University of St. Thomas Athletics
Thursday, January 20
St. Paul, Minn.
7:00 p.m.
8-9,2-3Summit League
77
vs
92
South Dakota State
16-4,7-0Summit League
1
2
F
South Dakota St.
35
57
92
St. Thomas (MN)
40
37
77
Team Stats
SDSU
UST
FG%
.638
.460
3FG%
.550
.412
FT%
.913
.714
RB
33
20
TO
12
7
STL
2
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
6
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
Men’s Basketball holds a lead over SDSU for 24 minutes of the game, but falls in final five minutes
1/20/2022 9:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Paul, Minn. – The St. Thomas Men's Basketball team (8-9, 2-3) led for 60 percent of the game, holding a seven-point lead on two separate occasions, but can't overcome a strong finish from South Dakota State (16-4, 7-0), falling 92-77.
With the game tied at 72-72, a missed opportunity for an old-fashioned three-point play from St. Thomas ignited a 20-5 run by SDSU keeps them a perfect 7-0 in Summit League action and atop the conference standings.
"I'm really proud of our guys and how they competed tonight against an outstanding South Dakota State team," said Head Coach Dr. Johnny Tauer. "For 35 minutes I thought we played really tough and together. Give credit to SDSU, they're exceptionally well coaches and have a lot of versatility on offense. I thought they executed really well down the stretch."
In a surprisingly defensive start to the game, senior F Parker Bjorklund scored the game's first points almost two minutes into the contest.
The Tommies raced out to a 13-6 lead through the first six minutes of the contest. 12 of the first 16 St. Thomas came in the paint. The Jackrabbits took their first lead of the game very briefly, 26-24 with 7:30 to play in the first half.
The Purple responded and immediately tied the game at 26-26 and ended the first half on a 16-9 run to open up a 40-25 lead heading into intermission, despite shooting only 29 percent (-of-17) from behind the arc compared to a 45 percent (5-of-11) shooting clip from deep by SDSU.
The St. Thomas defense forced seven first-half turnovers by South Dakota State, while the Tommies recorded three steals. As a team, St. Thomas made 49 percent (16-of-33) of its shots from the field, while South Dakota State connected on 52 percent (13-of-25) of its shots from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
Individually, six Tommies all scored at least five points in the first half, led by Bjorklund with eight points. Both senior guards Riley Miller and Anders Nelson each contributed seven first-half points.
With just over 18 minutes to play in the game, SDSU gained its second lead of the game, 43-42, but it was short lived as St. Thomas responded.
The Tommies opened up a seven-point lead, matching their largest lead of the game, 56-49 with just over 15 minutes to play, before the Jackrabbits went on a 9-0 run to take their third lead of the game, 58-56 with 13:30 to play after knocking down three consecutive threes. Grad student G Ryan Lindberg stopped the run with a three-point shot of his own to give the Purple a 59-58 lead with 12:30 to play.
Lindberg hit a huge three-point bucket to tie the game at 72-72 with 5:52 to play. Shortly after the made three-pointer Miller was driving to the lane and fouled in what should have been a made basket and an and-one attempt, but the official ruled the foul on the floor – Miller missed the free throw attempt and SDSU capitalized on the momentum.
Over the final five minutes of play, SDSU connected on 8-of-9 shots from the field, while St. Thomas connected on only 1-of-9 in the same timeframe after a 14-day COVID layoff. The Jackrabbits ended the game on a 20-5 run to capture the 92-77 win.
"We're really grateful to all of the fans coming out tonight and making this a great atmosphere against one of the top mid-major programs in the country. We're excited to be back home on Saturday against South Dakota," Tauer Added.
As a team, St. Thomas connected on 29-of-63 (46 percent) of its shots from the field, 14-of-34 (41 percent) from behind the arc and committed only seven turnovers, while forcing SDSU to commit 12 turnovers. The Jackrabbits shot a blistering 64 percent (30-of-47) from the field and 55 percent (11-of-20) from behind the arc.
Five Tommies scored double digits, led by Lindberg with 18 points. Joining him were Nelson (13), Miller (12), grad student G Burt Hedstrom (11), and Bjorklund (11).
St. Thomas returns to action Saturday as they host the University of South Dakota, tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. in Schoenecker Arena.
With the game tied at 72-72, a missed opportunity for an old-fashioned three-point play from St. Thomas ignited a 20-5 run by SDSU keeps them a perfect 7-0 in Summit League action and atop the conference standings.
"I'm really proud of our guys and how they competed tonight against an outstanding South Dakota State team," said Head Coach Dr. Johnny Tauer. "For 35 minutes I thought we played really tough and together. Give credit to SDSU, they're exceptionally well coaches and have a lot of versatility on offense. I thought they executed really well down the stretch."
In a surprisingly defensive start to the game, senior F Parker Bjorklund scored the game's first points almost two minutes into the contest.
The Tommies raced out to a 13-6 lead through the first six minutes of the contest. 12 of the first 16 St. Thomas came in the paint. The Jackrabbits took their first lead of the game very briefly, 26-24 with 7:30 to play in the first half.
The Purple responded and immediately tied the game at 26-26 and ended the first half on a 16-9 run to open up a 40-25 lead heading into intermission, despite shooting only 29 percent (-of-17) from behind the arc compared to a 45 percent (5-of-11) shooting clip from deep by SDSU.
The St. Thomas defense forced seven first-half turnovers by South Dakota State, while the Tommies recorded three steals. As a team, St. Thomas made 49 percent (16-of-33) of its shots from the field, while South Dakota State connected on 52 percent (13-of-25) of its shots from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
Individually, six Tommies all scored at least five points in the first half, led by Bjorklund with eight points. Both senior guards Riley Miller and Anders Nelson each contributed seven first-half points.
With just over 18 minutes to play in the game, SDSU gained its second lead of the game, 43-42, but it was short lived as St. Thomas responded.
The Tommies opened up a seven-point lead, matching their largest lead of the game, 56-49 with just over 15 minutes to play, before the Jackrabbits went on a 9-0 run to take their third lead of the game, 58-56 with 13:30 to play after knocking down three consecutive threes. Grad student G Ryan Lindberg stopped the run with a three-point shot of his own to give the Purple a 59-58 lead with 12:30 to play.
Lindberg hit a huge three-point bucket to tie the game at 72-72 with 5:52 to play. Shortly after the made three-pointer Miller was driving to the lane and fouled in what should have been a made basket and an and-one attempt, but the official ruled the foul on the floor – Miller missed the free throw attempt and SDSU capitalized on the momentum.
Over the final five minutes of play, SDSU connected on 8-of-9 shots from the field, while St. Thomas connected on only 1-of-9 in the same timeframe after a 14-day COVID layoff. The Jackrabbits ended the game on a 20-5 run to capture the 92-77 win.
"We're really grateful to all of the fans coming out tonight and making this a great atmosphere against one of the top mid-major programs in the country. We're excited to be back home on Saturday against South Dakota," Tauer Added.
As a team, St. Thomas connected on 29-of-63 (46 percent) of its shots from the field, 14-of-34 (41 percent) from behind the arc and committed only seven turnovers, while forcing SDSU to commit 12 turnovers. The Jackrabbits shot a blistering 64 percent (30-of-47) from the field and 55 percent (11-of-20) from behind the arc.
Five Tommies scored double digits, led by Lindberg with 18 points. Joining him were Nelson (13), Miller (12), grad student G Burt Hedstrom (11), and Bjorklund (11).
St. Thomas returns to action Saturday as they host the University of South Dakota, tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. in Schoenecker Arena.
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