Now would be a good time for the SDSU to find their stride.

The Jackrabbits play five of their final seven games on the road and got off to a strong start by dominating Centenary, 83-50, in Shreveport, La. on Feb. 5. SDSU only trailed once, then blew the game wide open in the first half, going 12-of-14 from the freethrow line and building a 22-point lead at halftime.

With the affair in hand, the Jackrabbits solidified the lead by shooting 70 percent in the second half, capping SDSU’s second-best shooting show of the season.

“As a coach, we want our players to have confidence that they can make shots. It’s just the difference between settling for it and getting the best shot. We just didn’t settle for shots and that was a big difference,” said SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston.

It is the seventh time this year that SDSU has reached 80 points with the Jacks winning each of those contests. Kristin Rotert led the Jackrabbits with 18 points and the inside combo of Katie Lingle and Jennie Sunnarborg scored 14 and 13 respectively.

The team struggled to get from Dallas to Shreveport on Feb. 4 with the winter storm that hit the southern part of the U.S., leading to a long day of travel after leaving Brookings that morning.

“We need to continue to get better. It’s not just about playing the next game. We want to get to be a better team and we want to play hard every time we step on the court,” Johnston said.

Outsized by yet another opponent, the SDSU men’s basketball team showed that a little heart could go a long way. In fact, all the way to 6-0.

SDSU used a gritty effort on both sides of the ball to defeat perennial mid-major power Nevada in a 82-65 victory in front of 2,027 fans at Frost Arena on Nov. 30.

The Jackrabbits remain undefeated on the young season, with this potentially being the most convincing victory of them all.

The lead was back and forth until Aireus Stephenson hit a three pointer from the corner to give SDSU a 12-11 lead, one which the Jacks would not relinquish. Dunks by Jordan Dykstra and Dale Moss helped bring the Frost Arena crowd alive before a Dykstra three-pointer gave the Jackrabbits a seven point lead. Nate Wolters jumper with 5 seconds left gave SDSU a nine point advantage at the break.

Another Moss dunk and a Wolters layup gave the Jacks a 14 point lead four minutes into the second half. Nevada (1-5) would make their surge in the second half but could never get closer than nine. SDSU scored 15 of the 22 points in the final seven minutes of the game to put away the Wolf Pack.

SDSU shot a season-low 6 of 18 from beyond the three-point arc. Even though the Jacks were leading the nation in three-point percentage heading into the game, Wolters said it’s not necessarily a bad thing to shoot like they did.

“That’s a good sign for us. The first five games we’ve been shooting the ball really well from the three and being able to not shoot ball well and still go on to win gives us a lot of confidence.”

The Jacks made up for it by taking Nevada’s 22 turnovers and converting them into 25 points. In contrast, SDSU only turned the ball over eight times and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds.

“You can’t rely on the three. Even though we’re a very good shooting team, we want to rely on defense and rebounding and taking care of the ball,” said Nagy

“[Nevada] pressures a little more and we didn’t shoot the ball well but we didn’t turn it over and we won the rebounding battle,” said Wolters.

Dykstra recorded a career-high 23 points for the Jacks in the winning effort. Wolters contributed 14 points to go with his five assists for SDSU.

“I’m not sure if anything really fueled it. It was just coming out and doing whatever I could for the team and what can I do to help the team get a W,” said Dykstra.

Griffan Callahan came up with 13 points and 10 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.

“I thought Griffan was big for us,” Nagy said. “His greatest gift to our team is his toughness and it’s contagious and rubbing off on the other kids.”

#1.1814447:2499910772.png:Wolters.png:Point guard Nate Wolters drives ahead against Nevada?s Deonte Burton in the first half of SDSU?s 82-65 win Nov. 30.:Collegian Photo by Aaron Stoneberger
#1.1814428:1796435614.png:Sargent.png:Clint Sargent shoots against Nevada Tuesday night.:Collegian Photo by Aaron Stoneberger