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COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The University of St. Thomas' Tyler Nicolai made five three-pointers and scored 19 of his game-high 27 points in the second half to help the No. 11 Tommies erase a 25-19 halftime deficit and defeat Saint John's 72-61 on Saturday, Feb. 19, in front of an announced crowd of 2,786 in Collegeville.

The Tommies (22-3, 17-3 MIAC) were held to single digits in scoring until 3:41 left in the first half and shot 33.3 percent (7-21) with 11 turnovers. SJU (14-11, 10-10 MIAC) scored 12 points off the 11 turnovers and shot 44.0 percent (11-25) from the field.

St. Thomas made its first five shots of the second half, including two three's from Nicolai, to take its first lead of the game. Nicolai ended the game 7-for-12 from beyond the arc. The Tommies were also aided by their 35-23 rebounding advantage, including a 14-5 onslaught on the offensive glass. UST was also aided with nine points off seven second-half turnovers by SJU and held a 12-3 scoring advantage in second-chance points.

SJU cut the deficit to as little as four with 47 seconds remaining, but UST ended the game with a 7-0 run.

Senior Aaron Burtzel (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) never left the floor and led the Johnnies with 19 points and six rebounds, while fellow senior Nermin Hujdurovic (Tuzla, Bosnia/Medical) added 14, 12 of which came in the first half on five of five shooting. The two combined for 12 of 15 shooting, while the rest of the Johnnies were 10 of 30. Senior Todd Herman (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) averaged 26.5 points with a combined .742 shooting percentage in the previous two meetings with UST, but rolled his ankle five minutes into the game. He ended up with eight points in 12 minutes of play.

Tommy Hannon followed Nicolai with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Alex Healy added 11 points and eight boards. Brady Ervin collected 10 points and six rebounds, four of which were offensive, off the bench.

SJU shot 48.9 percent (22-45) from the field, including an even 55.0 percent (11-20) in the second half. The Johnnies, however, ended the game 2-for-14 from three-point range, while the Tommies were six of eight in the second half alone (9-for-21 in the game).

The Johnnies nearly made the MIAC Playoffs despite the loss. Carleton and Concordia each won, but Gustavus defeated Saint Mary's to thwart the possible four-way tie for the fifth and sixth seeds. The Cobbers won the three-way tie-breaker between SJU and the Auggies.