St. Thomas has proven to be a pesky out in recent years, even in the occasional matchup where the Tommies may be overmatched physically.

But that can only be true if the Tommies are executing at a high level within their abilities. And that didn’t happen in Monday’s season opener at Saint Mary’s.

St. Thomas shot a woeful 3 for 10 from the free-throw line and 5 for 21 from beyond the arc in an 84-58 loss to the Gaels.

St. Thomas was out-rebounded 41-28, but that was to be expected against a team featuring St. Mary’s size. But the Tommies didn’t excel in their expected areas of strength.

The offense looked hesitant for much of the evening against Saint Mary’s lengthy defenders.

One bright spot was Nolan Minessale, who finished with a team-high 24 points. Nick Janowski had 14 points on 7

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