South Dakota State dominated the Summit League in tempo-free terms, easily leading the conference in both offensive and defensive efficiency, but they only have a 12-4 record to show for it. The Jackrabbits actually were tied for the regular season crown by North Dakota State but won the tiebreaker by virtue of sweeping third-seeded Oral Roberts, and they are the clear favorite in this event. South Dakota State won nine conference games by double-digits, while North Dakota State won only one by at least ten, including three in overtime.

All games are being played at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, one of three potential basketball venues in Sioux Falls to go with the Sanford Pentagon, which hosted three D-I games this season, and the Sioux Falls Arena, which is still standing after years of hosting CBA and D-League hoops. Not bad for a town of 150,000.

Farther down the conference standings, it looks like Joe Scott’s Denver Pioneers are going to take the national title for lowest adjusted tempo. This would be the seventh title for the Sultan of Slow in our 14 years of tracking tempo-free data, but his first since 2011. It’s good to see the master dominate again.

Summit League

All-kenpom.com: Cody Larson, South Dakota State (kPOY); Lawrence Alexander, North Dakota State; Steve Forbes, IPFW; Obi Emegano, Oral Roberts; Deondre Parks, South Dakota State.

March 7-10 at Sioux Falls, S.D.

                  Semis Final Champ
1 South Dakota St. 93.1  67.3  51.0
2 North Dakota St. 60.3  38.4  14.4
4 IPFW             54.0  17.8  10.1
3 Oral Roberts     68.1  31.1   9.4
5 South Dakota     46.0  13.8   7.3
7 Denver           39.7  21.4   6.1
6 IUPUI            31.9   9.1   1.6
8 W. Illinois       6.9   1.1   0.2