South Dakota State Falls In First Round of NCAA Tournament

OMAHA, Neb. – Iowa State got off to strong starts to begin both halves and those stretches lifted the Cyclones over South Dakota State, 82-65, on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship at the CHI Health Center.

The No. 2 seed Cyclones jumped out by scoring the game's first seven points before a Matt Mims 3-pointer cut the deficit to 7-3. Iowa State built its advantage from there by making its first nine field goals to go ahead 22-7 less than seven minutes into the contest.

SDSU battled its way back into the matchup. A 10-point scoring run, with six points from Zeke Mayo and four from William Kyle III, cut the margin to 22-17 with 10:09 remaining in the first half.

South Dakota State began the second half with a 3-pointer from Mims to make it 40-36. Following an Iowa State layup, a jumper in the paint by Kyle III cut the margin again down to four with SDSU trailing 42-38 with 18:31 remaining.

Get our free mobile app

The Cyclones responded with a 12-0 scoring run to go ahead 54-38 just over two minutes later. The closest SDSU got the score again to was 13. The Big 12 Conference tournament champions held the Jacks to a 17% clip from the field in the second half before SDSU made its last seven shots of the contest to push their shooting mark to 40%.

Iowa State improved to 28-7 overall with the win while advancing to the second round to face the Washington State Cougars on Saturday.

The Jackrabbits fell to 22-13 overall.

Mayo paced the Jackrabbits in scoring with 19 points. He was joined in double digits by Kyle III (14) and Easley (11). Appel and Kyle III had seven rebounds apiece. Mayo had a team-high four of SDSU's 15 assists.

The Jackrabbits are now 0-7 all-time in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. SDSU advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in the previous 13 years and second time in three seasons.

LOOK: Biggest underdog victories in March Madness

Every spring, legions of sports fans turn their attention to college basketball when March Madness takes the national spotlight. Using aggregated Associated Press data, BestOdds has come up with 10 of the biggest—and most unlikely—underdog wins in March Madness history.

Gallery Credit: Brian Budzynski