Based on the records of South Dakota State and Washington State entering the week, their Saturday afternoon non-conference matchup in Spokane, Wash., should be a good one.
Although if you take their common opponent into consideration, maybe not.
The Jackrabbits (8-3), the preseason favorite to win the Summit League regular-season title for the eighth time in the past 10 years, have beaten Bradley, Nevada and George Mason this season and played then-No. 14 Alabama, currently ranked No. 9 in the Top 25, tough.
But SDSU is coming off a 98-84 loss Wednesday at Idaho to a Vandals team that hadn’t previously defeated a Division I opponent this season.
The Cougars traveled across the state border to Moscow, Idaho, earlier this season, trouncing the rival Vandals 109-61.
WSU (7-2) posted a 94-60 victory against previously undefeated Weber State on Wednesday as Noah Williams led a balanced attack with 17 points.
“I thought we played one of our best games, start to finish,” Cougars coach Kyle Smith said, “especially offensively, and moving the ball.
“It was nice to see us put the pedal down and finish that game really strong.”
Mouhamed Gueye, a 6-foot-11 freshman from Senegal, added a career-high 14 points and 10 rebounds. DJ Rodman, the son of five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman, added 14 points, making all four of his 3-point attempts. TJ Bamba also scored 14 and Michael Flowers added 13 points.
South Dakota State coach Eric Henderson said earlier this season that his team, which has won the past two conference titles, is facing “the toughest schedule we’ve ever had.”
“They’re all high-quality opponents, so we’ll be as challenged as we have ever been,” Henderson said.
The Jackrabbits had five players reach double-figure scoring Wednesday, led by Baylor Scheierman’s season-high 22 points and 14 rebounds, but failed to contain the hot-shooting Vandals, who made 54.9 percent of their attempts from the field.
Noah Freidel and Douglas Wilson each scored 15 points for SDSU, Luke Appel had 13 and Charlie Easley scored 11.
–Field Level Media