Center Conner Nord’s 17 points and 7 rebounds, including an and-one at the end of the first half, sparked the No. 7-ranked St. Thomas men’s basketball team to a 82-52 victory over Carleton College Saturday at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (7-2, 4-0 MIAC) traded baskets with the Knights for much of the first half and couldn’t seem to get the stop they needed defensively. Offensively, the Tommies turned the ball over six times in the first half, something coach John Tauer said his team focused on limiting in the second.
“We weren’t thrilled at halftime, but quite frankly, we have a lot of respect for Carleton, and I thought we had good energy the first half,” Tauer said. “I thought it was more our execution, offensively, we were a little ragged, and defensively, we kind of let them do what they wanted to do.”
Midway through the first half, Carleton (4-5, 2-2 MIAC) increased its lead to 18-13, followed by a 10-0 St. Thomas run, including back-to-back 3-pointers from guards Dylan Stewart and Grant Shaeffer.
It looked to be a one possession game heading into halftime, when Nord came up with an offensive rebound and took a hard foul to complete an and-one, giving the Tommies a 31-27 halftime lead.
Nord said it’s key for St. Thomas to play a “full 40 minutes” of good basketball.
“We really just wanted to bring the energy, and we started to make smart plays in the second half,” Nord said. “Six turnovers in the first half— for a team that doesn’t pressure much, we really wanted to cut that down a lot.”
In the second half, St. Thomas picked up the pressure defensively and heated up from the field offensively, not giving Carleton much of a chance to come back.
The Tommies went on another 10-0 run to start the half, capped with forward Ryan Saarela’s steal, which led to a lay-up by guard Marcus Alipate on an assist by guard Erik Tengwall.
St. Thomas led Carleton 43-31 with 14:46 left in the game, when the Tommie bench sparked a 21-8 run, including 3-pointers from Tillman, Montero and Shaeffer.
Tillman hit shots and found Tommie shooters all afternoon, piling up 8 points and 4 assists. He said having so many shooters on the court gives his team an advantage.
“Our offense is inside-out, and if it’s not getting it into the post right away, then it’s us guards driving and creating stuff,” Tillman said. “But we knew it all started on defense, so we cranked up the defensive pressure, and everything fell together after that.”
St. Thomas forced 17 turnovers and out-rebounded Carleton 41-24, ultimately one of the deciding factors down the stretch. Tauer said his team’s depth separates them from many of the tough teams. That was the case Saturday, as the Tommies outscored the Knights’ bench 41-5.
“I think really our program is built on a few things. One of those is defense, one is unselfishness and the other is depth,” Tauer said. “Tonight, I thought our bench came off and really not just maintained the energy, but probably built the energy more than we had it.”
Carleton was without leading scorer Taylor Hanson (13.8 ppg) and came into the game on a four-game winning streak.
St. Thomas’ game Monday is delayed until Jan. 13 due to extreme cold weather, so the Tommies will host St. Olaf Wednesday.
Kyle Jonas can be reached at jona7984@stthomas.edu.