University of St. Thomas Athletics
Western Illinois
Game Notes - Men’s Basketball hosts Western Illinois in first home contest of the Summit League era
12/31/2021 10:42:00 AM | Men's Basketball
St. Paul - Minn. - The St. Thomas Men's Basketball Team welcomes Western Illinois to Schoenecker Arena as their inaugural Summit League home opponent.
Through the first 14 games of the season, St. Thomas has three scorers averaging double-digits, led by senior G Riley Miller is averaging 18.2 points per game and shooting a blistering 46.2 percent from behind the arc, connecting on 61-of-132 three point attempts. Fellow senior G Anders Nelson is averaging 16.8 points per game and senior F Parker Bjorklund (13.4 points per game) rounds out the top scorers for the Purple.
As a team, the Tommies are averaging 78.9 points per game and connecting on 45 percent of their shots from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc. Additionally, St. Thomas has dished out 212 assists and committed only 106 turnovers.
Historic Season
After 112 seasons as a small-college, NAIA and Division III men's basketball program, St. Thomas started its Division I era last Tuesday night at Chicago State. The Cougars topped the Tommies and spoiled their D-I debut, 77-72. Four days later, St. Thomas picked up its first win as a Division I program over St. Francis College with a 91-73 score.
Best of the Best
Due to its reclassification status, St. Thomas and its student-athletes are not reflected in the NCAA's individual or team rankings, but Senior G Riley Miller would rank 1st in NCAA Division I in both made 3-pointers (61) and made 3-pointers per game (4.7). Miller has made 61-of-132 three-point attempts this season and averages a team-best 18.2 points.
Preseason Progress
St. Thomas played its 12th and final non-conference games this week, downing North Central 97-45. Now the Purple turns its full attention to their Summit League schedule on Saturday against Western Illinois for the final 16 games of the 2021-22 season.
St. Thomas played three games in Youngstown, Ohio, Nov. 19-21, competing in six games over a 14-day span.
In the first month alone the Purple traveled to Chicago, New York, Ohio and Seattle for contests. Overall they will play games in 11 different states this season.
In a stretch from Dec. 2 through January 1, the Purple are scheduled to play five of their seven games at home.
They opened Summit League play with a 80-73 win on the road Dec. 20 against Omaha.
Upper Echelon of the Conference
As the Tommies enter their first Summit League games, they are towards the top of a handful of statistic across the conference.
Below are the top-five team and individual rankings and statistics for all games by the 10 conference schools this season.
* Please note, the stats and rankings do not reflect the season totals and are excluding St. Thomas' most recent game against North Central.
Rank - Category - Stat
Team
1st - Three-Point Field Goals Made - 13.3 per game
2nd - Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - .400
4th - Field Goal Percentage - .455
4th - Scoring Offense - 77.6 points per game
4th - Free-Throw Percentage - .732
5th - Scoring Margin - +5.8 points per game
Individual
1st - Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - R. Lindberg, .550
1st - Three-Point Field Goals Made - R. Miller 4.7 per game
1st - Free Throw Percentage - R. Miller, .907
2nd - Scoring - R. Miller, 18.2
2nd - Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - R. Miller, .462
2nd - Assist To Turnover Ratio - A. Nelson, 1.8
4th - Field Goal Percentage - R. Miller, .450
5th - Assists per game - A. Miller, 3.4
5th - Scoring - A. Nelson, 17.3
5th - Free Throw Percentage - A. Nelson, .829
5th - Minutes Played - R. Miller, 32.4 per game
North Central's Recap
The St. Thomas men's basketball team assisted on 29-of-36 made shots and committed only two turnovers to cruise to a 97-45 win over North Central to improve to 7-7 on the season.
The short-handed Tommies, who only had seven players available due to non-COVID related issues, started the first half slowly, leading by five points, 16-11, with just under 10 minutes played before they went on a 28-11 run to close out the first half to take a 44-22 lead into intermission
As a team, the Purple connected on 17-of-40 (43 percent) of their first-half shots, but 13 of the 17 made field goals came off an assist. Defensively, St. Thomas forced eight North Central turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play and recorded six steals. Additionally, the Tommies limited the Rams to just five first-half field goals.
Individually, the trio of senior G Kevin Cunningham, grad student G Burt Hedstrom, and grad student G Ryan Lindberg all contributed 11 first-half points. Senior G Anders Nelson assisted on five of the 17 made shots in the first half.
The Purple improved their shooting in the second half, connecting on 46 percent of their shots from the field and 44 percent from behind the arc and posted 53 second-half points.
St. Thomas finished the contest connecting on 36-of-81 (44 percent) of their shots from the field and matched a program-best 22 made three pointers on 54 attempts. The 29 assists are a season-best total, surpassing the previous best of 17 assists.
Individually, five Tommies in Cunningham, Hedstrom, Lindberg, Nelson and junior F Brooks Allen all played 30 minutes in the game. Six of the seven Tommies to see the court tonight contributed double-digit points led by Hedstrom with 18 points, who also grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out two assists and recorded one steal. Nelson contributed 10 points and eight assists. The trio of Lindberg, Cunningham and Allen all dropped in 12 points. Freshman G Ben Nau contributed 12 points off the bench for the Purple.
