UST Men's Hoops 26-Game Postseason Notes -- March 2

March 02, 2010

2009-2010 St. Thomas Men's Basketball 26-Game Notes/March 2:

--NEXT: The No. 6-ranked Tommies are set for their 14th NCAA tournament appearance. Coach Steve Froitz' team was assigned to Kenosha, Wis., and will start Friday at 6 p.m. against Anderson (Ind.) University.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for students with IDs and youth over age 2. There's no presale but a sellout is not expected on the Carthaga College campus.

The winner plays the Carthage-Aurora winner on Saturday at 7 p.m.

While it appears to be less ominous than last season's "Bracket of Death," the top right corner that includes the Tommies features 15 teams gunning for one Final Four berth. That includes teams ranked Nos. 1, 5, 6, 14, 15, 19, 22 and 24.

Other notable assignments: MIAC playoff champ Carleton will travel to Stevens Point for a first-round game against the Pointers. Wisconsin playoff runner-up UW-Whitewater was sent east and will open against Wooster (Ohio.). Iowa champ Central College will travel to St. Louis and play in a group that includes defending champion Washington (Mo.).

This will mark St. Thomas' 11th NCAA playoff berth. It's the program's fifth in a row and seventh in the last 11 seasons. St. Thomas also took eight trips to Kansas City for the NAIA National Tournament from 1949-1974.

--WEBSITE: Click here all week for updated for tourney information: http://athletics.carthage.edu/sports/2010/1/28/Mens%20Basketball_0128101139.aspx

--LISTEN: Click here to access a live video and live stats by Carthage. Tommie Media's Jordan osterman will be in Kenosha and sending in-game updates.

--NCAA STATS: UST ranks in the top 21 nationally in seven categories -- ninth in FG% (49.4), seventh in 3FG$ (40.%); 10th in W-L% (23-3, 88.5%); 14th in assist/turnover ratio (plus 1.30); 18th in fewest turnovers (11.7); 16th in scoring defense (60.9 ppg); and 21st in scoring margin (12.0).

--TOP CATS: UST's 53-4 record and .930 win% is the best among all 1,400 four-year men's college teams over the last two seasons, just ehad of Washington (Mo.)'s .929 clip (51-4).

--MIAC CHAMPS: UST became the fourth men's team to reach 19 confernece wins since the schedule expanded in 1984. The Toms had 20-0 seasons in 1994-95 and 2008-09; and Augsburg went 19-1 in 1998-99... The Toms had a 55-game home win streak end with last week

--DID YOU KNOW: In its 28 seasons at Schoenecker Arena, UST went 283-74 in men's hoops, including a 30-11 postseason record... St. Thomas is 12-3 in home postseason games since 2005-06... Over the last five seasons, UST is 100-4 in regulation games when it scores 68 or more points (The Toms are also 5-2 in overtime games where they scored 68-plus) but just 13-12 when it scores under 68 points... Only once last season in its 30-0 start did St. Thomas trail by double digits, but the Toms have trailed by doible-digit margins five times this season (won three, lost two).

--PLAYOFF TALK: The Toms' all-time NCAA playoff record is 12-11, including a 11-5 home record. The Tommies also made eight postseason trips to Kansas City for NAIA national tournaments from 1949-74 (5-8 record)... St. Thomas has a league-best 23 MIAC playoff appearances in the 26-history of the format... The Toms were 9-0 in MIAC semifinal games since 1998 and 11-0 in home semifinal games since 1991 before losinglast week... The Toms' 25-13 all-time conference playoff record includes a 21-7 home record... UST has won nine MIAc playoff championships and took second six times... The MIAC playoff finals have included either St. Thomas or Gustavus for the last 23 years in a row... St. Thomas has played in the finals 13 of the last 19 seasons.

--STREAKS: St. Thomas is 44-2 against MIAC foes over the last 24 months. Its 57-51 loss at Gustavus on Jan. 13 is the first conference blemish since February 2008's 67-57 loss at Concordia-Moorhead... The Tommies' 22-point loss at No. 2-ranked UW-Stevens Point on Dec. 29 ended their 18-game road win streak and their 33-game regular-season win streak... UST won its final 46 home conference games on campus at Schoenecker Arena... St. Thomas went 28-2 during the 2009 calendar year and has victories in 56 of its last 62 games... In 2008-09 the Toms became the first school to sweep the conference regular-season and playoff titles in men's basketball four years in a row... The Toms are the third team to win five consecutive MIAC men's regular-season titles -- St. Thomas also won five consecutive MIAC titles from 1970-74, a feat also accomplished once by Hamline from 1932-36...

--MORE TRENDS: UST has won 55 of its last 56 games when leading at halftime... When junior Tyler Nicolai scores seven or more points on his career, UST is 58-4… when Joe Scott scores 17 or more points in his three seasons here, UST is 26-1; since Scott and Nicolai have joined the team, St. Thomas is 76-9.... Over the last five seasons, St. Thomas is a league-best 99-10 vs. conference foes (two losses in overtime, five others by five or less points).

--CONTINUITY: It’s the 30th season for Fritz, who guided the Toms to a 30-1 finish last season. Fritz has only had one losing season at St. Thomas... The late Tom Feely (417 wins in 26 seasons) and Fritz (564 in 30 seasons) have been UST's only men's basketball head coaches since 1954 and have combined to win 981 games.

