St. Thomas men’s basketball welcomed students back to campus with a 79-62 win over North Dakota State in front of a sold-out crowd Sunday at Schoenecker Arena.
A record crowd of 2,068 fans watched an efficient Tommie squad dismantle the Bison and move into a tie for first-place in the Summit League Standings. On top of the spectators on campus, the matchup was nationally televised, bringing more eyes to the program.
“Part of our vision is how do we get the entire state aware of hey, this is a pretty cool team and school, and an easy one to cheer for,” coach Johnny Tauer said.
Those who tuned in were treated to a showcase of the brand of basketball that has led the Tommies to a tie for first place in the Summit League. The team shot 50% from the field, 41% from three-point range and 81.8% on free throws.
This efficient shooting earned the Tommies some attention from college basketball fans during January as they were the only team in the country who was top-20 in two-point, three-point and free throw shooting.
“Every guy on our team knows, even if they’re a great shooter, we’re always going to make the extra pass. So, I think just our unselfishness made that happen,” first-year guard Nolan Minnesale said.
Minnesale scored 23 points on 9-11 shooting, including a couple of thunderous fast-break dunks that brought the jam-packed crowd to its feet.
“Today was crazy. We haven’t really seen anything like that. Usually this place is packed no matter what but today it was just —sold out, on (CBS Sports Network)— It was just another game for us, but it was a really good crowd,” Minnesale said.
Junior guard Kendall Blue was nearly as effective as Minnesale on offense with 20 points on 8-11, along with four assists.
“I’m always looking for any of my teammates. Nolan particularly, but any of my teammates,” Blue said. “I just try to get them the ball when they’re open and just make the right play, but tonight happened to be Nolan and the stats show for itself,” Blue said.
The guard duo each nabbed three steals, and caused 15 Bison turnovers in total.
Minnesale was tasked with guarding the Summit League’s leading scorer, six-foot-ten senior forward Jacksen Moni, who had a five-inch advantage over Minnesale.
“He’s obviously a really good player and he’s a really high usage guy too, and I knew they were trying to get him the ball. So, it’s just kind of a mindset thing, to try and deny him and see if I could get some steals and I got a couple,” Minnesale said.
Moni ended with 17 points while senior guard Jacari White scored 23. The duo scored 40 of NDSU’s 62 points while the Tommies’ offense was more evenly spread.
All nine Tommies that took the floor scored. First-year Ben Oosterbaan scored eight points shooting 3-3 while senior guard Ben Nau connected on three of his eight three-point attempts for nine points. Blue said this kind of shared offense is a key part of a Tauer-led team.
“Just unselfish and connected. It could be anybody’s night to score, and at the end of the day, we just want to win. So if we keep having that mindset, we’re a tough team to beat,” Blue said.
Minnesale agreed and added that this was one of the traits of St. Thomas that attracted him to play for the Tommies.
“There’s not many other teams in the country who move it like us, space it like us and have freedom like us,” Minnesale said.
Leading scorer Miles Barnstable had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night, going 2-10 and scoring seven points. However, Tauer highlighted how the junior guard still made a positive impact.
“He had nine rebounds today. We had a game at Riverside a month ago where he played 37 minutes and had zero rebounds,” Tauer said.
Prior to the season, the Tommies were picked to finish fourth in the Summit League preseason poll, and didn’t receive a single first-place vote. Now sitting in first, the Tommies are poised to be a surprise story pending the second half of conference play.
St. Thomas’ 18-6 record that includes 8-1 in conference play has perked some ears in the college basketball sphere. Sunday’s game may have taught some fans watching at home that there’s a second Division I program in Minnesota —not the Virgin Islands— shooting the lights out in gyms across the Summit League .
“I think we have a chance to grow and really become, I’m not making any bold predictions, but really be one of the most unique stories in college basketball,” Tauer said.
The Tommies travel to South Dakota State’s Frost Arena Thursday, Feb. 6 for a 7 p.m. tip-off. They return to Schoenecker Arena on Saturday, Feb. 15 to play conference co-leaders Omaha.
“We just want to win at the end of the day, that’s the real common theme with any team. We just want to win,” Blue said. “So, doing that every night, doing our job every night on defense and offense, just takes care of itself and the result’s a W, so can’t be more happy than that.”
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.
