St. Thomas held SJU to two points in the first 7:20 of the game and took its largest lead of the first half right at intermission by the score of 35-17. SJU had cut the lead to six points at 13-7 with 10:14 remaining in the half.
In the second half, SJU came within 14 points at 43-29 with 15:35 remaining, but St. Thomas went on a 17-2 run in the next 8:33 to take a commanding 60-31 lead.
The Tommies were led by senior guard Neal Anderson with 18 points and junior forward Joey Shimek with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Junior guard Sean Sweeney added seven points, six rebounds and five assists. St. Thomas shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) from the field and 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from behind the three point line. St. Thomas also had a 47-30 rebound advantage.
SJU (4-6 overall, 2-3 MIAC) was led by junior post Paul Henrichs with 16 points and six rebounds. Henrichs had his six-consecutive game double-double streak snapped in the loss. Sophomore guard Matt Ohme had 11 points, while sophomore post Craig Schafer contributed eight points and six rebounds. The Johnnies struggled from the field, making only 18-of-59 (30.5 percent) shots, 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) three-point attempts and 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) free throw attempts.
The 29-point loss for SJU was the worst defeat since a 99-67 loss at Wis.-Platteville on March 2, 1995 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Counting only regular season games, SJU’s last loss by more than 29 points came on Nov. 27, 1991, with a 99-62 loss at Minn.-Morris. The last time SJU scored less than 43 points was on Jan. 18, 1997 in a 45-40 loss at St. Thomas in St. Paul.
Newspaper Box Score University of St. Thomas vs Saint John's University 01/05/05 7:30 pm at Sexton Arena, Collegeville, Minn. At Sexton Arena, Collegeville, Minn. UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS 72, SAINT JOHN'S UNIVERSITY 43 UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS (5-4, 5-0 MIAC) Neal Anderson 7-14 1-1 18; Joey Shimek 5-8 3-5 13; Isaac Rosefelt 4-8 0-2 8; Ryan Hatteberg 2-2 2-2 7; Sean Sweeney 2-6 2-2 7; Nate Worrell 2-2 2-4 6; Danny Peterson 3-5 0-0 6; Luke Vlatkovich 1-2 1-2 4; Alex Weaver 1-6 1-1 3; Berker Tas 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 12-19 72. SAINT JOHN'S UNIVERSITY (4-6, 2-3 MIAC) Paul Henrichs 7-16 2-5 16; Matt Ohme 4-9 1-4 11; Craig Schafer 3-8 2-2 8; Jon Kaus 1-4 0-1 2; Scott Schafer 1-3 0-0 2; Andrew Spaanem 1-3 0-0 2; Zach Reif 1-5 0-0 2; Kevin Trauscht 0-1 0-0 0; Ryan Hinman 0-1 0-0 0; Nicholas Pariseau 0-1 0-2 0; Jesse Ellens 0-1 0-0 0; Brent Baune 0-1 0-0 0; Tim Veurink 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 18-59 5-14 43. University of St. Thomas...... 35 37 - 72 Saint John's University....... 17 26 - 43 3-point goals-University of St. Thomas 6-13 (Neal Anderson 3-6; Sean Sweeney 1-2; Ryan Hatteberg 1-1; Luke Vlatkovich 1-1; Alex Weaver 0-3), Saint John's University 2-14 (Matt Ohme 2-5; Jon Kaus 0-2; Zach Reif 0-3; Ryan Hinman 0-1; Tim Veurink 0-3). Fouled out--University of St. Thomas-None, Saint John's University-None. Rebounds-University of St. Thomas 47 (Joey Shimek 13), Saint John's University 30 (Craig Schafer 6; Paul Henrichs 6). Assists-University of St. Thomas 11 (Sean Sweeney 5), Saint John's University 7 (Jon Kaus 3). Total fouls-University of St. Thomas 13, Saint John's University 14. A-856