Men’s Basketball cruises past UNC Asheville for Tauer’s 300th career win

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — St. Thomas men's basketball paired a game-opening burst with a milestone night on the sideline, rolling past UNC Asheville 80–56 on Saturday afternoon for head coach Johnny Tauer's 300th career victory. Nolan Minessale recorded his 11th 20-point game of the season as the Tommies (9-4) shot above 50 percent overall and led for nearly 35 minutes.

First Half: St. Thomas set the tone immediately, opening on an 8–0 run before uncorking a decisive 25–3 surge from the 11:01 to 4:23 mark of the first half. Austin Herro put up the Tommies' first five points before the first of four 3-pointers by Carter Bjerke for the 8-0 lead. UNC Asheville shot just 1-of-6 from the field with five turnovers given away, which led to nine St. Thomas points, during the 25-3 run.

Bjerke drained his third 3-pointer just seconds before the halftime break for a 46-25 advantage, following Nick Janowski's 10 first-half points. St. Thomas shot 48.4 percent (15-31) from the field and 46.2 percent from deep (6-13) over the first 20 minutes while UNC Asheville shot 35.7 percent (10-28) overall and 25.0 percent (2-8) from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs gave away 9 of 16 total turnovers in the first half that led to 9 Tommie points.

Second Half: The Tommies picked up where they left off, extending the margin to as many as 24 on a 3-pointer from Minessale to open the second half. He delivered 15 of his game-high 23 points after halftime, answering any Asheville push with timely scores. The Bulldogs used a 12-3 run midway through the half to pull within 12, 60-48, for its closest margin the rest of the way.

St. Thomas improved its shooting in the second half, going 53.8 percent (14-26) overall and 3-of-5 on 3-pointers, despite UNC Asheville keeping equal pressure on their offensive end shooting 52.0 percent (13-25) overall with three 3-pointers. The Tommies converted on the Bulldogs' seven second-half turnovers, scoring 11 points and leading by as many as 24 points.

Tommie Tidbits

Head coach Johnny Tauer recorded the 300th win of his career, following in the footsteps of his most recent predecessors Steve Fritz (592-248) and Tom Feely (217-269). Tauer is one of 15 active head coaches among all of NCAA (Divisions I-III), and one of five in Division I, with 300 career wins and a winning percentage of at least .730.
Nolan Minessale finished with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, adding four assists and three rebounds. It was his 11th 20-point game of the season, most in NCAA Division I, as he entered the game leading the country in total points and fourth in points per game.
Nick Janowski added 16 points, going 6-of-8 at the free-throw line with two steals. Carter Bjerke knocked down four 3-pointers on his way to 12 points, his fourth double-digit game over the last six.
Isaiah Johnson-Arigu and Austin Herro each scored nine points and both grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
St. Thomas shot 50.9 percent overall (29–57) and 50.0 percent from three (9–18) while UNC Asheville shot 43.4 percent overall (23-53) and 29.4 percent on 3-pointers (5-17).
The biggest scoring run was 13-0 towards the end of the first half, the seventh game this season with a run of at least 10 straight points. The Tommies have gone 6-1 in those seven games.

UP NEXT
St. Thomas returns to the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena to host UC-Riverside at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20.

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Men’s Basketball cruises past UNC Asheville for Tauer’s 300th career win

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Team Stats

Nolan Minessale

Nick Janowski

Carter Bjerke

Isaiah Johnson-Arigu

Players Mentioned

Carter Bjerke

Austin Herro

Nick Janowski

Isaiah Johnson-Arigu

Nolan Minessale

University of St. Thomas Athletics