4 Teams entered Missoula, Montana on Thursday. On Saturday, 3 teams left with championship trophies-Montana, Troy, and The University of St. Thomas Tommies. The Grizz, Trojans, and Toms all went 2-1 and given that the tiebreaker was the head to head result, all were awarded a share of the title.
The Results:
Montana-78 UST-59
UST-78 Troy-76
UST-72 Merrimack-61
Key Performances
A stat line that should scare SL opponents is the near exponential increase in Riley Miller‘s scoring over the three days. Riley earned All Tournament team, and the SL breakout player of the week by scoring 50 points in three games. 6 vs the Griz, 16 vs Troy, and a whopping 28 versus Merrimack, with nine triples. He also did not miss a free throw on 11 attempts. That type of play over a three day period will be critical to a Sioux Falls run.
The one shining moment folks are going to remember is of course the buzzer beater by Andrew Rohde vs Troy, which was the the cherry top of his 16 points in that game. The amount of trust this coaching staff has in this young man is self-evident by the fact that he was trusted to take a game winning shot in the final seconds. We saw a glimpse of his playmaking potential the vs Troy, with his 8 assists. The basketball gods were on his side this weekend, on his 6 turnovers, there were only 4 points allowed.
The rest of the rotation continued to be effective. Parker Bjorklund with reliable production in his return with 31 points in 50 minutes. Kendall Blue shot almost 50% (7-15) from beyond the arc this weekend, gaining himself 29 points over that span. The best defender this weekend, Brooks Allen. Brooks was rebounding on the defensive glass at a very high rate. As a team, the Tommies have been fortunate that opponents are not able to take advantage of the extra opportunities they gain on the Offensive Glass or via Turnovers. UST this weekend had 149 shots, their opponents had 166. So far this season they have not had more shots than their opponent in any game. UST unfortunately is not a team that can rely on offensive rebounding like Montana for significant points, UST ranks in the bottom 30 teams in that category. However, Fun Fact, the second lowest O-Rebs/game in the country belongs to the Jackrabbits. Take that for what it is worth. UST is ranked 338th/363 teams for possession per game with only 66, which makes shot selection all the more important.
Looking Ahead
Wednesday November 23 @ Milwaukee
The Panther were picked to finish 9th in the pre season Horizon League basketball poll, and are the first of two UW System Schools St. Thomas will play this year. Green Bay plays at Schoenecker in December before the conference slate starts. The panthers are coached by first year HC Bart Lundy, who had success at D2 Queens in Charlotte. UST will be his first Non-P5 D1 game. They are coming off a loss to Iowa State 68-53, and earlier in Nov. got beat by perennial power Purdue 84-53. They play a very balanced rotation, as only 1 player gets more than 60% of their minutes compared to the Toms who have 4 over 65%. The Panthers are due for a good shooting game vs a D1 opponent. They have shot the lights out in their non D-1 Games going 38-52 against MSOE, and 41-77 against Cardinal Stritch. The player to watch will be Manute Bol’s cousin Moses Bol, who is a giant at 7-1. BJ Freeman is the main perimeter threat, on a team whose main points come in the pant. The Tommies are hoping in this one that 3>2.
Saturday November 26th @ Utah
Utah was picked 10th in the Pac-12 pre-season poll. This game the Utes are probably looking at as a Tune-Up game before playing #14 Arizona. Utah plays very good defense led by their seven foot center Branden Carlson, who is a true two way center. He averages 2.8 blocks per game, and 7.8 rebounds, and averages 15.6 points. Their coach Craig Smith is familiar to SL fans, as he was the coach at South Dakota from 2014-2018, before leaving to Utah State. He is in his second season as the Utes coach joining in ’21. Impressively, his Utah State teams made The Dance in each year there. They play a tough MS State, Wednesday. Guards Gabe Madsen and Rollie Worster for Utah are a premier combination. For UST to win this one, they are going to have to find a way to get extra possessions/shots, which is doable. Their TO% over the last two games has averaged over 26%. Sam Houston State was able to knock them off 65-55 last Thursday, UST will be hoping for a similar result.
Plus 3
1.) I do not think it is irrational to rank St. Thomas 3rd already given what we have seen around the league.
2.) Brooks Allen’s podcast with Corbu Stathes is a must-listen. In addition to good stories, he includes that he has an extra year of eligibility, that I selfishly hope he uses at UST next season. In addition, The B.A.F.C. would be ecstatic.
3.) I think as UST fans we took for granted the extreme security of the ball that UST had last season. Compared to the rest of the country, the Tommie’s are in the top quintile of teams in turnovers.
Predictions
UST-67 Milwaukee-62
Utah-71 UST-59