On a cold Thursday night in Saint Paul, the two best three point shooting teams in basketball met for what was billed to be an entertaining contest. When the dust settled, both teams scored significantly more from inside the arc, and the team that scored the most FG’s lost by 15.
UST-66
ORU-81
Yes, that is right, St. Thomas outshot ORU making 27 FGs to ORU’s 26. The reason for the loss has 80% to do with UST having trouble making 3-pointers, there’s really no sense analyzing that aspect. “But Sam, what about Max Abmas scoring 38?” Defensively UST did above average. I think it is too simple to say that UST having no answer for #MidCourtMax as a reason they lost. ORU scored 11-34 from 3 point land. A few weeks ago, Omaha made 11-25 and UST still won by a comfortable margin. ORU was 15-26 from 2 point land, which is right around middle of the pack for UST defensively in their current slate of D1 defensive performances. ORU’s shooting alone did not guarantee them a victory, their play on the defensive glass was the decisive difference maker in this game. UST was only outboarded 5-4 on the offensive side, but on the other end ORU put an emphasis on not allowing the UST big men to grab the ball to distribute to an open sharp shooter. The best way to avoid this disparity in DREBs, is making the shots. WIU was an impressive win, but this squad should be looking for their marquee win, as they will not be able to play at the SL Tourney. Last night would have been a good night, but luckily for them there are plenty of excellent opportunities ahead. Positive Friday final ORU note: What an amazing set of performances from Parker Bjorklund. He took half of UST’s shots scoring 21 points. On a percentage basis, UST had the second best game from short range against this team, almost all of that was due to Parker’s incredible play.
Up Next
1/12 NDSU @ The S.H.A.C.
1/14 UND @ The Betty
UST travels up I-94 against a perennial Summit League powerhouse the North Dakota Statue University Bison. An important note for UST fans the “s” in Bison is pronounced like a “z.” This first game will be incredibly tough, as this is when we will see how size compares. NDSU’s PG Sam Griesel could pass for a big man in Coach Tauer’s program at 6-6. Forwards Jackson “Rocky” Kreuser and Grant “The Unicorn” Nelson will tower over the UST forwards at 6-10 and 6-11 respectively. Coach Richman will likely pound the ball down low, but if UST gets hot from outside they may make up for that size differential. Shot windows are going to come at a premium due to the relatively large size of the NDSU guard corps. NDSU has two games between today and their game versus the Tommies.
By far the most winnable game comes next weekend at UND. Omaha beat the brakes off of UND yesterday, which could be the start of a rough schedule of games where they will play 4 games in 8 days. UST is the last of those four games. UND has a young team, and Paul Bruns is going to be a legit stud in the coming season, but as far as this season goes, it is looking like a “rebuilding year” for Coach Sather.
Plus Three
1.) UST needs to have a 2 kids wipe down the floor during the game. I was tempted to chalk up the ORU loss to sweat on the floor, as there was an insane amount of travels called due to slipping. On the list of “Things to do in order to go D1” sweat mopping kids should be on there somewhere, somewhere closely following scholarship fundraising.
2.) Both Oral Roberts and St. Thomas, the persons, were reported to have skills that would have helped their respective teams if they played for them this season. Thomas Acquinas is said to have had the power to levitate, which would make him a dominant center in the Summit League. Oral Roberts was known for his ability to heal others. Having him out on the court picking up his teammates and healing them of any ailments would go a long way during conference play.
3.) News broke in the Highland Villager about a new potential UST arena on the site of the old Ford Motors Plant. Personally I think that the arena needs for UST are good for basketball for the foreseeable future. I hope they do not go the UNO-route who moved both Hockey and Hoops into brand new Baxter Arena to the detriment of their Hoops team, who does not really have a home court advantage.