University of St. Thomas Athletics
Wednesday, December 21
St. Paul, Minn.
12:00 p.m. Central
11-4,2-0Summit League
78
vs
68
North Dakota State
3-11,0-2Summit League
1
2
F
North Dakota St.
30
38
68
St. Thomas (MN)
34
44
78
Team Stats
NDSU
UST
FG%
.531
.519
3FG%
.348
.250
FT%
.500
.818
RB
26
28
TO
12
6
STL
5
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Men’s Basketball overcomes cold start and frigid temps to remain perfect in Summit League action
12/21/2022 2:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Paul, Minn. – On a frigid day in St. Paul, the St. Thomas men's basketball team improved to 11-4 on the season and 2-0 in Summit League action with a 78-68 win over North Dakota State on Wednesday.
Despite connecting on a season-low 25 percent of their shots from behind the arc, the Tommies were able to find efficiency in other offensive areas, including only six turnovers on the day to boost the team's winning streak to four games and complete the 2022 portion of the schedule with more wins than the team posted all of last season.
In its two conference games this season, St. Thomas has committed only 11 turnovers and forced 26 combined turnovers from UND and NDSU.
"Thrilled to get a win today over North Dakota State, they've been a power in the Summit League for a long time and they're really tough and well coached," said Head Coach Dr. Johnny Tauer. "I thought our guys, during finals week, showed remarkable concentration being able to juggle multiple things – we had five guys taking finals this morning, the weather, all of the distractions I thought they blocked out really well. Six turnovers, really balanced scoring and on a frigid, snowy Minnesota day, I thought our fans came out and were instrumental."
The Tommies started slow out of the gates and found themselves in a 10-2 hole with 15:30 to play in the first half, but outscored the Bison, 32-20 in the remainder of the first half to take a 34-30 lead into intermission.
As a team, St. Thomas uncharacteristically connected on only 1-of-10 shots from behind the arc in the first half. The Tommies made up for the cold shooting start by out rebounding NDSU 16-14 in the first 20 minutes and forced seven Bison turnovers on five steals.
Grad Student Parker Bjorklund, fresh off a career-best 29-point outing less than 48 hours ago, jump started the Purple's offensive efforts leading St. Thomas with 11 first-half points on a 5-of-8 showing from the field. Junior Courtney Brown Jr. contributed eight points off the bench in the first half in addition to three rebounds and a block.
St. Thomas came roaring out of halftime, scoring seven points in the first 90 seconds of the second half to open a 41-30 lead with 18 minutes to play in the game. With just over 15 minutes to play, the Tommies opened a 15-point lead, 50-35, when freshman Kendall Blue converted the old-fashioned three-point play.
The Bison chipped the Tommie lead to 10 points, 62-52 with 7:25 to play and St. Thomas in the bonus. The Tommies next four points came at the charity stripe to push the lead to 14, 66-52 with six minutes to play. NDSU scored the next five points to bring the St. Thomas lead to single digits, 66-57 with just under five minutes to play.
With exactly two minutes to play, senior Brooks Allen pushed the Tommie lead to 11 points, 72-61 with a pair of free throws, the Bison answered and pressured the Purple with the inbound. St. Thomas was able to break the full-court press and Brown slammed home the easy offensive play to keep the lead at 11 points. NDSU was never able to trim the St. Thomas lead to much less than four points as the Tommies walked away with the 78-68 win.
For a second-straight game, grad student Parker Bjorklund led the Tommies with 19 points and a team-best six rebounds. He was joined in double-digits with Blue with 15 points, senior Riley Miller with 13 points and Allen with 12 points.
"As we go into the holidays 11-4, more than anything I'm grateful to coach these guys. They're an incredibly connected group and I'm so thankful to get a chance to compete with them," Tauer added.
As a unit, St. Thomas connected on 52 percent (28-of-54) of its shots from the field, 25 percent (4-of-16) and 82 percent (18-of-22) from the charity stripe. The Purple out rebounded the Bison 28-26 in the contest.
The Tommies return to action after the Christmas Holiday with a pair of road Summit League games in the Mount Rushmore State starting with South Dakota on Thurs., Dec. 29 in Vermillion, S.D.
Despite connecting on a season-low 25 percent of their shots from behind the arc, the Tommies were able to find efficiency in other offensive areas, including only six turnovers on the day to boost the team's winning streak to four games and complete the 2022 portion of the schedule with more wins than the team posted all of last season.
In its two conference games this season, St. Thomas has committed only 11 turnovers and forced 26 combined turnovers from UND and NDSU.
"Thrilled to get a win today over North Dakota State, they've been a power in the Summit League for a long time and they're really tough and well coached," said Head Coach Dr. Johnny Tauer. "I thought our guys, during finals week, showed remarkable concentration being able to juggle multiple things – we had five guys taking finals this morning, the weather, all of the distractions I thought they blocked out really well. Six turnovers, really balanced scoring and on a frigid, snowy Minnesota day, I thought our fans came out and were instrumental."
The Tommies started slow out of the gates and found themselves in a 10-2 hole with 15:30 to play in the first half, but outscored the Bison, 32-20 in the remainder of the first half to take a 34-30 lead into intermission.
As a team, St. Thomas uncharacteristically connected on only 1-of-10 shots from behind the arc in the first half. The Tommies made up for the cold shooting start by out rebounding NDSU 16-14 in the first 20 minutes and forced seven Bison turnovers on five steals.
Grad Student Parker Bjorklund, fresh off a career-best 29-point outing less than 48 hours ago, jump started the Purple's offensive efforts leading St. Thomas with 11 first-half points on a 5-of-8 showing from the field. Junior Courtney Brown Jr. contributed eight points off the bench in the first half in addition to three rebounds and a block.
St. Thomas came roaring out of halftime, scoring seven points in the first 90 seconds of the second half to open a 41-30 lead with 18 minutes to play in the game. With just over 15 minutes to play, the Tommies opened a 15-point lead, 50-35, when freshman Kendall Blue converted the old-fashioned three-point play.
The Bison chipped the Tommie lead to 10 points, 62-52 with 7:25 to play and St. Thomas in the bonus. The Tommies next four points came at the charity stripe to push the lead to 14, 66-52 with six minutes to play. NDSU scored the next five points to bring the St. Thomas lead to single digits, 66-57 with just under five minutes to play.
With exactly two minutes to play, senior Brooks Allen pushed the Tommie lead to 11 points, 72-61 with a pair of free throws, the Bison answered and pressured the Purple with the inbound. St. Thomas was able to break the full-court press and Brown slammed home the easy offensive play to keep the lead at 11 points. NDSU was never able to trim the St. Thomas lead to much less than four points as the Tommies walked away with the 78-68 win.
For a second-straight game, grad student Parker Bjorklund led the Tommies with 19 points and a team-best six rebounds. He was joined in double-digits with Blue with 15 points, senior Riley Miller with 13 points and Allen with 12 points.
"As we go into the holidays 11-4, more than anything I'm grateful to coach these guys. They're an incredibly connected group and I'm so thankful to get a chance to compete with them," Tauer added.
As a unit, St. Thomas connected on 52 percent (28-of-54) of its shots from the field, 25 percent (4-of-16) and 82 percent (18-of-22) from the charity stripe. The Purple out rebounded the Bison 28-26 in the contest.
The Tommies return to action after the Christmas Holiday with a pair of road Summit League games in the Mount Rushmore State starting with South Dakota on Thurs., Dec. 29 in Vermillion, S.D.
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