“It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish; it’s not how you go, it’s how you land” -Tommy Tune (Seesaw)
The University of St. Thomas basketball team’s season ends this weekend! They get to finish at home in front of their faithful fans at Schoenecker Arena. The Opportunity ahead for these first movers to D1 is not one to be taken lightly, finishing the season with a string of conference wins. They could not ask for a better matchup for their final games: Denver + Omaha.
Why Denver? Avenging a heart-breaking buzzer beater.
Why Omaha? A chance at a season sweep versus a conference opponent.
Opponent Preview
Denver (+3) @ St. Thomas Feb 24 7:00 pm
Denver has had some sneaky wins, their best being against UMKC. UST did not have to see KJ Hunt in Denver in December. He guards well, at only 6-3 he can be good for 32 points, a block, 3 steals, and 6 boards when he has to. I think he will need a performance like that if Denver wants to take the win tonight. Conversely, this will be Parker Bjorklund’s debut against Denver. It is probably that both of these games will be shootouts. Look for the matchups against Denver’s elite Freshman 3 point shooter, Coban Porter. He is somebody that can be shot over the top of, look for Lindberg or Miller taking their chances against him. The big question mark in this one is the role Anders Nelson will play tonight, if at all.
Score Predication UST-83 Denver-76
Omaha @ St. Thomas Sat Feb 26 7:00 PM
Omaha has to get through WIU tonight on their way to St Paul, a team they beat after losing to UST. Omaha will be a tournament team this season in SF due UST’s win over the Hawks. Omaha is the one of only a handful of teams in the country with a worse defense than UST, so this one should be entertaining. St. Thomas’s big advantage is their ability to shoot the three ball better than they can. The player to watch for Omaha is 6-7 Frankie Fidler whose heroics in their win versus Denver garnered him national acclaim. He has scored more than 20 points in 3 out of his last four games. Under-the-radar Summit player Felix Lemetti will have to be a factor if Omaha wants to get wins going into the Tournament next week. I can only hope that on Senior Night UST is able to beat the brakes off the Mavs.
Score Prediction UST-90 Omaha 75
Plus 3
1.) UST offered 61.4 Million for a country club in St. Paul this week. Maybe that would be better spent on scholarships, seatbacks at Schoenecker, or a prize for that kid that won a hat??
2.) Senior Night will have to be taken with a grain of salt. I do not think that the situation for the “Seniors” with the exception of Ryan Lindberg and Burt Hedstrom has been set yet. I think it will depend on how the remaining scholarships are distributed, which has not happened yet.
3.) UST continues to pull from the pack nationally in four categories: Best Turnover/game and worst in the country in Blocks/Game and Opponent 2FG%. A neutral but fun metric is also % of In-State points where they lead UCLA by 1 point/game