University of St. Thomas Athletics
St. Olaf
Men's Basketball MIAC Playoff Notes/Feb. 20
2/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
-NEXT UP:The top-seeded Tommies (22-3) are in the MIAC playoffs for the 19th time in 20 seasons and host a 7:30 p.m. semifinal game Wednesday vs. No. 6-seed St. Olaf (13-13). The Oles' 81-79 overtime victory at No. 3-seed Bethel on Monday night was the school's first ever MIAC playoff win as they were 0-4 in previous seasons... The tickets cost $7 for adults, $3 for students. The gates open at 6 p.m. for Wednesday's game but a sellout is not expected... UST is 4-0 in home postseason games over the last two seasons.
With a victory, St. Thomas will host the St. John's-Gustavus winner Saturday in a 7:30 p.m. game that would certainly be a sellout. If St. Olaf wins, the Tommies still will likely make the 59-team Division III field as an at-large team.??
Watch this website for ticket information if UST plays Saturday.
WEBCAST: St. Olaf is planning to webcast Wednesday's semifinal game.
Click here to access Wednesday's Tommie-Ole game:?see link to webcast here
BIG WIN: The Tommies won their 23rd all-time MIAC title in men's basketball with Saturday's 74-59 showdown win over St. John's. St. Thomas received 59 points and 27 rebounds from seniors Mike Keating, Isaac Rosefelt and Bryan Schnettler... A Schoenecker Arena crowd of 1,850 didn't include several hundred others who were turned away in UST's largest regular-season home crowd in more than 10 seasons... 27-year head coach Steve Fritz won his 12th MIAC regular-season basketball title. St. Thomas has won five of the last eight, 11 of the last 19, and 19 of ther last 42 MIAC championships... The Johnnies have lost 15 of the last 17 meetings in Schoenecker. Their lone wins at UST in that stretch came in the 2000 playoff finals, and in December 2003 (71-56).
PREVIOUS MEETING: St. John's scored the game's last six points at home to top UST 64-59 in a Jan. 17 battle of 9-0 MIAC teams in Collegeville. A 3-pointer by Tyler Westman with 1:03 left erased the Toms' 59-58 lead. That halted UST's 13-game win streak vs. conference teams. Isaac Rosefelt had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead St. Thomas. UST trailed most of the game but used a 16-6 run to take a 59-58 lead with 1:45 to play.??HOMERS: UST has won 17 consecutive home games vs. MIAC foes (and 23 of their last 24) since losing to Augsburg 62-59 Jan. 2, 2006... UST is 34-3 at home over the last three seasons... In 26 seasons at Schoenecker Arena, UST is 251-73 in men's hoops.
HOT STREAK: --Rosefelt, who has 42 career double-doubles, joined a select group of MIAC players to surpass 1,300 points, 825 rebounds and 170 blocks on his career, and he did it in only 77 games. UST is 60-17 when he's been in the lineup... UST is 21-1 this season with senior point guard Andrew Dwyer in the starting lineup... The Toms are 16-2 since Christmas... They needed two overtimes but survived to edge Augsburg 80-75 Feb. 5 in Minneapolis; lost 80-74 in OT Feb. 7 at Gustavus; and won 77-57 at home over Concordia-Moorhead Feb. 10... UST now is 3-1 in overtime games this season, all on the road... Schnettler (29 points), Keating (18) and Rosefelt (21) combined for 68 points to outscore the entire Bethel team in an 89-67 win Feb. 3. The Toms played thier best half of the season as they raced to a 52-25 halftime lead. That surpassed their entire output in their previous 51-41 win over Carleton. Rosefelt added seven blocked shots and nine rebounds, and Keating had 11 rebounds... Rosefelt has 102 points, 56 rebounds and 19 blocks in his last five games.??
TRENDS: Over the last two seasons, UST is 36-0 in regulation games when it scores 68 or more points (The Toms have two losses and one win in overtime games where they scored 90 and 91 points)... Over the last two seasons, UST is 43-1 when it has posted a better field-goal shooting percentage than opponents (the lone loss was 63-59 at then top-ranked Lawrence in the NCAA playoffs last March). Last season, the Toms shot a school-record 51.4% from the field. They are shooting 50.4% this season (52% in MIAC games). ??
