Junior center Conner Nord had 17 points and seven rebounds as No. 7-ranked St. Thomas moved alone into the conference lead with Saturday's 82-52 home win over Carleton in MIAC men's basketball play at Schoenecker Arena.

The Tommies (7-2 overall, 4-0 MIAC) led just 31-27 at halftime but used a 10-0 run in the first 2:22 of the second half and went on to score 51 points after the break.

Freshman Tianen Chen had 19 points and six rebounds to lead Carleton (4-5, 2-2), which had a four-game win streak halted. The Knights, playing without leading scorer Taylor Hanson (13.8 ppg), were outscored 41-5 in bench points as 15 different Tommies got in the scoring column.

St. Thomas shot 58 percent in the second half and 48 percent on the game and finished with just 10 turnovers. Six different Toms hit a 3-pointer as they outscored Carleton 27-9 from 3-point range.

Zach Riedeman added 13 points, four assists and four steals.

UST trailed late in the first half 18-13 before using a 16-2 run to build a nine-point lead. After Carleton tallied seven consecutive points, Nord scored inside just before the half ended.

St. Thomas had its Monday Jan. 6 road game with Bethel postponed until Jan. 13 due to extreme cold in the forecast. The Toms will play at home Wednesday against St. Olaf, which handed 4-0 and visiting Gustavus its first conference loss on Saturday with a 22-point decision.