St. Thomas hosts Sayler and South Dakota State

By Canadian Press on January 21, 2026.

South Dakota State Jackrabbits (10-10, 3-2 Summit League) at Saint Thomas Tommies (15-5, 4-1 Summit League)

Thursday, 9 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: South Dakota State visits St. Thomas after Joe Sayler scored 22 points in South Dakota State’s 90-62 victory against the UMKC Roos.

The Tommies have gone 9-0 in home games. St. Thomas is ninth in the Summit League with 5.6 offensive rebounds per game led by Nick Janowski averaging 1.2.

The Jackrabbits are 3-2 in Summit League play. South Dakota State scores 76.7 points while outscoring opponents by 4.6 points per game.

St. Thomas’ average of 9.2 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.2 more made shots on average than the 9.0 per game South Dakota State allows. South Dakota State has shot at a 46.6% clip from the field this season, 3.1 percentage points greater than the 43.5% shooting opponents of St. Thomas have averaged.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Nolan Minessale is averaging 20.7 points, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals for the Tommies. Carter Bjerke is averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Damon Wilkinson is averaging 12.9 points and 6.7 rebounds for the Jackrabbits. Jaden Jackson is averaging 14.2 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Tommies: 9-1, averaging 87.4 points, 31.5 rebounds, 17.5 assists, 8.6 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 53.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.0 points per game.

Jackrabbits: 5-5, averaging 80.5 points, 33.3 rebounds, 16.5 assists, 5.2 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 48.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press

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