Black Hills State men's basketball advances to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA DII tournament to take on No. 1 seed West Texas A&M in the South Central Regional Championship on Tuesday, March 14 at 7 p.m. CT (6 p.m. MT)
The Yellow Jackets are currently 27-5 overall after their 81-66 win over No. 2 Fort Lewis in the regional semifinal game. BHSU is also coming off an RMAC Semifinal run after matching a program-best 24 regular season wins. On the latest national polls, BHSU came in at T20th in the nation on the D2SIDA Media Poll and 21st on the NABC Coaches Poll.
The Yellow Jackets have only faced WT once in program history, coming nearly a year ago to the day in the 2022 South Central Regional semifinal game in which BHSU won, 91-77.
TUESDAY vs. NO. 1 WEST TEXAS A&M
The Buffs finished the regular season in first place in the Lone Star Conference and earned the number one seed in the South Central Region after winning the 2023 LSC Tournament. Nationally, they are ranked 13th on the NABC Coaches Poll and 22nd on the D2SIDA media poll.
WT won its Sunday regional semifinal matchup against No. 4 Angelo State, 69-59 after winning the quarterfinal matchup on Saturday over No. 8 Texas A&M Kingsville, 78-56.
WT finished as the leading scoring team in the LSC and is 23rd in the nation, averaging 83.0 points per game. They currently lead the nation, averaging 19.6 made free throws per game, and are second in free throw attempts, averaging 25.3 per game.
They also are 23rd in the nation in made threes per game (9.9), fourth in turnover margin (6.3), and ninth in fewest turnovers per game (9.8).
BUFFS' LAST TIME OUT
On Sunday evening, West Texas A&M junior guard Ryland Holt posted a season-high 23 points to lead the Buffs over Lone Star Conference foe, Angelo State.
The win improved WT's record to 27-6 overall and advanced the Buffs into Tuesday's South Central Region Championship game.
Holt led WT with 23 points and seven rebounds to go along with two blocks, three steals, and an assist.
Julius Brown recorded his ninth 20-point performance of the season, scoring 21 points with five assists. Addison Wallace pulled in a game-high 11 rebounds in the victory.
Angelo State came out of the opening tip making contested shots and grabbing offensive rebounds, forcing WT to adapt on defense. While the Rams were sinking shots, the Buffs couldn't score on the other end of the court.
At the first media timeout, Angelo State held WT without a point on 0-of-3 shooting from the field and three turnovers. The offense slowly built for the Buffs as they strung together an eight-point streak to take their first lead of the night.
An Ahamed Mohammed shot from deep put the Buffs up three, but the Rams responded with a pull-up jumper to cut the deficit to one at the half.
Angelo State battled back from the one-point halftime deficit by opening the half with four quick points. The Buffs and Rams exchanged buckets as the game didn't separate from two points on either side.
That changed when Zach Toussaint buried a triple to give WT a five-point lead with just over 11 minutes to play. The Buffs used the momentum gained by Toussaint to build a 10-point separation with five minutes to go.
Angelo State brought the game within six over the course of the final minutes, but WT free throws sealed out the win.
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball toppled No. 2 Fort Lewis, 81-66, Sunday night to continue their postseason run.
Entering the game 0-3 against the Skyhawks this season, the Yellow Jackets (27-5, 18-4 RMAC) fought to the end in this one, out-rebounding FLC 42-32 and keeping them to 15.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Joel Scott made his presence known with 23 points and 19 rebounds to go along with four steals and two blocks.
Sindou Cisse was excellent on defense, holding the leading scorer in the nation, Akuel Kot, to 4-of-10 shooting from the floor and 14 points in the game. Cisse himself finished with 14 points, three assists and two blocks.
Matthew Ragsdale and
Jaeton Hackley each finished with 13 points with four made field goals. Hackley added three steals on defense.
PJ Hayes was the fifth Yellow Jackets in double-digit scoring tonight with 10 points while also grabbing three steals.
Ryker Cisarik added eight points, going 4-of-7 from the field, and six rebounds.
Hayes and Scott opened the scoring for the Yellow Jackets, getting them out to an early 5-4 lead before threes from Hayes and Ragsdale gave BHSU an 11-6 lead.
After a pair of Cisarik jumpers, a Cisse 3-point play and a Hayes trey helped the Yellow Jackets out to an 11-4 spurt to extend to an 28-17 lead with under eight to go. After the Skyhawks scored a pair of unanswered shots, a technical on the FLC bench resulted in a pair of Ragsdale freebies to make it 33-21 with just over five remaining.
