St. Thomas ‘hungry and humble' amid rise to top of Summit League
St. Thomas 'hungry and humble' amid rise to top of Summit League
The St. Thomas men's basketball team is 18-6, and tied for the Summit League lead at 8-1 with Omaha. Coach John Tauer and players Ben Nau, Kendall Blue and Ryan Dufault talked with FOX 9's Dawn Mitchell about the team's rise at practice Tuesday.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The University of St. Thomas men’s basketball team is becoming one of the best stories in college basketball, and they could create a huge problem in March.
In their fourth season in Division I, John Tauer has the Tommies 18-6 overall and 8-1 in the Summit League, which is tied at the top of the league with Omaha. The Mavericks are coming to St. Paul for what will arguably be the biggest game in St. Thomas history on Saturday, Feb. 15.
St. Thomas basketball on a hot streak atop Summit League
The St. Thomas men's basketball team is 18-6 on the season and tied for the Summit League lead at 8-1 with a huge game against Omaha set for Feb. 15 at Schoenecker Arena.
The issue for the Tommies currently is they’re not eligible for the NCAA Tournament until the 2025-26 season. Even if they win the Summit League Tournament, the team they would face in the title game would get the automatic bid. Tauer and the Tommies won’t let it dictate their season.
"Hungry and humble are two words we use a lot. Over the four years we went from a team that nobody in the country knew about, we talk about 31 Super Bowls," Tauer said. "Those are the number of games we get guaranteed, and we’d be fools if we ever wasted one of them."
Defending home court
Why you should care:
St. Thomas is 11-0 at Schoenecker Arena this season, which will be the final one for the Tommies on the North Campus. Starting next year, they’ll move to the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, currently under construction for basketball and hockey fans.
The Tommies had a sellout crowd on hand last Saturday for a 79-62 win over North Dakota State.
"It was crazy, by for the most electric game that I’ve played in here at St. Thomas," said senior guard Ben Nau, who had nine points, two rebounds and two assists in the game.
Hawaiian theme for Omaha?
What's next:
Nau and Ryan Dufault, the first two Division I recruits for Tauer, wore polo Hawaiian shirts and leis at practice Tuesday. The first 250 fans at the Omaha game will get free shirts. Before that, the Tommies travel to South Dakota State Thursday and Denver Saturday.