Your Nightly Brutality: South Dakota State outlasts Ole Miss, Western Michigan downs Saint Louis

With all of the tournaments that take place over the Thanksgiving holiday, there aren’t many opportunities for brutality to occur. Luckily, those tournaments are over, and we can get back to our regularly schedule programming.

After a Monday night that featured a light slate of games, Tuesday brought brutality back into our lives.

You can view the overall Brutality Leaderboard here.

South Dakota State 99 Ole Miss 97 (OT)

At one point in the first half, South Dakota State was up by 26. They even led Ole Miss by 20 at the half, but the Rebels battled back, as is usually the case in buy games. David Jenkins Jr. had a look to win it in regulation, but it was off the mark to send the game to overtime.

Early on in the overtime period, Large Adult Son and staff favorite Mike Daum was called for an egregious fifth foul that sent him to the bench for the remainder of the game. The Jackrabbits stepped up, however, and got huge baskets from Reed Tellinghuisen and Jenkins late in the extra period.

The win gives South Dakota State their second win over a Power 5 team, with Iowa being the other. The Jackrabbits are now off to a 7-2 start with games against Missouri State and Wichita State looming in the coming days.

Western Michigan 65, Saint Louis 51

Mid-major on mid-major brutality always feels a little dirty. But light must shine on brutality, no matter how uncomfortable it may be on the losing end of it.

Western Michigan used a 42-point second half to sprint away from Saint Louis after leading by just one at halftime. Thomas Wilder had another great game (16 points), and the Broncos got good efforts from Josh Davis, Bryce Moore and Brandon Johnson, who have formed a nice supporting cast around the senior star. It was the Broncos second Div. I win of the season, and pushed their record to 4-3.

Meanwhile, Saint Louis has now lost three-straight games after the upset win over Virginia Tech. They struggled to connect from distance (3-for-15), which has been a recurring problem this year. The Bilikens have shot just 24.7 percent from distance as a team, the 345th worst mark in the country per KenPom.

But hey, perk up Saint Louis fans. Losing to the Broncos wasn’t even the Bilikens worse loss in the past week after that brutality defeat at the hands of Detroit on Nov. 22. And losing the Western Michigan might not even be a bad loss, as the Broncos are considered by many to be the favorite in the MAC West.