The St. Thomas men’s basketball team topped St. Mary’s University with ease Wednesday night at Schoenecker Arena, cruising to a 75-43 victory.

The Tommies (6-1 overall, 2-1 MIAC) improved their record to 3-0 at home with the win, and the 32-point spread was the team’s largest margin of victory this season. Forward Conner Nord led the way with 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and he said the win will help the team in the coming weeks.

“It was a big win, and it got the confidence back up,” Nord said. “I think we really stuck together as a team and played good basketball.”

Forward Ryan Saarela matched Nord in scoring with a game-high 14 points. Coach John Tauer said Nord and Saarela are huge contributors to the team’s success.

“To have two posts like that who are both very good inside and versatile outside both offensively and defensively, that’s one of the unique things about our identity as a team,” Tauer said. “When they play well inside, it certainly opens it up for our perimeter players. One of our strengths is our balance.”

Guard Taylor Montero was the third and final player on the Tommie roster to reach double-digit points against the Cardinals. He finished the game with 10 points and six rebounds.

“It was a big win,” Montero said. “It’s good to get the juices flowing like this and get a good 30-point win and just get back to how we play.”

St. Mary’s drops to just 1-3 overall this year after the loss. Nord said although playing as a team was a big part of St. Thomas’ success, its defense stumped the visitors.

“On the defensive end we only allowed 43 points, and that’s a big difference from what was happening earlier in the season when we were allowing points in the 70s and 80s,” Nord said.

Montero agreed and noted the Tommies will only reach their goals if they continue to grow.

“The key moving forward is to keep playing like we did tonight. Share the ball and amp it up on defense,” Montero said.

St. Mary’s forward Wylie Ferron led the Cardinals with eight points and five rebounds. Despite the convincing win, Tauer has his eyes on the future and said there is still much work to be done.

“There are still a lot of things we need to clean up in terms of giving up easy baskets and (committing) unforced turnovers,” Tauer said. “Overall, it’s always great to get a win, and I liked the energy that we came out with. Hopefully we can build on that as we head into Augsburg this Saturday.”

St. Thomas will look to keep its momentum going when it hits the road to face off against Augsburg 3 p.m. Saturday.

Andrew Frentz can be reached at fren2218@stthomas.edu.