Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Kyle Johnson admits he didn't know a whole lot about the Johnnie-Tommie rivalry.
 
After all, the former MIAC archrivals hadn't met since St. Thomas exited the MIAC for the Division I ranks following the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, and Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) didn't arrive in Collegeville until the fall of 2022.
 
But he'd heard a little about what it used to be like. And the Johnnies senior guard was excited to experience a taste of what once was when the two teams faced off again Thursday night at the Tommies' brand-new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.
 
"By the time I was getting recruited, (St. Thomas) had already made the jump to Division I," said Johnson, who finished with a team-best 15 points as SJU hung tough in the first half before the Tommies pulled away in the second en route to an 80-56 victory before a raucous crowd of 5,325.
 
"So it wasn't something I really knew all that much about," he continued. "But I know there's a lot of history there. People have talked about how crazy the games used to be. That's why I was pretty excited when I heard they'd scheduled this game. I knew it would be a big deal for our alums and even our current students. 
 
"It was really fun to be part of bringing the rivalry back at least a little bit."
 
The game - an exhibition for the Johnnies but a regular-season matchup for the Tommies - didn't exactly come at an ideal time for a young SJU squad that graduated eight of its top nine scorers from a year ago and is off to a 3-5 start. Johnson and his teammates had a tough MIAC road matchup at Gustavus the night before and didn't get back to campus until midnight. 
 
Then many of the players - Johnson included - had final exams during the day Thursday before getting on the bus and heading to St. Paul.
 
Yet Johnson - who hit three first-half 3-pointers - helped keep the Johnnies in the game for the first 20 minutes. His jumper and a 3-pointer by freshman post Evan Weichert (New Prague, Minn.) put the Johnnies on top 15-11 with 9:54 to go before halftime.
 
Led by nine-straight points from 6-foot-5 sophomore guard Nolan Minessale - who entered play averaging a team-best 21.2 points-per-game - the Tommies jumped back on top by nine before a late layup by Weichert helped cut the gap to just four - 35-31 - at the half.
 
"For us, this was kind of a stress-test," SJU head coach Pat McKenzie '04 said. "We're young, and frankly we're struggling a bit right now. But this was a chance to try some things. If something worked against these guys, we could lean into it a little bit. And if it didn't, so what."
 
"But hopefully it was a confidence-booster for our guys to see we can play with a team like this," he added. "It's a sign we're on the right path."
 
But led by Minessale, who finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds and went 11-for-15 from the field, St. Thomas proved too much to stop in the second half. The Tommies finished the game 29-for-57 (50.9 percent) from the field. The Johnnies were just 20-for-62 (32.3 percent).
 
Johnson - who scored 13 of his points before halftime - also finished with three rebounds and two blocks. Junior wing Jamison Lien (Prior Lake, Minn.) finished with nine while Weichert and freshman guard Henry Tschetter (Stewartville, Minn.) each added six points.
 
"I think what tonight showed us is that we're going to fight," said Johnson, who was playing in just his fourth game after missing the start of the season due to lingering knee injuries. "It kind of fell apart on us in the second half, but going forward we know we have the guys to compete with the best teams out there. We're still not playing our best right now, but with the talent we have on this team, I think come mid-to-late January we will be."
 
UST head coach Johnny Tauer and his players had high praise for the Johnnies afterward, and both sides seemed excited to have reunited for at least one evening.
 
"We talk about having a proud past and a great future here," Tauer said. "I think tonight in many ways was an intersection of those two things."
 
"It was fun for us," McKenzie added. "I think the gap there (since the two teams last played) generated some extra interest. Is there an appetite for it every year? I don't know. We'll have to see. But it was a lot of fun to get back together again tonight."