BROOKINGS, S.D. – South Dakota State downed the Western Illinois men's basketball squad, 64-55, Thursday evening (Jan. 16) inside Frost Arena.

Freshman Garret Covington tallied a game-high 24 points in the loss, shooting 9-of-17 (52.9%) from the field and 4-of-9 (57.1%) from beyond the arc. The Edwardsville, Ill. native also dished out three assists, grabbed three rebounds, and recorded a steal.

Western drops to 7-10 overall on the season, and 1-1 in Summit League play, while SDSU improves to 10-8 overall and 2-1 in conference action after its win.

South Dakota State carried a 12-2 run from the end of the first half into the second, increasing its advantage to 15 points, 44-29. The Leathernecks were able to battle back and cut their deficit to five points twice with less than seven minutes to play in the game, but that would be as close as WIU would get before the end of regulation.

Besides Covington, no other Leatherneck scored in double figures. Sophomore Tate Stensgaard tallied seven points to go along with his team-best six rebounds.

Freshman Jabari Sandifer finished with six points in the loss, while senior Michael Ochereobia, junior Remy Roberts-Burnett, and senior Adam Link were each held to five points.

The Jackrabbits' Jordan Dykstra led SDSU with 20 points, while Cody Larson finished with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 boards.

The Leathernecks shot better from the field (41.9% - 41.3%) and the three-point line (43.8% - 40%), but the Jackrabbits connected on 90.9% (20-22) of their free throws compared to WIU's 12-of-18 (66.7%) from the charity stripe.

SDSU also bettered Western in turnovers (12-15), assists (11-10), steals (6-3), and blocks (2-1).

Western concludes its week with another league road game at North Dakota State. The Leathernecks and Bison are slated to tip off at 2 p.m. in Fargo on Saturday.