University of St. Thomas Athletics
27-3
Whitman
24-5
Men's Hoops storms to Elite 8
3/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By DOUG HENNES
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Coach John Tauer always is reluctant to state, after an outstanding performance, that his men's basketball team played its "best" half or "best" game of the season.
But he came close – very close – to admitting that on Friday night after his red-hot Tommies blitzed Whitman 99-73 to advance to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Division III tournament for the fourth time in eight years and earn the chance to return to the Final Four.
The No. 8 Tommies (27-3) never trailed, going on 15-0 and 9-0 runs in the first half to blow open a close a game and lead 54-30 at halftime. They continued to pour it on in the second half, aided by 19 points at the free-throw line, and finished with their most points in a game this season.
The 99 points were also the most points scored by a Tommie men's team in 54 all-time national postseason games (41 NCAA playoff games, 13 NAIA national tournament clashes).
"Up 24 at halftime? Nobody expected that," Tauer said in response to the "best" question. A game like that "snowballs" in terms of momentum, and he cited several key elements.
"Few turnovers; good rebounding; we shot the lights out; and they didn't have the best night shooting," he explained.
Add it up and the No. 8-ranked Tommies (27-3) emerged a surprisingly easy winner over No. 11 Whitman (24-5), which came into the Sweet 16 game having scored 100 or more points eight times this season and averaging 91 points a game. But the Missionaries shot only 41 percent against St. Thomas and were held to their second-lowest point total of the year.
"I'm most pleased with how our guys were incredibly tough with the ball," Tauer said, referring to how Whitman was sixth in Division III in steals per game (11) and forced turnovers (19) but had only four steals and 10 turnovers against the Tommies. "We rebounded well (41-31 edge) and we trusted each other, which has been a hallmark of this team all season."
St. Thomas will attempt to advance to the Final Four for the third time in six years at 7 p.m. Saturday against top-ranked and host Augustana, which defeated No. 25 Emory 88-63. The Tommies defeated Augustana on this same court five years ago en route to the national title.
Whitman keeps it close early
The Tommies were up 16-13 when they went on a 15-0 run to open a 31-13 lead with eight minutes to go in the first half, spurred by senior guard Cortez Tillman's back-to-back 3-pointers near the end of the run. A 9-0 run featuring another Tillman trey extended the lead to 42-20.
He made two more 3-pointers from NBA range to give him 17 points in the half, which junior guard Grant Shaeffer closed with a layup and free throw to give St. Thomas its largest margin – 24 points – at intermission. The Tommies hit 63 percent of their first-half shots, including eight of 10 3-pointers. Whitman struggled from the field and shot only 36 percent.
Tillman was at a near loss for words in describing his first-half shooting – 6 for 9 from the field, including all five 3-point attempts – and credited his teammates for moving the ball well and creating open shots for him. "Just one of those nights," he said.
"When a guy's got a hot hand like that, you just try to get him the ball," Shaeffer said of Tillman.
He cooled off in the second half, missing all four of his shots, but three teammates stepped up with double-figure point totals to keep the Tommies comfortably ahead. Shaeffer had 12 points in the second half to finish with a game-high 18, senior center Ryan Saarela had 10 (16 total) and senior forward Jimmy Remke came off the bench to score 10 of his 17 after the break.
"Tez was so hot," Saarela said, that Whitman had to spread out its defense, "and that opened up a lot of driving lanes to get to the basket."
Whitman also got into foul trouble early in the second half, putting the Tommies in the bonus with only 3:45 elapsed. They cashed in at the free throw line, making 16 straight free throws – including eight by Remke and six by Shaeffer – over the next 12 minutes to maintain a lead near 30 points.
Tauer looks forward to the game with Augustana, which he called "as physically dominant as any team in Division III in the last 15 years," but he believes St. Thomas can win if it plays with the same intensity as it did against Whitman.
"We're going out and giving it our best shot," he said.
Tommie Notes
This was the third time St. Thomas has played Whitman in four years. The Tommies defeated the Missionaries 96-86 in 2014 and 104-81 in 2012 in games on their home court in Walla Walla, Washington.
Whitman coach Eric Bridgeland said he was most impressed by what he called St. Thomas' "length" in defending against his team. "It impacted our shooting and our drives. We couldn't get them in an up-and-down game and spread the court."
Five years ago against Augustana, St. Thomas defeated the Vikings 72-56 to advance to the Final Four. The Tommies led by seven at halftime, after which senior guard Tyler Nicolai scored 22 of his 28 points to seal the win. St. Thomas went on to wins over Middlebury and Wooster to win its first national title in coach Steve Fritz's final game.
Two years ago, Augustana avenged the loss by defeating St. Thomas 88-77 in an opening-round NCAA game. The Vikings hit 69 percent from the field. Current Tommies Tillman and Taylor Montero, then sophomores, each had 11 points in the loss.
