Ella Carlson

Peyton Podany scored a career-high 34 points to help the Johnnies top Macalester and clinch a spot in the MIAC Playoffs last week.

Men's Basketball 2/18/2026 2:00:00 PM

MIAC Men's Basketball Notebook - February 18, 2026

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Six teams have qualified for the 2026 MIAC Men's Basketball Playoffs, but where and when each will play remains up in the air with two games left on the regular season slate.

PLAYOFF PICTURE
One piece of information that is known at the moment is that the conference tournament will again run through St. Peter. Despite a Valentine's Day slip-up against Carleton, Gustavus has already secured at least a share of the regular season conference title for the second consecutive season. Thanks to a head-to-head tiebreaker with St. Olaf (11-3), the Gusties will also be the top seed in the MIAC Playoffs. Gustavus can win the regular season crown outright with a win over St. Scholastica on Thursday.

The Oles can lock up the No. 2 seed with a win at Concordia on Wednesday night or a win over Carleton on Saturday. However, that victory will not come easy, as both the Knights (10-5) and Cobbers (9-5) are playoff-bound and vying to host a game in next week's conference tournament. The two remaining playoff qualifiers – Saint John's (10-5) and Augsburg (9-5) – are also set to meet in Collegeville on Saturday in another preview of playoff-caliber action.

Playoff seedings will be announced after all games have been completed on Saturday evening. The quarterfinal round will begin on Tuesday, February 24, with semifinals slated for Thursday, February 28, and the playoff championship game on Saturday, February 28. Tickets for Tuesday's quarterfinal round will go on sale Saturday night on MIACathletics.com.

STAT PACK
The latest MIAC men's basketball Stat Pack as of Wednesday, February 18, can be viewed here.

IN THE POLLS
Gustavus is ranked No. 12 in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, released on Monday, February 16.

The Gusties are No. 14 in the latest NCAA Power Index (NPI) rankings. The NPI is used to select the 21 at-large bids to the NCAA Division III Tournament after the 43 automatic qualifiers have been determined on March 1. Last season's NPI cut line was 37.

NATIONAL NOTABLES
Concordia senior forward Jackson Loge (Morris, Minn. / Morris Area) collected 22 rebounds against Oak Hills Christian on 12/19/25, tied for the sixth-most in any Division III game this season.

Macalester senior forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Minn. / New Trier) made 18 free throws against Grinnell on 11/15, tied for the fourth-most in any D-III game this season. His 21 free-throw attempts in the game are tied for the fifth-most in D-III this season.

Saint John's junior guard Baiden Bean (Farmington, Minn. / Farmington) ranks fourth in NCAA Division III with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.53 (127-to-36).

AROUND THE MIAC
Augsburg junior guard Trent Gomez (Two Harbors, Minn. / Two Harbos) totaled 34 points (17.0 ppg) on 11-of-15 (.733) shooting from the field, including 10-of-13 (.769) from three-point range, in two Augsburg victories over the past week to help the Auggies clinch a berth in the MIAC Playoffs. Gomez scored 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point range in 20 minutes of play in the Auggies' 97-62 win at Saint Mary's on 2/11. He went on to score 19 points on 6-of-6 from the field and 5-of-5 from three-point range in 20 minutes during the Auggies' 101-84 win over St. Olaf on 2/14.

Bethel sophomore guard Blake Schmitz (Hermantown, Minn. / Hermantown) recorded a pair of 26-point performances in a split week for the Royals to begin the month of February. Schmitz shot 10-for-15 in both games - a 96-82 loss to St. Olaf on 2/4 and an 85-70 win over St. Scholastica on 2/7 - and went a combined 5-for-8 from long range.

Carleton junior center Patrick Smith (Duluth, Minn. / Duluth East) averaged 8.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals in the Knights' 2-0 week that included a win over nationally-ranked Gustavus on 2/11 and a playoff-clinching victory over Bethel on 2/14. Smith tied for the game-high with nine rebounds against the Gusties and pilfered a career-best six steals - the most by a Knight this year - in the win over the Royals.

Concordia senior forward Jacob Cook (Ashby, Minn. / Ashby) hauled in 12 rebounds and had two steals in the Cobbers' playoff-clinching win over Macalester on 2/14. Cook also added 12 points to record his eleventh double-double of the season.

Gustavus junior guard Myles Barnette (Maple Grove, Minn. / Wayzata) led the defensive effort with 11 rebounds and seven steals in road wins over Saint John's (2/4) and Macalester (2/7). Barnette collected seven boards, four steals, and a blocked shot in a 72-61 win over the Johnnies and added four rebounds, three steals, and another block in a 91-58 rout of the Scots. He also averaged 26.0 points on the offensive end of the floor, pouring in 28 at SJU and 24 at Macalester.

Hamline senior forward Dominic Dosmann (West Fargo, N.D. / Sheyenne) scored in double figures for the third consecutive game with his team-high 14 points in a 74-72 loss to Saint John's on 2/14. Dosmann has scored at least ten points in four of his last five outings.

Macalester senior forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Minn. / New Trier) scored 34 points in a loss to Saint John's on 2/11. Shannon tallied 27 of his 34 points in the second half, giving him seven games with 30 or more points this season. The performance also made him the fifth Scot in the last 20 years to tally 500 points in a single season.

Saint John's first-year guard Peyton Podany (Anoka, Minn. / Anoka) averaged 25.5 points in 29.5 minutes per game in two playoff-clinching road wins for the Johnnies last week. Podany shot 17-for-30 (.567) from the floor, including a 6-for-13 (.462) from three-point range, and was 11-of-12 from the free-throw line. He posted a career-high 34 points and fell one rebound shy of a double-double in an 89-81 win at Macalester on 2/11 and scored a game-high 17 points in a 74-72 win at Hamline on 2/14.

Saint Mary's sophomore guard Sawyer Markham (Rochester, Minn. / Mayo) matched season-bests in points (17), rebounds (6), assists (6), and steals (3) in the team's loss to St. Scholastica on 2/14. Markham was 5-for-10 from the floor and 2-for-3 from long range in the game.

St. Olaf junior guard Chris Willis (Long Beach, Calif. / Lakewood) exploded for a career-high 29 points – 27 in the second half – while shooting 10-for-11 from the field and 7-for-8 from three-point range for the Oles at Augsburg on 2/14. Willis' 27 second-half points all came in the final 11:03 of the game, and his 29 points were 17 more than his previous career-high total.

St. Scholastica senior guard Koy Nelson (Port Wing, Wis. / South Shore) led the Saints with a season-high 26 points in a win over Saint Mary's on 2/14. Eight of his nine field goals came from beyond the arc. Nelson's previous career-high for three-pointers in a single game was five.

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

MIAC Men's Basketball Notebook - February 18, 2026

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