# 2015–16 South Dakota State Jackrabbits men's basketball team

The 2015–16 South Dakota State Jackrabbits men's basketball team represented South Dakota State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Jackrabbits, led by 21st year head coach Scott Nagy, played their home games at Frost Arena and were members of the Summit League. The Jackrabbits finished the season 26–8, 12–4 in Summit League play to share the Summit League regular season championship. They defeated Oral Roberts, Denver, and North Dakota State to win the Summit League tournament. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As a No. 12 seed in the South Region, they were eliminated by No. 5 seed Maryland in the first round.
On April 4, head coach Scott Nagy resigned to become the head coach at Wright State. He finished at South Dakota State with a 21-year record of 410–240. On April 13, the school hired T. J. Otzelberger as head coach.

## Previous season

The Jackrabbits finished the 2014–15 season 24–11, 12–4 in Summit League play to win a share of the Summit League regular season championship. They lost to North Dakota State in the finals of the Summit League tournament. As a No. 1 seed in a conference tournament who did not win their tournament, they received an automatic bid to the NIT where they lost in the second round to Vanderbilt.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/29/2015* 8:30 pm | | South Dakota Mines | W 72–43 | | Frost Arena (1,769) Brookings, SD |
| 11/05/2015* 8:30 pm | | Dakota Wesleyan | W 94–67 | | Frost Arena (1,936) Brookings, SD |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/13/2015* 8:30 pm | | Chadron State | W 87–52 | 1–0 | Frost Arena (2,043) Brookings, SD |
| 11/16/2015* 7:00 pm | | Weber State | W 85–68 | 2–0 | Frost Arena (1,639) Brookings, SD |
| 11/19/2015* 7:00 pm | | at Illinois State Cancún Challenge | W 83–67 | 3–0 | Redbird Arena (4,107) Normal, IL |
| 11/21/2015* 1:00 pm, FSSW+ | | at TCU Cancún Challenge | W 76–67 | 4–0 | Schollmaier Arena (3,193) Fort Worth, TX |
| 11/24/2015* 2:00 pm | | vs. Houston Baptist Cancún Challenge Mayan Division semifinals | W 92–68 | 5–0 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (982) Cancún, MX |
| 11/25/2015* 2:00 pm | | vs. Cleveland State Cancún Challenge Mayan Division championship | W 77–66 | 6–0 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (982) Cancún, MX |
| 11/28/2015* 12:00 pm | | at UMKC | L 57–64 | 6–1 | Municipal Auditorium (911) Kansas City, MO |
| 12/02/2015* 7:00 pm | | Wayne State | W 80–53 | 7–1 | Frost Arena (1,983) Brookings, SD |
| 12/08/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Minnesota | W 84–70 | 8–1 | Williams Arena (10,378) Minneapolis, MN |
| 12/13/2015* 2:00 pm, MidcoSN | | UC Santa Barbara | W 86–67 | 9–1 | Frost Arena (2,155) Brookings, SD |
| 12/16/2015* 7:00 pm, FSSW+ | | at Texas Tech | L 67–79 | 9–2 | United Supermarkets Arena (4,996) Lubbock, TX |
| 12/19/2015* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Florida Gulf Coast | W 56–52 | 10–2 | Alico Arena (3,247) Fort Myers, FL |
| 12/22/2015* 8:00 pm | | at Weber State | L 95–99 | 10–3 | Dee Events Center (6,053) Ogden, UT |
| 12/27/2015* 4:30 pm, FS North | | vs. Middle Tennessee | W 65–61 | 11–3 | Sanford Pentagon (3,200) Sioux Falls, SD |
| 01/01/2016 7:00 pm | | Denver | W 68–59 | 12–3 (1–0) | Frost Arena (2,543) Brookings, SD |
| 01/03/2016 2:00 pm, MidcoSN | | Western Illinois | W 63–59 | 13–3 (2–0) | Frost Arena (2,573) Brookings, SD |
| 01/07/2016 6:00 pm | | at IUPUI | L 67–74 | 13–4 (2–1) | Fairgrounds Coliseum (866) Indianapolis, IN |
| 01/14/2016 7:00 pm | | IPFW | W 92–76 | 14–4 (3–1) | Frost Arena (2,496) Brookings, SD |
| 01/16/2016 4:30 pm, MidcoSN | | at North Dakota State | L 57–68 | 14–5 (3–2) | Scheels Arena (4,272) Fargo, ND |
| 01/21/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Oral Roberts | W 86–74 | 15–5 (4–2) | Mabee Center (3,361) Tulsa, OK |
| 01/23/2016 4:00 pm, MidcoSN | | at South Dakota | W 79–75 | 16–5 (5–2) | DakotaDome (4,832) Vermillion, SD |
| 01/28/2016 7:00 pm, MidcoSN | | Omaha | W 87–76 | 17–5 (6–2) | Frost Arena (2,840) Brookings, SD |
| 01/30/2016 4:00 pm | | at Denver | W 67–56 | 18–5 (7–2) | Magness Arena (3,020) Denver, CO |
| 02/06/2016 7:00 pm, MidcoSN | | IUPUI | L 58–80 | 19–5 (8–2) | Frost Arena (3,792) Brookings, SD |
| 02/10/2016 7:00 pm, MidcoSN | | at Omaha | L 92–96 | 19–6 (8–3) | Baxter Arena (2,838) Omaha, NE |
| 02/13/2016 4:30 pm, MidcoSN | | South Dakota | W 85–68 | 20–6 (9–3) | Frost Arena (5,035) Brookings, SD |
| 02/18/2016 6:00 pm | | at IPFW | L 79–91 | 20–7 (9–4) | Gates Sports Center (1,452) Fort Wayne, IN |
| 02/20/2016 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Illinois | W 87–67 | 21–7 (10–4) | Western Hall (1,166) Macomb, IL |
| 02/25/2016 7:00 pm, MidcoSN | | North Dakota State | W 71–59 | 22–7 (11–4) | Frost Arena (3,169) Brookings, SD |
| 02/27/2016 4:30 pm, MidcoSN | | Oral Roberts | W 73–65 | 23–7 (12–4) | Frost Arena (3,114) Brookings, SD |
| The Summit League tournament ||||||
| 03/05/2016 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | vs. (7) Oral Roberts Quarterfinals | W 73–70 | 24–7 | Premier Center (10,306) Sioux Falls, SD |
| 03/07/2016 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | vs. (6) Denver Semifinals | W 54–53 | 25–7 | Premier Center (9,735) Sioux Falls, SD |
| 03/08/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2) | vs. (5) North Dakota State Championship | W 67–59 | 26–7 | Premier Center (10,188) Sioux Falls, SD |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/18/2016* 3:30 pm, TBS | (12 S) | vs. (5 S) No. 18 Maryland First Round | L 74–79 | 26–8 | Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (11,109) Spokane, WA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||