For the fifth time in the past six years, South Dakota State has made it to the Summit League final. The Jackrabbits have claimed the automatic conference berth three times since 2012. Their competitors, Nebraska-Omaha, is actually the higher seed in this tournament and cruised past their semifinal opponent in the biggest blowout of this event.
All games have been held at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Tipoff for the title game is set at 9:00 PM Eastern time on Tuesday night and can be seen on ESPN2 and online on WatchESPN and the ESPN mobile app.
No. 4 South Dakota State (15-16, 8-8 Summit)
For five consecutive years, SDSU and their rivals, North Dakota State, have taken the conference title. That lone year the Jackrabbits weren't involved was in 2014 when NDSU won the championship over IPFW. While it's their rivals that sit out a final appearance this year, the Bison were actually the better team this season with a 19-10 overall record. Unfortunately for them, they were upset by IUPUI.
Mike Daum (25 ppg, 8 rpg) scored 30 points in the regular season finale against Denver and 33 points in their opening round rematch against them. He recorded 18 points and 9 boards in the 74-71 semifinal win over South Dakota. Perhaps one thing to keep in mind is Daum's ability to completely take over a game.
Back on February 18th, he had an incredible 51 points and 16 boards against Fort Wayne.
No. 3 Omaha (16-13, 9-7 Summit)
This is Omaha's fifth year in the Summit League and they've already made their debut in the championship game. They took advantage of an easier path by smashing 7th-seeded IUPUI by 28 points after edging Fort Wayne by four points.
Similar to their opponent, Omaha's defense has improved down the stretch, but that will certainly be tested as both teams average over 85 points in the last five games.
Tre'Shawn Thurman (13.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg) has been the best player for Omaha in the tournament with back-to-back double-doubles. He has totals of 38 points and 23 rebounds in both games.
Tra-Deon Hollins (13.3 ppg, 6.6 apg) led the team with 19 points in their dominant semifinal win.
SDSU won their most recent matchup against Omaha 88-84 back on January 28th. They're favored in the championship by a slim 1.5-point margin and the O/U is set predictably high at 171.5 points.