In the closing minutes of the first half, a Hackley 3-pointer and Cisarik pull up helped the Yellow Jackets take a 40-32 lead into the locker room.
Out of the break, an 8-0 run capped by a Hackley 3-point play gave BHSU its largest lead of the game, 50-35 with 16:26 on the clock.
Minutes later, a FLC 7-point spurt pulled the Skyhawks within 10, making it a 55-47 ballgame, but back-and-forth play carried the game into under seven minutes to play when a Ragsdale jumper made it a 63-55 Yellow Jacket lead.
A Cisse three and Scott 3-point play followed made it a 10-1 scoring run, extending the lead back to 15, 71-56 with under five to play.
FLC inched back to within 10 once more, 73-63, as the clock ticked under two minutes and the team began fouling. BHSU went 6-of-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch to secure the 81-66 victory.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. WT (March 13, 2022)
Black Hills State men's basketball knocked off No. 2 West Texas A&M 91-77 Sunday night to advance to the Sweet 16 in the 2022 NCAA DII Tournament.
The Yellow Jackets (24-7, 21-4 RMAC) had three scorers with 20-point performances in
Joel Scott,
Sindou Cisse and
Sava Dukic as the team shot a collective 61.0 percent from the field while making 50 points in the paint.
"It's just one game, and that's how we've thought all year," said Head Coach
Ryan Thompson. "We feel like we can go up with anyone, and Texas A&M is one of the better teams in the country. We got great looks all night long and guys stepped up."
Scott recorded his 19th double-double of the season, scoring 20 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
Cisse went 9-of-11 from the field and had seven rebounds to go with his 20 points.
Dukic also had 20 points, making 7-of-9 on the floor and 5-of-8 from the free throw line.
Adam Moussa dished out a team-best four assists while scoring 13 points and hauling in seven rebounds.
Ryker Cisarik came down with a career-best eight boards while scoring seven, and
Tommy Donovan finished with eight points.
The Yellow Jackets got out to a quick 7-2 lead with a Moussa three and layups from Scott and Cisse, but WT came back to even things up at 7-7 before back-and-forth play commenced.
Three straight makes from Dukic, Donovan and Scott extended the BHSU lead to 15-9 until WT countered and the score was locked at 20-20 midway through the first half.
BHSU followed by rattling off an 8-0 run, highlighted by a pair of Moussa threes to go up 28-20. A few minutes later, back-to-back Cisse layups put the Yellow Jacket lead into double-figures at 32-22 with 6:54 to go.
WT cut into the BHSU lead ahead of halftime, drawing back to within two, 41-39 with under two minutes left, but Scott dropped six straight down the stretch before a last-second Dukic layup gave the Yellow Jackets a 47-40 advantage going into the break.
Out of the locker room, a 10-0 spurt from the Yellow Jackets put their lead back to double-digits when a Moussa three followed by a Scott free throw extended the lead to 59-45 with 13:50 remaining.
BHSU slowly built their lead over the next few minutes until a Dukic trey with 8:14 on the clock put BHSU ahead 71-55, their largest lead of the game. But WT would close the gap, using an 8-0 run to cut the BHSU lead in half and make it a 75-67 game with 4:35 to play.
Layups from Cisse and Dukic late in the game pushed the Yellow Jacket lead to 87-74 as the clock ticked under 90 seconds.
Down the stretch, a Cisarik layup and pair of free throws in the final seconds iced the 91-77 victory.
YELLOW JACKETS RANKED
The Yellow Jackets are ranked T20th in the D2SIDA National Media Poll and 21st in the NABC Coaches Poll.
Statistically, BHSU is top-10 in the nation in four different categories, including second in three-point percentage defense (29.1), third in defensive rebounds per game (31.0), and 10th in field goal percentage (50.0) and scoring margin (13.8).
As a team, BHSU leads the RMAC in seven key statistical categories, and is also top-five in 16 categories.
A BHSU WIN WOULD...
Earn the team their second consecutive South Central Regional Championship, and advance them to the Elite Eight in Evansville, Indiana.
A BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Eliminate them from the NCAA Tournament, bringing an end to the 2022-23 season for the Yellow Jackets.
