BROOKINGS, S.D. — A strong start propelled South Dakota State past North Dakota 92-54 in men's basketball action Saturday at Frost Arena. It was the first meeting between the two teams since 2004 and first at the Division I level.

Sophomore Troy Huff (Milwaukee, Wis.) was the lone UND (4-5) player to reach double figures with 13 points as the Jacks held the visitors to just a 36 percent shooting effort from the floor. The home team had the shooting touch as SDSU (8-3) connected on 56.9 percent of its field goals, including a 9-for-15 clip from beyond the arc.

“They jumped on us right from the start and it was hard for us to catch our breath,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “I was proud of the way we battled back to close within four, but we had some key guys get into foul trouble and it's hard to win on the road with your top two scorers on the bench for most of the first half.”

The Jacks opened the contest on a 15-0 run in the opening four minutes of action, but UND would take its turn putting together a nice run right after that spurt by the home team. UND trimmed its deficit to just four with a 15-4 run over the next five minutes.

Huff had seven of those points and finished the half with nine, but only played eight minutes after being saddled with three fouls. Two other starters, Patrick Mitchell (Des Moines, Iowa) and Brandon Brekke (East Grand Forks, Minn.), also picked up two first-half fouls and only logged 14 minutes between them.

The Jackrabbits would close the half much like they started it, building a double-digit lead back with an 18-4 run. UND would make only two field goals in the closing eight minutes of the half as SDSU took a 39-21 lead at the break.

SDSU shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the first half, while holding UND to just 30.4 percent (7-for-23). The Jacks held a 19-13 edge on the glass in the first half and finished with a 45-21 advantage overall.

The Jacks also used the long ball in the second half to extend its lead even further, connecting on 7-of-9 attempts from 3-point territory. Nate Wolters, a preseason first team All-Summit League selection, led the Jacks with 16 points as six different SDSU players reached double figures.

Brekke finished with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor.

These two teams will square off again on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.