HISTORY MADE!!!@TristanSmitty1 breaks the @CUNEmbb single game record with FORTY-EIGHT POINTS! Previous record was 47 by Jon Ziegler in 2007. pic.twitter.com/ODrKNuno88
— Concordia Bulldogs (@cunebulldogs) February 27, 2025
SEWARD, Neb. – No. 22 drove, spun, crossed over, dunked, finger-rolled, reverse slammed on top of a defender and muscled his way through double and triple teams, never stopping until he had etched his name into history. With the Friedrich Arena crowd egging him on, Tristan Smith found the energy for one last driving, whirling basket in the paint for the school record breaker. In doing so, the Elizabeth, Colo., native reserved legendary status in Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball folklore with his program standard setting 48 points as the 11th-ranked Bulldogs vanquished Midland, 101-81, on Wednesday (Feb.26).
The GPAC quarterfinal victory pushed Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad to 24-5 overall. Concordia has reached the conference semifinals for the fourth-straight year, but all anyone could talk about afterwards was No. 22.
“He’s incredible,” Limback said. “He’s been that way all year. He has a great first half and they weren’t doubling him. It was very clear they wanted to take on the perimeter game. There are going to be games where Tristan and Noah (Schutte) get doubled and games where they don’t. He was an animal. I’m just proud of the way our team came out in the second half. It was a fun win.”
Entering the day, Smith had hit 30 points in a game four times but never 40. No Bulldog had reached that lofty total since Jon Ziegler racked up 47 in his signature performance in an upset win over the University of Sioux Falls in 2007. Alas, it’s been a tough year for Jon Ziegler school records. With Wednesday’s game well in hand by the final few minutes, Smith took aim at Ziegler’s almost 20-year standard.
Smith reached 40 on a dunk. Then got to 42 on another jam. Then 44 on a layup with 3:37 to play. At the 1:47 mark, Smith drew a foul and drained two free throws for 45 and 46. With less than a minute-and-a-half to go, Smith missed a highly contested layup. As Concordia led by 18 (99-81) in the final minute, all attention shifted to the one they call T-Ray. Smith brought the ball up the floor, dribbled to his right, split two defenders in the paint and finished with the right hand. Forty-eight. The stuff of legend.
Still processing the moment, Smith remarked, “Towards the end of the game, I definitely realized I was still in there for a reason. My teammates are really unselfish guys. They knew I was getting close and knew I wanted it. They wanted it for me just as bad. They were finding me and letting me take some pretty bad shots. It shows the unselfishness of my teammates … It was pretty surreal in that moment. It’s not something you think about until you’re in that moment. I never thought about breaking the school record before.”
Those double teams didn’t come until the latter stages when everyone knew the ball was seeking out Smith. The Bulldogs did not even make a single trey until the second half. They led by a 40-31 score at the break behind the awe-inspiring Smith, who enjoyed a symmetrical game of 24 in the first half and 24 in the second. He made 19-of-26 shots from the field and 10-of-12 from the foul line in an ultra-efficient effort.
The return of weaponry like Schutte and Hayden Frank helped open things up further for Smith. In his return to the lineup, Schutte tallied six points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes. Six Bulldogs scored in the range of six to nine points. Freshman Elijah Gaeth notched nine points, Brad Bennet contributed eight, Zac Kulus recorded seven and Brooks Kissinger and Jaxon Stueve put in six apiece. Concordia shot 58.9 percent from the floor in another offensive showcase. Smith added 10 rebounds and four assists to his final line.
Midland (12-17) played well offensively in shooting 52.9 percent (36-for-68) while led by 20 points from star guard Jake Orr. In trying to contain Smith, big man Jeff Rozelle picked up a fourth foul early in the second half and later fouled out. The Warriors have dropped 14-straight series matchups.
There was no way they were overcoming Smith’s superhuman effort on Wednesday. Said Limback, “It’s a tough deal because we had a double-digit lead. Normally he’d probably come out with about two or three minutes left. Our coaches were telling me how close he was at the end. It’s a tough one. It’s a special moment to get 48 points. He’s never going to forget that, and our team won’t. That’s this team – they don’t care (who gets the credit). They want to see him break records and see our team break records. It was a fun moment that none of us will ever forget.”
As the No. 2 seed in the GPAC tournament, the Bulldogs have earned another home game. Concordia will welcome third-seeded and NAIA 13th-ranked Northwestern (25-4) to Friedrich Arena on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tipoff in the conference semifinals. The two sides split during the regular season with the home team winning in both instances. The Red Raiders defeated Briar Cliff, 83-65, in the quarterfinals.
40+ point games, Concordia Men’s Basketball history
48 – Tristan Smith vs. Midland (2/26/25)
47 – Jon Ziegler vs. Sioux Falls (2/17/07)
45 – Robert Buchholz Jr vs. Luther (1928-29 season)
43 – Tom Raabe vs. Dana (1968-69 season)
41 – Al Buuck vs. Yankton (1962-63 season)
40 – Earl Westbrook vs. Doane (1976-77 season)
40 – Tom Raabe (1970-71 season)