GAME NOTES: The Summit League's two-day round of quarterfinal games kicks off Saturday with a matchup featuring the eighth-seeded Western Illinois Leathernecks taking on the top-seeded South Dakota State Jackrabbits at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.

The winner of this contest will be the first to move on to the semifinal round on Monday to take on the winner of South Dakota and IUPU-Fort Wayne.

Expectations for Western Illinois aren't that high entering the conference tournament. The 8-19 Leathernecks lost their last eight games to close out the regular season, and finished league play with a dismal 3-13 record. WIU was defeated in the season finale by IPFW, 84-64.

South Dakota State, on the other hand, earned the top overall seed in the conference after going 21-9 with a 12-4 mark against Summit League opposition. The Jackrabbits did lose in the season finale to South Dakota, 80-64, which ended the team's four-game win streak.

These two conference foes have met 20 times on the court before, and South Dakota State owns 17 wins in those 20 matchups. The Jacks swept the Leathernecks during the regular season, although they won by just two points, 79-77, at WIU on Feb. 18.

Western Illinois never led against IPFW in the team's season finale last Saturday, while the Mastodons took a 25-point advantage over the Leathernecks at one point late in the contest. IPFW led by eight points at the half, but surged forward in the second period thanks to a 61.5 shooting percentage, while WIU connected on just 37.5 percent of its tries in the frame. Garret Covington netted 18 points with six rebounds to pace the Leathernecks, while J.C. Fuller chipped in with 16 and six boards of his own. Jalen Chapman came off the bench to score 10 with eight rebounds in the 20-point defeat.

Covington was once again the go-to man all season long for Western Illinois, which was largely devoid of scoring, averaging 62.9 ppg this year. Covington paced the way with 15.6 ppg on 37.5 percent shooting, adding in a team high with 29 steals. Fuller was the only other WIU player to average a scoring total in double figures for the season, netting 11.7 ppg. Jabari Sandifer dished out a team-best 4.3 apg, and Mohamed Conde grabbed 6.1 rpg to lead the squad. Containing opponent scoring was a key issue for the Leathernecks throughout the season. The team allowed 70.2 ppg to the opposition on 44.1 percent shooting from the floor.

South Dakota State already had the top seed in the conference tournament in the bag when it took on in-state rival South Dakota last Saturday. But the loss to the Coyotes meant the Jackrabbits would split the regular-season crown with North Dakota State. SDSU shot a woeful 33.9 percent from the field in the relatively meaningless game against South Dakota, and was led by Cody Larson's 25-point, 12-rebound double-double. Jake Bittle chipped in with 12 points, and Reed Tellinghuisen added nine for the Jackrabbits.

Larson finished up the regular season as the team's leading scorer, netting 14.3 ppg, while also pulling down a team-best 7.4 rpg - tied for third in the conference rankings. Deondre Parks wasn't far off the scoring pace set by Larson at 14.0 ppg. George Marshall added 13.1 ppg in 21 games played, and Bittle rounded out the team's double-digit scorers this season with 10.0 ppg, adding in a team-high 2.8 apg. SDSU ranked second in the conference in scoring offense with 72.9 ppg, connecting on 45.8 percent of its shots from the field. The team's defense did its part by allowing 64.6 ppg to opponents.

Western Illinois may have almost upset the Jackrabbits the last time these squads met, but South Dakota State pulled off a 31-point win in Brookings earlier in the season. Expect the Jackrabbits not to mess around when it comes to getting that automatic NCAA Tournament bid.