RECORDS/MILESTONES
Joel Scott became the BHSU all-time leading scorer in program history this season, surpassing previous record holder Kim Templeton (2,180, 1972-76) and now sits at 2,379 career points heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Scott is also currently at 964 career rebounds heading into the NCAA Tournament, 36 shy of 1,000 for his career.
Scott was named 2022-23 RMAC Player of the Year for the second straight season, also earning the honor in the 2021-22 season.
Head Coach
Ryan Thompson won his 100th game as head coach this season, becoming just the 4th head coach in program history to reach 100 victories, and is the quickest to do so.
With a career coaching record of 102-40, his .718 winning percentage is the highest in school history among coaches who have managed at least 50 games.
PJ Hayes has been incredible behind the arc this season, and has ranked as high as fifth in the nation in 3-point percentage, currently averaging .441 from deep.
At 27-5, BHSU has reached its highest win total since moving DII, and has the third-highest win total in program history. The program went 28-7 in the 2010-11 season (their final year as a member of the NAIA) and a program-best 30-5 in 2008-09.
BHSU men's basketball matched their program record with 24 regular season wins, and reached as high as No. 2 on the NABC Coaches Poll on Feb. 14, the highest the program has ever been ranked nationally.
YELLOW JACKETS RANKED
The Yellow Jackets are ranked T20th in the D2SIDA National Media Poll and 21st in the NABC Coaches Poll.
Statistically, BHSU is top-10 in the nation in four different categories, including second in three-point percentage defense (29.1), third in defensive rebounds per game (31.0), and 10th in field goal percentage (50.0) and scoring margin (13.8).
As a team, BHSU leads the RMAC in seven key statistical categories, and is also top-five in 16 categories.
A BHSU WIN WOULD...
Earn the team their second consecutive South Central Regional Championship, and advance them to the Elite Eight in Evansville, Indiana.
A BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Eliminate them from the NCAA Tournament, bringing an end to the 2022-23 season for the Yellow Jackets.
RECORDS/MILESTONES
Joel Scott became the BHSU all-time leading scorer in program history this season, surpassing previous record holder Kim Templeton (2,180, 1972-76) and now sits at 2,379 career points heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Scott is also currently at 964 career rebounds heading into the NCAA Tournament, 36 shy of 1,000 for his career.
Scott was named 2022-23 RMAC Player of the Year for the second straight season, also earning the honor in the 2021-22 season.
Head Coach
Ryan Thompson won his 100th game as head coach this season, becoming just the 4th head coach in program history to reach 100 victories, and is the quickest to do so.
With a career coaching record of 102-40, his .718 winning percentage is the highest in school history among coaches who have managed at least 50 games.
PJ Hayes has been incredible behind the arc this season, and has ranked as high as fifth in the nation in 3-point percentage, currently averaging .441 from deep.
At 27-5, BHSU has reached its highest win total since moving DII, and has the third-highest win total in program history. The program went 28-7 in the 2010-11 season (their final year as a member of the NAIA) and a program-best 30-5 in 2008-09.
BHSU men's basketball matched their program record with 24 regular season wins, and reached as high as No. 2 on the NABC Coaches Poll on Feb. 14, the highest the program has ever been ranked nationally.
COACHES
Head coach
Ryan Thompson is in his fifth season leading the Yellow Jackets, having taken the program to its first NCAA tournament in the 2021-22 season, and the RMAC tournament each of the last five years.
Buffs Head Coach, Tom Brown, is in his ninth season leading WT and has guided them to seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments including the program's first ever DII National Championship game in 2021.
DYNAMIC DUO
The Yellow Jackets added transfer
Matthew Ragsdale ahead of the 2022-23 season, who had previously spent all three seasons of his career at Western Colorado where he totaled 1,309 points over 73 games and 2,185 minutes played. In the 2021-22 season, Ragsdale finished second in the RMAC in scoring with 601 total points and 21.5 per game, behind only current teammate
Joel Scott.
Ragsdale rejoined former high school teammate, Scott, after they played together at Lewis-Palmer High School in Colorado where in their senior season they went an undefeated 28-0 to win the Colorado 4A State Championship.
This year, they are both in their senior year of eligibility and have combined for the most total points in a season by a pair of NCAA teammates who also played on the same high school team. Previously, the highest combined total was 1,047 points, accumulated by Dick (535 points) and Tom Van Arsdale (512) in the 1963-64 season at Indiana. The twins played high school basketball together at Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, Ind.
Current 2022-23 Ragsdale/Scott Point Total:
1,159
-BHSUAthletics.com-
