University of St. Thomas Athletics
Sunday, March 10
Sioux Falls, S.D. / Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
6:00 p.m. Central
20-12,9-7Summit League
68
vs
58
North Dakota State
15-17,8-8Summit League
1
2
F
North Dakota St.
22
36
58
St. Thomas (MN)
42
26
68
Team Stats
NDSU
UST
FG%
.500
.510
3FG%
.421
.500
FT%
.667
.455
RB
24
26
TO
13
11
STL
3
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia
Men’s Basketball advance past Bison behind Blue, bench duo scoring
3/10/2024 9:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Blue, Bjerke and Dufault combine for 41 points as St. Thomas reaches 20 wins
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The University of St. Thomas Men's basketball team recorded their second Division I postseason victory Sunday taking down the North Dakota State Bison 68-58 during the quarterfinal round of the 2023-2024 Summit League Tournament.
The Tommies recorded their 20th win of the season for the first time in the DI era and eighth time overall under Head Coach Johnny Tauer.
Sophomore Kendall Blue led the scoring efforts for the Purple, recording 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Redshirt freshman Carter Bjerke came off the bench and drained 4-of-5 3-pointers for the Tommies, finishing with 12 points, and junior Ryan Dufault added on 14 points, on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe.
St. Thomas shot 51 percent from the floor (26-of-51), and 50 percent from beyond the arc (11-of-22) in Sunday's victory. St. Thomas won the rebound battle 26-24, outscored the Bison 26-17 in bench points, and outscored NDSU 26-19 in points off turnovers.
RECAP
St. Thomas came shooting lights out from the tip-off, with graduate student Brooks Allen hitting a step back 3-pointer to get the scoring going for the Toms. The Bison and Tommies traded baskets over the next seven minutes until Bjerke and Blue drained a 3-pointer and driving layup on back-to-back possessions to give the Toms a 15-12 advantage with 12:21 remaining. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Blue extended the St. Thomas lead to 10 points, 28-18, with 6:44 left in the half.
A 14-0 run followed for the Purple, and St. Thomas entered the halftime break up 42-22 over the Bison, their largest run of the game. North Dakota State came out of the halftime break shooting lights out, going on a 9-0 run before senior Drake Dobbs recorded a 3-pointer of his own, with the Toms leading 45-34. A turnaround jump shot at the 13:23 mark from Dufault extended the Tommie lead to 13, 47-34.
Back-to-back driving layups from senior Drake Dobbs brought the Purple lead to 22 points, 61-39, with 7:02 left in the quarterfinal matchup. Dufault scored four of the Tommies' final seven points, added on by a 3-pointer from Allen, to secure a trip to the Summit League Semifinal round for the second consecutive season.
TOP TOMMIES
· Sophomore Kendall Blue led the scoring efforts for the Purple, recording 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the victory. Sunday was his eighth game of the season with at least 15 points while he's shot 73.9 percent (17-23) from the field over his last three games.
· Carter Bjerke came off the bench and drained 4-of-5 3-pointers for the Tommies to finish with 12 points. His four 3-pointers ties a career high set three times this season. He's scored double digit points in three of the last four games overall.
· Junior Ryan Dufault totaled 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe, respectively. He's shot 69.2 percent (54-78) overall over his last 16 games.
· Graduate student Brooks Allen added on nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point land along with four rebounds for the Purple.
UP NEXT
St. Thomas takes on the No. 1-seed South Dakota State Jackrabbits Monday evening in the semifinals of the 2023-2024 Summit League Tournament. South Dakota State leads the season series 2-0 over the Tommies, and won the last matchup 77-72 on Feb. 24, 2024 in Brookings, S.D. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT in the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.
FOLLOW ALONG
For more information on St. Thomas Men's Basketball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) at @TommieMBBall and on Instagram at @TommieHoops
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
The Tommies recorded their 20th win of the season for the first time in the DI era and eighth time overall under Head Coach Johnny Tauer.
Sophomore Kendall Blue led the scoring efforts for the Purple, recording 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Redshirt freshman Carter Bjerke came off the bench and drained 4-of-5 3-pointers for the Tommies, finishing with 12 points, and junior Ryan Dufault added on 14 points, on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe.
St. Thomas shot 51 percent from the floor (26-of-51), and 50 percent from beyond the arc (11-of-22) in Sunday's victory. St. Thomas won the rebound battle 26-24, outscored the Bison 26-17 in bench points, and outscored NDSU 26-19 in points off turnovers.
RECAP
St. Thomas came shooting lights out from the tip-off, with graduate student Brooks Allen hitting a step back 3-pointer to get the scoring going for the Toms. The Bison and Tommies traded baskets over the next seven minutes until Bjerke and Blue drained a 3-pointer and driving layup on back-to-back possessions to give the Toms a 15-12 advantage with 12:21 remaining. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Blue extended the St. Thomas lead to 10 points, 28-18, with 6:44 left in the half.
A 14-0 run followed for the Purple, and St. Thomas entered the halftime break up 42-22 over the Bison, their largest run of the game. North Dakota State came out of the halftime break shooting lights out, going on a 9-0 run before senior Drake Dobbs recorded a 3-pointer of his own, with the Toms leading 45-34. A turnaround jump shot at the 13:23 mark from Dufault extended the Tommie lead to 13, 47-34.
Back-to-back driving layups from senior Drake Dobbs brought the Purple lead to 22 points, 61-39, with 7:02 left in the quarterfinal matchup. Dufault scored four of the Tommies' final seven points, added on by a 3-pointer from Allen, to secure a trip to the Summit League Semifinal round for the second consecutive season.
TOP TOMMIES
· Sophomore Kendall Blue led the scoring efforts for the Purple, recording 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the victory. Sunday was his eighth game of the season with at least 15 points while he's shot 73.9 percent (17-23) from the field over his last three games.
· Carter Bjerke came off the bench and drained 4-of-5 3-pointers for the Tommies to finish with 12 points. His four 3-pointers ties a career high set three times this season. He's scored double digit points in three of the last four games overall.
· Junior Ryan Dufault totaled 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe, respectively. He's shot 69.2 percent (54-78) overall over his last 16 games.
· Graduate student Brooks Allen added on nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point land along with four rebounds for the Purple.
UP NEXT
St. Thomas takes on the No. 1-seed South Dakota State Jackrabbits Monday evening in the semifinals of the 2023-2024 Summit League Tournament. South Dakota State leads the season series 2-0 over the Tommies, and won the last matchup 77-72 on Feb. 24, 2024 in Brookings, S.D. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT in the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.
FOLLOW ALONG
For more information on St. Thomas Men's Basketball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) at @TommieMBBall and on Instagram at @TommieHoops
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
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