UST men’s hoops bests Green Bay 80-61

St. Thomas men’s basketball won 80-61 over Green Bay Thursday at Lee and Penny Anderson Arena behind sophomore forward Ben Oosterbaan’s efficient 11 points.

Oosterbaan shot 4-6 from the field, including 3-5 from three-point range. The Tommies (2-2) led by as many as 30 points in the second half, before the Phoenix (1-3) inched closer throughout the second half.

“I just want to fly around out there, bring some energy and kind of get back to my roots,” Oosterbaan said.

St. Thomas led Green Bay in almost every statistical category including shooting percentages, steals and assists.

“We’ve got really cerebral players, and part of it is just getting that muscle memory where you just, you’re reacting on defense and doing what the game tells you to do,” coach Johnny Tauer said. “And I think we’re pretty good at that on offense, and we’re going to get better and better at it on defense.”

The Phoenix edged UST on blocks and rebounds, including an 8-3 offensive rebounding differential. St. Thomas had a -3.7 rebounding differential last season, seventh in the Summit League.

“That’s something that we emphasize, and we need to get better at and it was a weakness last year, and we’re trying to get better at it,” Oosterbaan said.

Oosterbaan was also tasked with guarding Green Bay’s leading scorer, junior forward Marcus Hall. Hall entered the game averaging 18 points per game, but was held to just seven points on 2-10 shooting Thursday.

Phoenix graduate guard Dontrell Hewlett was carried off the court on a stretcher less than seven minutes into the game, after a non-contact injury. While not clear from the press box, the television replay showed a  lower leg injury.

Oosterbaan was joined in the double-digit scoring column by redshirt first-year guard Nick Janowski with 10 points, sophomore guard Nolan Minessale with 20 and sophomore forward Isaiah Johnson-Arigu with 14.

Johnson-Arigu joined Tauer’s squad this past offseason and has slowly carved out a role with his three-level scoring and passing ability. He added four rebounds and three assists with just one turnover.

“His ceiling is incredibly high, and he wants to learn. He’s really, really receptive and I thought you saw sparks or flashes of that tonight, and you’re going to continue,” Tauer said.

Oosterbaan added what it was like to share the court with Johnson-Arigu, calling him “extremely versatile.”

“He’s a great player and he’s still growing too,” Oosterbaan said.

The Phoenix slowly chipped away at UST’s lead throughout the second half, including an 8-0 run midway through the half, and an 11-3 run to end the game.

“They were tired. Green Bay was tired, and some of that is just learning to fight through that. And nobody is at their top at that point, their fuel tank is close to empty,” Tauer said. “But can you dig down and get one more stop? And so I was not pleased because I didn’t think we sprinted back on defense.”

St. Thomas is now undefeated at Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, but winless on the road. UST has four games before returning to St. Paul Nov. 29: a quick turnaround against Southeast Missouri State Saturday and three games in three days from Nov. 21-23.

“It’s a fun time for us as coaches, but it’s a lot of games in a quick period of time. And it’s, I keep saying it, but it’s these guys getting a lot of reps and then learning from it and adjusting accordingly. And we’re pleased with how they’re doing,” Tauer said.

St. Thomas has had to navigate a tough non-conference schedule early in the year, losing to St. Mary’s and Washington State on the road. This comes as Tauer looks to fill the gaps left by losing last season’s top three scorers with a younger roster.

He mentioned that an additional challenge comes with the quick turnarounds between games.

“I think that’s part of the maturation process for our young guys too, is just taking all that in and having a growth mindset while also getting prepared for a really tough game on Saturday,” Tauer said.

Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.