In his return, senior F Parker Bjorklund started the game, played 20 minutes and contributed nine points, 12 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and two steals.
About Western Illinois
Western Illinois enters the contest with a 10-4 record and a 1-1 mark in conference action. Most recently, the Leathernecks fell 92-71to the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa to concluded their non-conference schedule.
A junior from Wapello, Iowa, Trenton Massner averaged 28.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game across two appearances last week and was named Summit League Men's Basketball Player of the Week. Against Denver on Dec. 20, he played arguably his best game as a collegiate athlete and led the team to victory with 31 points (10-20 from the field), nine rebounds, four assists, a block and three steals in 45 minutes of action. Two days later against Omaha, Massner scored 26 to go with four rebounds, two assists one block and two steals. Playing against a quality opponent in his home state, Massner is one Leatherneck worth keeping an eye on.
Will Carius has been a steady presence for Western Illinois this season, playing a team-high 33.4 minutes per game and scoring 17.8 points per game, which is also the top mark among Leathernecks. A graduate student in his second year with the program, Carius is shooting over 43% from deep this season on 3.67 makes per game, which is good for 11th best in the country - all while shooting 44% from the field and 77% from the line. Defensively, his size (6-7) on the wing will be an important factor for a Leatherneck defense tasked with slowing down an Iowa offense that is currently outscoring opponents by 20 points per game.
Effectively Efficient
The Tommies are the only team in NCAA Men's basketball each of the past three seasons to average 80-plus points per game, fewer than 10 turnovers per game, and 10-plus made three-point shots per game.
The Purple is continuing on that trajectory 14 games into their D-I tenure, averaging 78.9 points per game, 13.9 made three-point shots per game and 7.5 turnovers per game.
He's the Coach
Dr. Johnny Tauer's has an overall record of 225-57 14 games into his 11th season. His first 10 Tommie teams compiled a 218-50 overall mark (.813 win clip). A two-time National Coach of the Year in D-III, Tauer guided the 2016 Toms to the D-III national championship. Nine games into the D-I era, Coach Tauer has led him team to a 4-5 record with two non-conference games to play before he and his squad embark on their first Summit League circuit.
Tauer's winning percentage ranks in the top five of all 1,000-plus NCAA men's head coaches – in fact he is the only NCAA men's hoops coach at any level with both an NCAA championship trophy and a winning percentage above .800.
Sports Illustrated Says
The SI preseason ranking of all 358 Division I men's teams put the Tommies at No. 274. "If you're looking for a fun story to track this year, how about St. Thomas? The Tommies are the first men's team in nearly 30 years to jump directly from D-III to D-I, becoming the second D-I program in Minnesota. Coach Johnny Tauer has a PhD in social psychology, is a tenured member of the St. Thomas faculty and runs the Princeton offense."
Last Season
The 2020-21 Tommies went 7-0 in a Covid shortened season with several highlights:
• They finished ranked No. 2 in the final Division III national poll
• They ranked second among all NCAA men's basketball teams in 2020-21 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.91)
• They averaged 83 points a game, including 12.4 made threes a contest converted at a .403 clip
• They shot 51 percent from the floor and averaged only 8.2 turnovers a game
Tommie Talk
The good news is that Tauer returns 96 percent of last season's points, rebounds and assists -- he brings back all five starters and four other contributors off the bench from the program's final season in Division III.
The flip side is that St. Thomas will likely come into this season at or near the bottom of any team list of most returning Division I points. The three transfers coming on board combined for 100 points, 56 rebounds and seven assists last season at their previous D-I teams. In all, Tauer's roster has two true freshmen, three transfers and nine returners.
The Purple's starting five coming back includes two graduate students in their fifth seasons, G-F Burt Hedstrom and G Ryan Lindberg, plus senior guards Anders Nelson and Riley Miller, and senior Parker Bjorklund. Miller made D-III All-America last season. Hedstrom made the elite CoSIDA Academic All-America team.
Here's a look at each Tommie player's career D-III stats and 2021-22 stats:
No. 1 Kevin Cunningham: Senior guard…2021-22: Played in all 14 games with one start...averages 18.5 minutes per game, 5.8 points per game and 2.1 rebounds each contest...D-III: played in 49 games totaling 160 points
No. 2 Ben Nau: Freshman guard...2021-22: Played in all 14 games...averages 13.1 minutes per game and on average, contributes 4.1 points and 1.6 rebounds per contest.
