1. When Nate Wolters is launching over dudes for posterizing dunks, what more can one say? Deal with it, right? The junior point guard was sensational tonight: 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and just 2 turnovers. He didn't just fill his stat line, though. He made impressive play after impressive play. SUU coach Roger Reid compared him to John Stockton. The legend of Nate Wolters continues to grow.
2. While SDSU rightfully gets a lot of credit for its efficient offense, one of, if not the, biggest contributors to its success this season has been its defense. Tonight the Jackrabbits allowed the Thunderbirds to score just 0.84 points per possession. That would stand as the fourth-best defensive performance by the Jacks in a conference game this season. They do it in a different manner than Western Illinois, but South Dakota State gets after it on the defensive end, too. It's interesting to note that in a Summit League season where offense and top scorers reigned supreme, the league's top two per-possession defensive teams find themselves in the tournament championship.
3. A night after he lit up the Oakland defense for an efficient 27 points, Southern Utah's Jackson Stevenett went down with an ankle injury very early on against South Dakota State. The junior Second Team selection was unable to re-enter the game. Sans its leading scorer, SUU struggled to get things going offensively against a strong defensive team. One can always imagine what might have been had Stevenett not been injured, but at the end of the day the T-Birds' lack of depth reared its head after that play.
Senior Send-off
Ray Jones Jr., Matt Massey, and Ramell Taylor played their final game in a Southern Utah uniform this evening.
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