DID YOU KNOW?:The Tommies are in the MIAC playoffs for the 19th time in 20 seasons. UST has made the playoff finals 12 of the last 18 seasons. The MIAC playoff finals have included either UST or Gustavus for the last 20 years in a row... The Toms' 90-71 win over Hamline at home Jan. 24 left the Pipers 0-28 all-time at Schoenecker Arena... UST finished 10-1 in January... Schnettler played all 95 minutes in back-to-back road overtime games Feb. 5 and 7. He also played all 45 minutes in a road OT win at UW-River Falls and 46 of 50 minutes in a double-OT game at Bethel.??
NCAA STATS: In NCAA D-III national statistics through Feb. 18 games, the Toms rank eighth in win%, fifth in fewest fouls per game, 10th in FG%, sixth in 3-point FG%, 31st in rebounding margin, 30th in scoring defense, 48th in assists per game, 36th in fewest turnover, 40th in FG% defense and 17th in scoring margin... Bryan Schnettler ranks second in FT% (93.1%), fourth in 3-pointers (107), and sixth in 3FG% (48.2%)... Isaac Rosefelt is ranked 11th in blocks per game (2.6) and 21st in rebounding (10.1 rpg).... Mike Keating ranks 50th in rebounding per game (9.2).??
POLL TALK: UST climbed two spots to No. 6 in the new poll released Feb. 19 by d3hoops.com... The previous No. 3 spot was the highest regular-season ranking for a conference men's team in the eight-year history of the d3hoops polls (Gustavus was No. 2 in the last 2002-03 poll after it placed second in the nation and rated third in the 2003-04 preseason poll). The only other MIAC hoops or hockey team currently nationally ranked in the top 10 is Gustavus women's hockey team at No. 3.??
--MILESTONE: Steve Fritz, now in his 27th season as UST head coach (486-232 record), worked his 700th game as head coach Dec. 21. Fritz has been on the court or sideline (as a player, assistant coach or head coach) for UST men's hoops for 40 consecutive seasons covering 1,077 games in a row. Fritz, who has had just one losing season as a head coach, has won 12 MIAC regular-season championships and six conference playoff crowns. He's been a part of nine national postseason trips as he played in two NAIA national tournaments (1970, 1971) and has been the head coach for seven qualifiers. His 1993-94 UST squad reached the Division III Final Four.??
--QUICK HITS: The Toms have already secured a winning record and will post a .500 or better finish for the 26th time in 27 seasons... The Toms are 4-1 in non-conference play this season. UST went 0-4 in non-conference play in 2004-05 and 3-3 last season, including a 1-1 mark in the NCAA playoffs.??
--ISAAC ROSEFELT: In 77 games at UST, Rosefelt has led UST to a 60-17 record as he has posted 42 double doubles and 66 double-figure scoring games and has 1,308 points, 828 rebounds and 172 blocks... He's now fourth in UST career rebounding and 14th in career scoring... In six career postseason games, Rosefelt is averaging 15.3 ppg, 11.5 rpg and 2.5 bpg... Rosefelt missed the last three December games with an illness, thus the Toms are 19-2 with him in the lineup. In his second game back, Jan. 6, he posted 30 points and 11 rebounds in 41 minutes in the 2 OT win over Bethel. He had three double doubles in a row Jan. 17-22... He had a career-high 33 points in November's season opener vs. Occidental (Calif.), and missed a triple double by one block in a 77-72 Dec. 6 win over Macalester. He became the 23rd Tommie to score 1,000 career points when he scored eight in the Dec. 4 win at Hamline... Last season, Rosefelt was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division III All-America team, was named MIAC Player of the Year and was on the all-conference team, had 16 double-doubles, led the MIAC in scoring (19.4 ppg), rebounds (10.3), and blocks (2.1 bpg) and was second in FG% (63%)... As a sophomore in 2004-05, he was named first-team all-conference; led the conference and ranked in the top 10 nationally in rebounding (11.8 ppg); tied for first in MIAC blocked shots (40); also averaged 13.7 ppg and shot 54% from the field... Rosefelt?s 23 rebounds in Jan. 2005 at Bethel are believed to be the most by any conference player in the last 20 seasons. (The MIAC single-game record is 33 by St. John?s Mel Kohorst set in 1962 vs. Augsburg. The Tommie school record is 27 by Bob Rosier vs. Coe in 1974. The 7-foot-3 Rosier is the Toms? all-time scoring and rebounding leader -- 2,133 points, 1330 rebounds)... Rosefelt had 306 rebounds last season in 26 games but that still left him 137 away from Bob Rosier's amazing school record of 443 in 27 games in 1973-74... Rosefelt played his first season at Division I Bowling Green and transferred to UST in 2004.??