No. 3 Zach Theisen: Senior guard…2021-22: Played in eight games...averages 1.5 points in 6.1 minutes per game...D-III: played in 47 games totaling 177 points
No. 4 Anders Nelson: Senior guard…2021-22: Started all 14 games...averages 29.5 minutes per game...averages 16.8 points per game, has a 2.0 assist to turnover ratio...D-III: played 65 games totaling 1,005 points and 295 rebounds… 2019 Named to MIAC All-First-Year Team, MIAC First Team All-conference, D3hoops.com National Rookie of the Year, and West Region Rookie of the Year… 2020 repeat all-conference and second-team All-Region by both the NABC and D3Hoops.com
No. 5 Parker Bjorklund: Senior forward…2021-22: Started all eight games he's played...averages 26.4 minutes per game played...contributes an average of 13.4 points per game in addition to 8.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steal per game...Was St. Thomas student but didn't play varsity sports in freshman and sophomore seasons...D-III: started in all six of the games he played in 2020-21, scored 79 points and secured 34 total rebounds.
No. 10 Riley Miller: Senior guard…2021-22: Played all 13 games...averages a team-high 32.3 minutes per contest...averages a team-best 18.2 points per game...shoots 46.2 percent from behind the arc...has a 3.1 assist to turnover ration through 13 games...D3Hoops.com All-America last season...D-III: in 65 career games made 102 baskets from 3-point range at a 45 percent clip, with a near 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio with 161 assists to go with 525 points.
No. 20 Courtney Brown, Jr.: Junior forward…2021-22: Has not appeared in a game...Transfer from UW Milwaukee, where he played 45 games in two seasons.
No. 22 Burt Hedstrom: Graduate student guard, CoSIDA Academic All-America…2021-22: Started all 14 games...averages 7.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game...D-III: in 91 career games recorded 710 points, 385 rebounds and 151 assists, with 138 made 3-pointers at a 41-percent clip.
No. 23 Will Engels: Junior forward…2021-22: Played in all 13 games...averages 11.2 minutes per game and contributes 2.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per contest...D-III: played in 29 games totaling 156 points and securing 82 rebounds.
No. 24 Ryan Lindberg: Graduate student guard…2021-22: Started all 14 games...averages 29.2 minutes per contest...averages 9.6 points and 1.6 assists per game...through 13 games, has a 2.8 assist to turnover ration...D-III: started 72 games and in 84 career games made 144 baskets from 3-point range, and recorded 623 points, 160 rebounds, 139 assists with just 44 turnovers.
No. 31 Brooks Allen: Junior forward…2021-22: Played all 14 games with six starts...averages 23.5 minutes per contest...contributes 6.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game...D-III: played in 12 games.
No. 32 Dom Martinelli: Sophomore Guard…2021-22: Played in two games for the Tommies...transfer from Northwestern, where he played in four games.
No. 33 Bennett Kwiecinski: Sophomore forward…2021-22: Played in five games for the Tommies...averages 3.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game...transfer from Siena, where he played in nine games.
Tommie Player Career Highs
#1 Kevin Cunningham: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals
#2 Ben Nau: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
#3 Zach Theisen: 14 Points, 7 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 4 Steals
#4 Anders Nelson: 42 Points, 11 Rebounds, 11 Assists, 6 Steals
#5 Parker Bjorklund: 18 Points, 12 Rebounds, 6 assists
#10 Riley Miller: 30 Points, 6 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 4 Steals
#20 Courtney Brown, Jr.: 15 Points, 8 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Steals (UW-Milwaukee)
#22 Burt Hedstrom: 18 Points, 13 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 3 Steals
#23 Will Engels: 17 Points, 9 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 3 Steals
#24 Ryan Lindberg: 24 Points, 6 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 2 Steals
#31 Brooks Allen: 16 Points, 11 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 3 Steals
#32 Dom Martinelli: 10 Points, 2 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 0 Steals (Northwestern/St. Thomas)
#33 Bennett Kwiecinski: 8 Points, 6Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steal (Sienna/St. Thomas)
Unprecedented Move
St. Thomas is the first NCAA institution to move all of its athletics teams directly from Division III to D-I in one season.
Tommie teams have begun competing in four conferences across all 21 sports:
• The Summit League (18 sports)
• The Pioneer Football League
• Western Collegiate Hockey Association for women's hockey
• Central Collegiate Hockey Association for men's hockey
D-III Chapter and Tradition
• Program's all-time D-III record: 1,722-863; had third most wins of any D-III program before it moved into D-I this season
• 2 NCAA DIII championships (2011, 2016)
• 4 NCAA Division III Final Fours
• The program posted winning seasons in 40 of last 41 years
• Qualified for 14 of the last 15 NCAA Tournaments
• MIAC Champions 14 of the last 15 seasons
• Finished 1st or 2nd out of 400 D-III schools in fewest turnovers for three-consecutive seasons
• NCAA D-III Tournament appearances in 20 of last 31 seasons
• Conference regular-season champions 34 times (12 in row from 2006-2017)
• Johnny Tauer name National Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2016
• Steve Fritz named National Coach of the Year in 2011
• 47 MIAC championships (34 regular-season)
• 21 MIAC playoff appearances in row (league record), qualified 33 of 36 seasons format in place
• 4 30-win seasons since 2009
• 8 D3Hoops.com All-America honors (2002-2021)
• 6 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans
• 10 of the 31 MIAC Player of the Year honors, 16 of the 31 MIAC Coach of the Year honors
