FORT WAYNE – IPFW coach Tony Jasick snatched his dark suit coat off the bench’s blue folding chair and stormed across the Gates Center floor and into the dressing room, the back of his head bobbing with each word he was saying to himself.
And this was only halftime.
The momentum that South Dakota State stole in the final 5 seconds of the first half more than carried over into the second as the Jackrabbits pounded the Mastodons 74-43 in a Summit League mismatch Saturday.
Counting the 36-point hammering they took in Brookings, S.D., exactly a month ago, the Mastodons’ two losses to SDSU (17-6, 9-2) are by a combined 67 points.
“I feel bad for our fans, for our marketing people,” Jasick said. “I thought the crowd (1,856) was ready to really support us. Unfortunately (Saturday) we didn’t play very well at the offensive end. And our inadequacies on offense eventually ran their course. It was too much to overcome.”
The momentum from IPFW’s victory over North Dakota State two nights earlier seemed to have bridged into Saturday when the Mastodons took a quick 9-5 lead. It was one of the few feel-good moments that the nearly full house would enjoy.
For the most part, hope was still in the building, even in the final few minutes of the first half when Michael Kibiloski’s three-pointer with 43 seconds remaining got IPFW within 30-23 – a seven-point deficit, but still manageable.
And then the roof caved in.
With 5 seconds remaining in the half, South Dakota State’s Brayden Carlson dropped a three-pointer to send the lead back to 10.
In his haste to get up the floor, IPFW guard Justin Jordan lost the ball out of bounds with 3.9 seconds remaining before he reached half court. South Dakota State used a timeout to set up another three from Carlson, whose shot fell at the buzzer.
And like a matador’s cape, Jasick’s suit coat rippled in the warm air.
“In the second half, we come out and get two (defensive) stops, and again, get decent looks. They don’t fall,” Jasick said.
“That was pretty much a wrap from there.”
That’s when bad morphed into worse.
Instead of coming out of the locker room fired up, the Mastodons misfired on their first three shots and had five turnovers inside 5 minutes.
The only two baskets IPFW got over a span of the first 10 minutes came from Mario Hines, who finished with 12 points. It wasn’t until Isaiah McCray’s driving layup with 9:55 left did a Mastodon with a different name other than Hines score a bucket.
Frank Gaines was the only other IPFW player in double figures with 10, as IPFW finished with more turnovers (18) than baskets (16).
