St. Thomas has proven to be a pesky out in recent years, even in the occasional matchup where the Tommies may be overmatched physically.
But that can only be true if the Tommies are executing at a high level within their abilities. And that didn’t happen in Monday’s season opener at Saint Mary’s.
St. Thomas shot a woeful 3 for 10 from the free-throw line and 5 for 21 from beyond the arc in an 84-58 loss to the Gaels.
St. Thomas was out-rebounded 41-28, but that was to be expected against a team featuring St. Mary’s size. But the Tommies didn’t excel in their expected areas of strength.
The offense looked hesitant for much of the evening against Saint Mary’s lengthy defenders.
One bright spot was Nolan Minessale, who finished with a team-high 24 points. Nick Janowski had 14 points on 7 for 9 shooting, while Austin Herro added eight off the bench.
St. Thomas trailed by only two in the final minute of the first half, only to have Saint Mary’s close the stanza on an 8-0 run, aided by a missed front-end of a one-and-one at the free-throw line and a turnover near mid court.
The Gaels never relinquished momentum from there.
In the Tommies’ first season of NCAA Tournament eligibility, it wasn’t too early to start thinking about resume ahead of Monday’s season opener.
Sure, St. Thomas’ path to the dance is likely a one-way route through the Summit League tournament. But any nonconference success along the way could only help the Tommies’ cause. And opportunities to play high-quality opponents for mid-majors are few and far between given the current scheduling conundrum in men’s college basketball.
Saint Mary’s is the best team on the Tommies’ regular season schedule. Now coach Johnny Tauer and co. see the bar they must attempt to approach by year’s end.
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