--BRYAN SCHNETTLER: Senior guard Bryan Schnettler is one of two NCAA players to make 100 or more threes and convert at 49% or better.??Click here to access Schnettler's update:?see story score here??
--MIKE KEATING: Senior Mike Keating has been a steady player in two seasons at UST and has helped the Toms post a 45-9 record in that span. He has posted nine double-doubles in points/rebounds this season and was named MIAC Player of the Week on Dec. 4. The 6-6 forward is averaging 15.5 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2.4 apg, with 22 treys while converting at an 81% clip from the foul line. Last season as a junior, Keating led the conference in 3-point shooting percentage and made the conference All-Defensive Team... He has started all 54 games at UST and has 677 points and 344 rebounds and is 82-of-102 at the foul line and is 59-of-160 from 3-point range... Keating also had 754 points and 291 rebounds in his first two seasons as a starter at Division II St. Michael's (Vt.), bringing his four-year career totals to 1,431 points and 635 rebounds.??
--LAST 8 SEASONS: UST is 126-34 in MIAC regular-season games over the last eight seasons (69-12 at home, 57-22 on the road). That's the best mark in the conference in that span.??Since 1999-2000?MIAC Reg. Season Men's Hoops W-L Records ?(through Feb. 17, 2007)?126-34, St. Thomas ?120-40, Gustavus ?102-58, Bethel ?97-63, St. John's ?88-72, Carleton ?76-84, Macalester ?67-93, Concordia ?63-97, Augsburg ?51-109, St. Olaf ?46-114, St. Mary's ?44-116, Hamline ??
STREAKS: After an eight-day break, UST went 7-0 in a 16-day stretch from Dec. 29-Jan. 13, including four close road wins. The Toms went 2-0 in the UW-River Falls tournament -- 82-76 over St. Scholastica and 87-84 in overtime over the host Falcons in a game it trailed by 20 points in the first half. The first week of January, the Toms won by two at Carleton and won in double overtime at Bethel. UST then posted 17-point home wins over both Augsburg and Gustavus, then won 68-65 at Concordia-Moorhead on a three-point play in the final 10 seconds by Rosefelt.??
--FAST STARTS: UST finished the first half of the 20-game conference schedule with a record of 13-2 overall (9-1 conference). In 2004-05, the Toms began 10-4 (10-0 MIAC). In 2005-06, the Toms started 12-3 (9-1 MIAC).??--
TRAGEDY: Fritz' older sister, Patricia Nelson of Edina, was killed Jan. 4 in an auto accident in Wisconsin. Here's Patrick Reusse's Star Tribune column:?see story here??
ANOTHER SAD WEEK: Legendary St. Thomas men's basketball coach Tom Feely died Jan. 13 at age 87. Feely coached the Tommies for 26 seasons from 1954-80 and won 417 games -- fourth most in MIAC history. His Tommies won five consecutive MIAC titles from 1969-74 -- a feat not accomplished by any program since. The Toms also played in the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City six times from 1966-74. Feely (417 win in 26 seasons) and Fritz (485 in 27 seasons) have been UST's only men's basketball head coaches since 1954 and have combined to win 902 games.??
MIAC TALK: The 2005-06 Toms won the program's sixth conference playoff championship last Feb. 25 with a 54-47 win over Carleton before a crowd of 1,800 at UST's Schoenecker Arena. UST tied Carleton for the MIAC regular-season title with 17-3 records -- the 11th conference regular-season crown for UST in Fritz' 26 seasons.?
