University of St. Thomas Athletics
Monday, March 11
Sioux Falls, S.D. / Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
6:00 p.m. Central
20-13,9-7Summit League
49
vs
59
South Dakota State
21-12,12-4Summit League
1
2
F
St. Thomas (MN)
25
24
49
South Dakota St.
28
31
59
Team Stats
UST
SDSU
FG%
.327
.438
3FG%
.241
.360
FT%
.667
.727
RB
33
30
TO
11
9
STL
6
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Richard Carlson/Inertia
No. 1 Jacks end No. 4 Tommies historic season in Summit semifinals
3/11/2024 9:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Thomas ends season with 20 wins as Blue leads team scoring with 13 points
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The 2023-24 St. Thomas men's basketball season came to an end Monday evening as the No. 4-seed Tommies lost in the Summit League semifinals to No. 1 seed South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits used a strong defensive presence to take down the Tommies 59-49 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
Sophomore Kendall Blue led the Tommies in scoring for two consecutive tournament games with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting along with six rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes of play. Graduate student Brooks Allen added 11 points, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc in addition to four rebounds, one assist, and the only Tommie block of the game. Fellow graduate student Raheem Anthony recorded seven points and team highs of nine rebounds and four assists.
With the loss, the Tommies finished the season 20-13 overall and 9-7 in conference play. The 2023-2024 season marks the first 20+ win season for the Purple in the Division I era and ties the most conference wins in a season (9) since joining the Summit League.
RECAP
Graduate student Parker Bjorklund kickstarted the scoring for the Tommies, draining a 3-pointer one minute into the contest to give the Purple an early advantage. A 3-pointer by Blue at 17:47 marked the only Tommie points over the next five minutes, with the Toms and Jackrabbits knotted up at a score of 8-8 with 12:40 left in the half. The Jackrabbits' hot shooting led to the largest lead of the first half for South Dakota State at 10 points, 25-15, with four minutes remaining in the first half.
Three free throws by Bjorklund and a pair by Allen brought the Jackrabbit lead down to four, and a jump shot by Anthony with 46 seconds left ended the half with Toms going into the break down by three points, 28-25.
Coming out of halftime, the Jackrabbits outscored the Toms nine points to five before the media timeout with a score of 37-29 in Sioux Falls with 16 minutes remaining. The Toms answered back with a dunk by Blue and a 3-pointer from Allen that capped off a 7-0 Purple run to trail 37-36 at the under-12 media timeout.
South Dakota State opened the lead to nine credited to 3-point makes with 3:47 left while a bucket from beyond the arc by senior Drake Dobbs cut the lead to six, 54-48. St. Thomas missed its final six field goals of the game as South Dakota State advanced to the championship game.
TOP TOMMIES
Sophomore Kendall Blue led the Tommies in scoring for two consecutive tournament games with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting along with six rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes of play. Graduate student Brooks Allen added 11 points, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc in addition to four rebounds, one assist, and the only Tommie block of the game. Fellow graduate student Raheem Anthony recorded seven points and team highs of nine rebounds and four assists.
With the loss, the Tommies finished the season 20-13 overall and 9-7 in conference play. The 2023-2024 season marks the first 20+ win season for the Purple in the Division I era and ties the most conference wins in a season (9) since joining the Summit League.
RECAP
Graduate student Parker Bjorklund kickstarted the scoring for the Tommies, draining a 3-pointer one minute into the contest to give the Purple an early advantage. A 3-pointer by Blue at 17:47 marked the only Tommie points over the next five minutes, with the Toms and Jackrabbits knotted up at a score of 8-8 with 12:40 left in the half. The Jackrabbits' hot shooting led to the largest lead of the first half for South Dakota State at 10 points, 25-15, with four minutes remaining in the first half.
Three free throws by Bjorklund and a pair by Allen brought the Jackrabbit lead down to four, and a jump shot by Anthony with 46 seconds left ended the half with Toms going into the break down by three points, 28-25.
Coming out of halftime, the Jackrabbits outscored the Toms nine points to five before the media timeout with a score of 37-29 in Sioux Falls with 16 minutes remaining. The Toms answered back with a dunk by Blue and a 3-pointer from Allen that capped off a 7-0 Purple run to trail 37-36 at the under-12 media timeout.
South Dakota State opened the lead to nine credited to 3-point makes with 3:47 left while a bucket from beyond the arc by senior Drake Dobbs cut the lead to six, 54-48. St. Thomas missed its final six field goals of the game as South Dakota State advanced to the championship game.
TOP TOMMIES
- Sophomore Kendall Blue led the Tommies in scoring for back-to-back tournament games with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting along with six rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes of play. Over the last four games Blue shot 65.7 percent (23-35) from the field and in postseason action went 12-of-19 from the floor.
- Graduate student Brooks Allen added on 11 points for the Toms, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc in addition to four rebounds, one assist, and the only Tommie block of the game.
- Graduate student Raheem Anthony recorded a near double-double performance with seven points and a team-high nine rebounds in the loss. Anthony also recorded a team-high four assists in 36 minutes of action.
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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