As we turn the page to chapter two of the 2014 Summit League schedule there's only one team heading into the second half with a perfect slate - South Dakota State.  The Jackrabbits polished off all seven opponents the first time through the schedule.  Now comes the hard part - doing it all again.

The final two wins of the first half came at home, where SDSU has won all 11 so far this year, 14 straight overall.

Last Thursday night in an 11-point win over Denver, the Jacks played good defense,   holding the Pioneers 18 points under their average, while knocking down 10 3-pointers on the offensive end of the floor.

Head coach Aaron Johnston told me he was pleased with the effort against Denver:

Sunday, the Jacks welcomed in-state rival South Dakota, a team that's allowed opponents to shoot the highest percentage in the conference from behind the 3-point arc, and SDSU took advantage with nine first half 3-pointers, en route to a 19-point win.

The long range strategy for SDSU was apparent early on as 11 of their first 19 field goal attempts came from three.  Coach Johnston says some of that was a carry over from Thursday night's win:

At the midway point of the Summit League schedule it's South Dakota State by a game over IUPUI with the rest of the field at least another two games behind the Jaguars.  Despite that small separation in the standings, coach Johnston says things have played out pretty much as expected through the first seven games:

The second half for South Dakota State starts Thursday night in Fort Wayne against the number one three-point shooting team in the Summit League.  The Mastodons attempt (24) and make (9) more long range shots than anyone in the conference.  They also have the top two scorers in the league, Haley Seibert (23 points per game) and Amanda Hyde (22 points per game).  Those two combined for eight of the 12 3's IPFW hit during the first meeting with SDSU, a game the Jacks won by 17, thanks to 52 percent shooting and 54 points off the bench.

But coach Johnston says defending the perimeter is the key against the Mastodons:

Tipoff is 6:00pm CST Thursday in Fort Wayne.

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