Game Preview: SDSU

Tonight we are in Brookings, SD where the Leathernecks will take on the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State.  Coming in, SDSU is 22-7 and 13-3 in Summit League play.  WIU is 14-12 and 8-8 in the Summit.  These two faced each other early in Summit League play and it was a good one.  However, SDSU did come away with the win 67-66.  There was a controversial end to the game though.  With not a whole lot of a time left in the game, Nate Wolters of SDSU made a shot at the end of the shot clock the was obviously a shot clock violation.  The officials did not call it and in the end, the shot was the difference.  Besides the loss, WIU played pretty well in that game.

What is at stake tonight?  With a win (or an IUPUI loss) WIU will lock up at least a six seed in the Summit League Tournament.  They could also lock up at least a five seed if Southern Utah loses and we win.  As for the Jackrabbits, they have already locked up the second seed in the tournament.

WIU is still home to the nest defense in the conference and have moved in to 23rd place in the nation for scoring defense.  They are also the best three point shooting team as they are maing 38.9% of their three pointers.  For the first time in a while, they do not have the best assist to turnover ratio and are now second to SDSU.  This is likely the result of our 23 turnovers (our season high) versus Evansville last week.  The big struggle for Western in the past several games has been free throw shooting.  They are now last in the Summit in free throw percentage at 67.8%.  This area NEEDS to improve.

Ceola Clark has continued his stellar season.  He is third in the Summit in three point percentage at 47% and also 6th in the nation.  Despite his 5 turnovers versus Evansville, he still has a great turnover ratio at +2.1, good enough to put him in a tie for 1st in the conference.  Terell Parks still leads the conference in rebounds and blocks per game.  He is also 51st in the nation in rebounding.  Parks is still 2nd in the conference in field goal percentage at 61% but is still ineligible to be ranked nationally.

Looking at SDSU, they are the second highest scoring team in the conference as they average 79 points per game.  That also puts them at 13th in the nation.  They are just behind Western in three point percentage at 38.8% this season and have taken over the number one spot for turnover ratio at +2.6.  They have been better than WIU with their free throws this year but are still just 6th in the conference at 72%.

The big man to look out for in this one is Nate Wolters.  We defended him well in the first game, but he still made some big shots.  He is the only player in the conference that I believe may actually be a more complete player that Ceola Clark.  It would not surprise me at all if he is the Summit's Player of the Year.  He's the 2nd leading scorer in the conference, and 6th in the nation at 22 points per game.