--FACILITY: For the first time in 95 seasons, St. Thomas is playing its home games off campus. The Tommies won their last 46 MIAC games at Schoenecker, but that gym was razed last summer to make way for the new Anderson Athletic and Recreation Facility, which is set to open in August 2010... During the construction of the new arena, the Toms' had 10 neutral-site home games (9-1 so far).

--WHO'S HOT: Junior guard Tyler Nicolai has played 85 career games, all starts, and has 951 points... junior guard Alex Healy was named MIAC Player of the week on Feb. 22. UST is 12-1 since Healy joined the starting lineup, and UST is 26-1 on his career when he scores in double figures. He has a 2-to-1 assist/turnover ratio and is shooting 48% from 3-point range this season... Senior guard Joe Scott recently surpassed 1,400 career points including 289 as a freshman at UC-Colorado Springs. Scott has canned 15-of-30 from 3-point range in his last five games.

--POLL TALK: UST has been ranked in the top 10 by D3Hoops.com for 28 consecutive polls... It was tabbed fourth in the preseason poll, and moved as high as No. 2  in the Dec. 15 poll… On January 26, 2009, St. Thomas became the first (and still only) Minnesota team to receive the No. 1 ranking in the then-11-year history of the d3hoops.com polls. UST stayed there for seven weeks before losing to eventual champion Washington (Mo.) in the national quarterfinals.... St. Thomas became the 24th different men's program out of 410 in Division III to climb to No. 1 since the website started national rankings in 1999-2000. UST was ranked sixth or better in each 2008-09 poll. In preseason polls, the Tommies were ranked No. 1 by The Sporting News and fifth by d3hoops.com.

--EARLIER: UST have two solid non-conference road wins -- 80-78 win over Division II Concordia-St. Paul and 84-53 win over then No. 9-ranked Wooster.. The Toms also have a 22-point loss at ranked UW-Stevens Point; a 72-71 win at UW-River Falls; and had an 11-point road loss in an exhibition game at D-II Winona State.

--BRADY'S BACK: Guard Brady Ervin was a football starter on the Toms' No. 5-ranked team which won a school-record 11 games and finished its season Dec. 5. In his two seasons since transferring from Iowa State, Ervin had been a part of Tommie football and hoops teams with a combined 71-9 record, including a 26-1 record in on-campus games.

--JOE THE BOMBER: Tommie junior guard Joe Scott was named second-team preseason All-America by D3Hoops.com. Earlier, Scott received the same honor by the Sporting News magazine, one of 10 players named to the first and second teams in Division III… Scott was voted MIAC Player of the Year in 2008-09 when he helped St. Thomas storm to a 30-1 record. UST was ranked first in D-III for five weeks and lost in the national quarterfinals… Last April, he was one of 24 named to the 2008-09 Division III All-America third-team by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). A repeat first-team All-MIAC honoree, led the Tommies in scoring with 13.4 points a game, despite playing less than 28 minutes a game. He made 71 treys at a 41% clip in 31 games. He shot 70% from the foul line, and in MIAC play shot 52% from the field and 44% from 3-point range, while leading the conference with 1.75 steals a game… Scott has 1,150 points in his four college seasons, including 189 points in his freshman year as a starter at Division II UC-Colorado Springs... Scott has won MIAC Player of the Week in men's basketball three times on his career…  Scott has 190 treys in 84 games at UST, and 248 threes in 110 college games overall... Scott's father, Kelly, played basketball for the Minnesota Gophers.

--RARE TRIPLE: St. Thomas made the NCAA quarterfinal round last March; Tommie baseball won the NCAA D-III baseball championship last May; and UST football reached the national quarterfinals. It’s perhaps the first time any Division III institution had made the national playoffs' final eight in baseball, football and basketball in one calendar year or school year.

Past seasons

--GREAT RUN: St. Thomas has the best record in Division III over the last five seasons -- 123-19 record included marks of 61-5 in home games, 111-14 in the regular-season, 8-1 in conference playoffs, and 4-4 in NCAA playoffs.

--ROAD WARRIORS: A 13-point win at Gustavus last Feb. 14 let the 2008-09 Tommies close out a 10-0 conference road record last season. Only three other MIAC teams have accomplished that since the league schedule expanded in 1983 to 20 games. UST did it in 1994-95 in a 20-0 league finish; Gustavus did it the next year in an 18-2 finish; and Augsburg did it in 1998-99 in Devean George's senior season.

--HOME COURT: UST has won 55 consecutive home games vs. conference foes (and 61 of its last 62). Its last home conference defeat was to Augsburg 62-59 on Jan. 2, 2006... In its 28 seasons at Schoenecker Arena, UST went 283-74 in men's hoops, including a 30-11 postseason record... St. Thomas is 12-2 in home postseason games since 2005-06... Hamline went 0-30 all-time at Schoenecker Arena... Rival St. John's lost 17 of its last 19 games to UST at Schoenecker… Over the last 21 seasons, Macalester went 1-21 and St. Mary's was 0-22 at Schoenecker... Gustavus lost its last eight games at Schoenecker… UST has won 15 in a row overall against Bethel and went 9-1 at Schoenecker in their last 10 meetings there.

--LAST 11 SEASONS: St. Thomas is 181-38 in MIAC regular-season games over the last 11 seasons (96-12 at home, 85-26 on the road), with eight conference titles in that span. That's the best mark in the conference in that span.

Since 1999-2000, Men's Hoops W-L Records leaders in conf. regular season

181-38, St. Thomas

158-62, Gustavus

133-87, St. John's

133-87, Bethel