Macalester vs. St. Thomas statistics

Four-time defending conference champ and No. 2-ranked St. Thomas shot 54% and enjoyed a +19 turnover advantage to defeat the Scots 76-52 at the Leonard Center. The Tommies turned a close game into a 40-27 lead at the intermission by shooting 62% in the opening period and were never threatened in the second half.

The Scots drop to 2-8 overall and 0-5 in the MIAC. St. Thomas improves to 8-1 on the season, 4-0 in MIAC play, with its 29th straight MIAC victory.

Macalester made a game of it throughout most of the first half, and trailed by just three points at 21-18 with 7:32 left in the period.

Paul Richie (Sr., Grand Rapids, Minn.) nailed 5-of-8 from behind the three-point line and finished with a season-high 21 points to pace Macalester. Pierce Peters (Fy., Glenwood, Minn. / Minnewaska Area) added 13 points. Jerry Kraus (Sr., Bucharest, Romania / Chaparral – Colo.) contributed six rebounds and four assists.

St. Thomas was paced by Tyler Nicolai with 17 points. Nicolai was 7-for-9 from the floor. UST moves into a tie with idle Gustavus at 4-0 atop the conference, one game ahead of 3-1 St. John's. Earlier in the week, the Toms had their 33-game regular-season win streak stopped by No. 4 Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

The Scots play the MIAC's other co-leader Monday (Jan. 4) when they host Gustavus at 7:30 p.m.