SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The men's college basketball rolls on after an exciting opening week that featured a variety of highs and lows across the board for all nine Summit League teams. St. Thomas had one of those highs as the Tommies christened the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena with a seven-point win over Army. St. Thomas has now owns the nation's longest homecourt winning streak at 19 after going 14-0 a season ago at Schoenecker Arena and winning their last four at their old home in 2023-24.
The League's trio of first-year head coaches also secured milestone victorires as Denver's Tim Bergstraser saw his squad rally for a 75-73 road win at Montana State, Oral Roberst' Kory Barnett witnessed his team steamroll John Brown 84-50 and South Dakota State's Bryan Petersen did not have to wait long at all as the Jackrabbits defeated Merrimack 75-66 in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon at the Sanford Pentagon.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
• Preseason favorite St. Thomas opened the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena with an 83-76 victory over Army. Preseason Player of the Year Nolan Minessale scored a game-high 20 in the victory and also dished out a career-high six assists.
• Jeremiah Burke eclipsed double figures in all three games last week for Denver, surpassing his career total of two double-figure scoring games he mustered in 48 career appearances at NDSU the previous two seasons.
• Burke scored a game-high 23 points and pulled down seven rebounds as the Pioneers rallied for a 75-73 victory at Montana State to give head coach Tim Bergstraser his first Division I victory.
• Trailing 33-30 at the break, NDSU put up a 60-point second half to cruise past CSUN 90-68 for its first win of the season.
• Damari Wheeler-Thomas led all scorers with 22 points in the NDSU win as he returns after missing all of the 2024-25 season. He combined for 12 points in the opening two road games of the campaign.
• Markhi Strickland has hit double figures in all three games to start his Bison career. The Western Michigan transfer had 17 in losses at Oregon State and UC Davis.
• South Dakota State was one of two Summit League teams to win its opener, knocking off Merrimack 75-66 at the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon in Sioux Falls.
• Sophomore Jaden Jackson opened his campaign with the first two 20-plus-point outings of his career. In the opener vs. Merrimack, he netted 23 and drilled five 3-pointers, and added 20 in a win over Dakota State.
• South Dakota, who was one of the nation’s top scoring offenses a season ago, is putting up 92.0 ppg through three tilts this season. Junior Isaac Bruns, who is the league’s top returning scorer, is averaging 17.7 ppg during that stretch.
• Bruns had a season-high 23 in the season-opening overtime loss to Utah Tech at home and put up 16 in a road loss at (23/23) Creighton.
• The Fighting Hawks snapped a three-game skid to open the campaign by breaking the program’s single-game scoring mark in a 128-58 victory over Mayville State.
• Redshirt freshman Greyson Uelmen shares the team lead with a 12.5 ppg scoring average through four games. Uelmen has started the last three contests and scored a game-high 24 in a 93-85 loss to CSUN.
• Twins Micah and Marley Curtis combined for 41 in the win over the Comets. For Micah, he scored a game-high 22 points off the bench in just his second career appearance.
• Senior Lance Waddles has been Omaha’s leading scorer during the opening stretch of the season, tallying double figures in all three of the Mavericks’ contests.
• Waddles had a game-high 21 points in a 73-71 loss at Abilene Christian. He is 10-for-20 from 3-point range in those contests and had four triples vs. ACU and at Colorado State.
• Oral Roberts secured the first win of the Kory Barnett era with an 84-50 over John Brown. Graduate student Ty Harper has combined for 30 points in his first two career games.
• The Youngstown State transfer led ORU with 17 against Oklahoma state, while former Cowboy Connor Dow had seven points and seven blocks in his tilt against the Cowboys. His block total is tied for the second most by a DI player in a game this season.
• Preseason all-league selection Jayson Petty is averaging 16.7 ppg and shooting 40 percent from the field in KC’s first three games.
• The Roos were the other Summit League team to win their opener, holding off Evangel to post an 80-74 victory. Petty had 18 in that contest and added a team-high 18 in a home loss to Iona on Veteran’s Day.
#SUMMITMBB
UPCOMING
Game | Stream | Local Time
Wednesday, Nov. 12
St. Scholastica at NDSU | SLN | 7 p.m.
Tulsa at Oral Roberts | SLN | 7 p.m.
Southern Indiana at South Dakota | SLN | 7 p.m.
SDSU at (RV/RV) Oregon | PC | 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 13
Green Bay at St. Thomas | SLN | 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 15
Kansas City at (RV/RV) Texas | SECN+ | 12 p.m.
UTSA at Denver | SLN | 12 p.m.
St. Thomas at SEMO | ESPN+ | 2 p.m.
North Dakota at UC Riverside |ESPN+ | 2 p.m.
Belmont at Oral Roberts | SLN | 7 p.m.
Southern Utah at Omaha | SLN | 7 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 16
Western Michigan at South Dakota | SLN | 1 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 17
Southern Illinois at NDSU | SLN | 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 18
Haskell at Oral Roberts | SLN | 7 p.m.
Key: ACCNX (ACC Network Xtra), BTN (Big Ten Network), ESPN+ (ESPN Plus), F68 (Field of 68 YouTube), FOX9+ (Fox 9 Minneapolis), PC (Peacock), SECN+ (SEC Network Plus), SLN (Summit League Network)
Polls: AP/Coaches
RESULTS
Monday, Nov. 3
(8/9) Alabama 91, North Dakota 62
Murray State 85, Omaha 77
(Field of 68 Marathon; Sioux Falls, S.D.)
Kansas City 80, Evangel 74
Utah Tech 81, South Dakota 79 (OT)
SDSU 75, Merrimack 66
(Field of 68 Marathon; Sioux Falls, S.D.)
Oregon State 67, NDSU 65
Seattle 84, Denver 73
St. Mary’s (Calif.) 84, St. Thomas 58
Tuesday, Nov. 4
(NR/RV) Oklahoma State 95, Oral Roberts 71
Wednesday, Nov. 5
(23/23) Creighton 92, South Dakota 76
UC Davis 80, NDSU 68
Thursday, Nov. 6
Abilene Christian 73, Omaha 71
UC Riverside 74, North Dakota 70
SDSU 68, Dakota State 62
Washington 84, Denver 70
Friday, Nov. 7
Southern Illinois 101, Kansas City 78
Saturday, Nov. 8
St. Thomas 83, Army 76
Oral Roberts 84, John Brown 50
Sunday, Nov. 9
Colorado State 97, Omaha 74
South Dakota 121, Ozark Christian 65
Northern Iowa 65, SDSU 58
CSUN 93, North Dakota 85
Denver 75, Montana State 73
Monday, Nov. 10
Washington State 81, St. Thomas 71
Tuesday, Nov. 11
Iona 105, Kansas City 91
North Dakota 128, Mayville State 58
NDSU 90, CSUN 68
#SUMMITMBB
