coach Kevin Schlagel said. "It always seemed like they found the open man. They can just flat out finish when they get the ball in deep like that."
SCSU never got closer than six points in the last 10 minutes of the second half. SDSU began hitting from everywhere on the court and had a 20-point edge at 87-67. The Jacks had their largest lead at 21 after two Derrick Schantz free throws.
The Huskies shot a respectable 42 percent in the first, but then faded to 33 percent in the second. For the game, they finished at 38 percent. They were outrebounded by a margin of 42-31, and outmuscled the whole game. The Jacks never relented in their shooting spree, as they shot 51 percent for the contest. Jones, who finished with 15 points and seven rebounds on the night, said his team's main edge came on the glass.
"Coming in, coach's (SDSU head coach Scott Nagy) main emphasis was beating them on the boards," Jones said. "We weren't going to give them any second opportunities. Once we get our adrenaline going, there's no stopping us on the glass."
Witt led the Huskies with 21 points and seven rebounds. Alex Carlson contributed 11 points and six assists. Hansen led the Jacks in scoring with 27 points, including five treys. Moeller added 16 points and five assists.
With a 21-7 record, the Huskies still hoped to make their way into the NCAA Division II tournament.
"We feel we should get in," senior forward B.J. Brant said. "Everything depends on what the selection committee thinks. If we do get in though, we have to step up and play a lot better."
The team found out late Sunday night, however, that they would have to wait for next season to play their next competitive match.
Andy Rennecke can be reached at: [email protected]
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