# 2016–17 South Dakota State Jackrabbits men's basketball team

The 2016–17 South Dakota State Jackrabbits men's basketball team represented South Dakota State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Jackrabbits, led by first-year head coach T. J. Otzelberger, played their home games at Frost Arena in Brookings, South Dakota as members of the Summit League. They finished the season 18–17, 8–8 in Summit League play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place. As the No. 4 seed in the Summit League tournament, they defeated Denver, South Dakota, and Omaha to win the tournament championship. As a result, they earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 16 seed in the West region, they lost in the first round to Gonzaga.

## Previous season

The Jackrabbits finished the 2015–16 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-seeded Maryland in the first round.
On April 4, head coach Scott Nagy resigned to become the head coach at Wright State. On April 13, the school hired T. J. Otzelberger as head coach.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/03/2016 8:30 pm | | South Dakota Mines | W 85–64 | | Frost Arena (2,253) Brookings, SD |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 9:00 pm, P12N | | at California | L 53–82 | 0–1 | Haas Pavilion (7,782) Berkeley, CA |
| 11/14/2016* 9:00 pm | | at UC Irvine | L 58–73 | 0–2 | Bren Events Center (1,172) Irvine, CA |
| 11/16/2016* 7:00 pm | | Wayne State (NE) | W 80–72 | 1–2 | Frost Arena (1,749) Brookings, SD |
| 11/19/2016* 8:00 pm | | at Wyoming | L 67–77 | 1–3 | Arena-Auditorium (6,833) Laramie, WY |
| 11/21/2016* 9:00 pm | | at Idaho | L 89–96 $^{OT}$ | 1–4 | Memorial Gym (474) Moscow, ID |
| 11/25/2016* 8:00 pm | | vs. UC Irvine Sanford Pentagon Showcase | L 52–63 | 1–5 | Sanford Pentagon (1,826) Sioux Falls, SD |
| 11/26/2016* 4:30 pm | | vs. East Tennessee State Sanford Pentagon Showcase | L 59–71 | 1–6 | Sanford Pentagon (1,688) Sioux Falls, SD |
| 11/27/2016* 2:30 pm | | vs. Milwaukee Sanford Pentagon Showcase | W 81–58 | 2–6 | Sanford Pentagon (1,346) Sioux Falls, SD |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 pm | | UM–Crookston | W 90–58 | 3–6 | Frost Arena (1,669) Brookings, SD |
| 12/03/2016* 11:00 am | | UMKC | W 77–68 | 4–6 | Frost Arena (1,424) Brookings, SD |
| 12/07/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Northern Iowa | L 58–86 | 4–7 | McLeod Center (3,922) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 12/10/2016* 7:00 pm | | Idaho | W 80–77 | 5–7 | Frost Arena (1,349) Brookings, SD |
| 12/17/2016* 4:00 pm | | Murray State | W 88–84 $^{OT}$ | 6–7 | Frost Arena (1,081) Brookings, SD |
| 12/19/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Drake | W 83–75 | 7–7 | Knapp Center (2,385) Des Moines, IA |
| 12/22/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wichita State | L 67–89 | 7–8 | Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS |
| Summit League regular season ||||||
| 12/28/2016 7:00 pm | | North Dakota State | L 69–80 | 7–9 (0–1) | Frost Arena (2,854) Brookings, SD |
| 12/31/2016 1:00 pm | | South Dakota | W 73–72 | 8–9 (1–1) | Frost Arena (2,518) Brookings, SD |
| 01/04/2017 7:00 pm | | at Western Illinois | L 74–82 | 8–10 (1–2) | Western Hall (783) Macomb, IL |
| 01/07/2017 4:30 pm | | Omaha | L 93–101 | 8–11 (1–3) | Frost Arena (2,230) Brookings, SD |
| 01/12/2017 7:00 pm | | at Oral Roberts | L 88–94 | 8–12 (1–4) | Mabee Center (2,812) Tulsa, OK |
| 01/18/2017 6:00 pm | | at IUPUI | L 83–85 | 8–13 (1–5) | Indiana Farmers Coliseum (981) Indianapolis, IN |
| 01/21/2017 4:30 pm | | Fort Wayne | L 67–77 | 9–13 (2–5) | Frost Arena (3,203) Brookings, SD |
| 01/25/2017 8:00 pm | | at Denver | L 82–91 | 9–14 (2–6) | Magness Arena (1,171) Denver, CO |
| 01/28/2017 7:00 pm | | at Omaha | W 88–84 | 10–14 (3–6) | Baxter Arena (3,038) Omaha, NE |
| 02/01/2017 7:00 pm | | Western Illinois | W 98–65 | 11–14 (4–6) | Frost Arena (2,017) Brookings, SD |
| 02/04/2017 4:30 pm | | Oral Roberts | W 74–67 | 12–14 (5–6) | Frost Arena (3,917) Brookings, SD |
| 02/08/2017 8:00 pm | | at North Dakota State | L 65–82 | 12–15 (5–7) | Scheels Center (4,805) Fargo, ND |
| 02/11/2017 1:00 pm | | at South Dakota | L 89–91 | 12–16 (5–8) | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (5,265) Vermillion, SD |
| 02/15/2017 7:00 pm | | IUPUI | W 81–67 | 13–16 (6–8) | Frost Arena (2,333) Brookings, SD |
| 02/18/2017 6:00 pm | | at Fort Wayne | W 97–89 | 14–16 (7–8) | Gates Sports Center (1,521) Fort Wayne, IN |
| 02/25/2017 4:00 pm | | Denver | W 88–64 | 15–16 (8–8) | Frost Arena (3,829) Brookings, SD |
| Summit League tournament ||||||
| 03/05/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (5) Denver Quarterfinals | W 83–73 | 16–16 | Premier Center (9,837) Sioux Falls, SD |
| 03/06/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (1) South Dakota Semifinals | W 74–71 | 17–16 | Premier Center (11,235) Sioux Falls, SD |
| 03/07/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | (4) | vs. (3) Omaha Championship | W 79–77 | 18–16 | Premier Center (9,441) Sioux Falls, SD |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/16/2017* 2:00 pm, TBS | (16 W) | vs. (1 W) No. 2 Gonzaga First Round | L 46–66 | 18–17 | Vivint Smart Home Arena (16,952) Salt Lake City, UT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West Region. All times are in Central Time Source. ||||||