University of St. Thomas Athletics
Oral Roberts
Game Notes - Men’s Basketball continues home stand against Sweet 16 Cinderella Story Oral Roberts
1/5/2022 12:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Paul - Minn. - The St. Thomas Men's Basketball Team welcomes Oral Roberts to Schoenecker Arena to continue Summit League action.
Through the first 15 games of the season, St. Thomas has three scorers averaging double-digits, led by senior G Riley Miller is averaging 17.8 points per game and shooting a blistering 45.5 percent from behind the arc, connecting on 65-of-143 three point attempts. Fellow senior G Anders Nelson is averaging 17.0 points per game and senior F Parker Bjorklund (13.2 points per game) rounds out the top scorers for the Purple.
As a team, the Tommies are averaging 79.5 points per game and connecting on 46 percent of their shots from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc. Additionally, St. Thomas has dished out 229 assists and committed only 116 turnovers.
Corbu Stathes will call the game live from Skor North radio, on 1500 a.m.
Fans can also view the live stream of the game for free at: https://tommiesports.com/watch/?Live=180&type=Live
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 (65) and made 3-pointers per game (4.6). Miller has made 65-of-143 three-point attempts this season and averages a team-best 17.8 points.
About Oral Roberts
Oral Roberts enters the contest with a 9-6 record and a 3-1 mark in conference action. Most recently, the Golden Eagles picked up their third Summit League win, 107-62, over Omaha.
Last season, ORU, the No. 4 seed in the Summit League tourney, became the second No. 15 to win two games in the NCAA Tournament, joining Florida Gulf Coast in 2013. That's a big story unto itself. All these months later, it seems like people have forgotten the Eagles were one shot away from making the Elite Eight! Max Abmas' 3-pointer vs. Arkansas was just a little left.
Oral Roberts guard Max Abmas earned the latest TicketSmarter #SummitMBB Player of the Week award, league officials announced Monday. The Golden Eagle junior scored 20-plus points in both of ORU's home wins in league play last week.
Abmas, who now has a league-best eight 20-plus contests, scored 24 in an 83-66 victory over Denver, then added 20 in just 22 minutes in a 107-62 rout of Omaha. He had double digits by halftime in both contests and pushed his league-leading scoring average to 21.2 ppg.
He finished the two games shooting 16-for-31 from the field and added seven assists. Against Omaha, he had four of those assists and tallied a career-high five steals on the defensive end.
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.
Rank Category Stat
Team
1st - Three-Point Field Goals Made - 13.9 per game
2nd - Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - .404
3rd - Free-Throw Percentage - .731
3rd - Scoring Margin - +10.1 points per game
3rd - Field Goal Percentage - .459
4th - Scoring Offense - 79.5 points per game
5th - Scoring Defense - 69.5 points per game
Individual
1st - Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - R. Lindberg, .527
1st - Three-Point Field Goals Made - R. Miller 4.6 per game
1st - Assist To Turnover Ratio - A. Nelson, 2.0
2nd - Assists per game - A. Nelson, 3.8
2nd - Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - R. Miller, .455
2nd - Free Throw Percentage - R. Miller, .870
3rd - Scoring - R. Miller, 17.8
2nd - Assists - A. Nelson, 3.8 per game
5th - Field Goal Percentage - R. Miller, .444
4th - Scoring - A. Nelson, 17.0
5th - Free Throw Percentage - A. Nelson, .809
Western Illinois Recap
The St. Thomas Men's Basketball Team lead for 39:01 of the game and never trailed Western Illinois (10-5, 1-2 Summit League) to improve to 8-7 on the season and 2-1 in the Summit League.
St. Thomas shot 59 percent from the field and 62 percent from behind the arc in the second half to stave off an early second-half push by Western Illinois.
The Tommies exploded to an early 22-6 lead through the first 9:32 of the contest. Senior F Parker Bjorklund accounted for seven of the first 22 Purple points.
The Leathernecks battled their way back within 12 points, 40-27, with just over one minute to play in the opening frame. A huge three-point basket by grad student G Ryan Lindberg with seconds remaining gave St. Thomas a 43-27 lead at halftime.
In an uncommonly turnover laden first half for St. Thomas in which the Tommies committed six turnovers but forced six Western Illinois turnovers. As a team, the Purple connected on 15-of-31 (48 percent) of their shots from the field and 6-of-17 (35 percent) from behind the arc. St. Thomas assisted on seven of their 15 made field goals in the first half.
Individually, Lindberg poured in 11 points in the first half on a 2-of-4 shooting effort from behind the arc, and a perfect 5-of-5 showing from the charity stripe. Bjorklund added nine points in the first 20 minutes and senior G Kevin Cunningham contributed seven points off the bench in the first half.
The first five minutes of the second half saw the Leathernecks jump out on a 17-6 run to cut the St. Thomas lead to five point, 49-44, the lowest deficit by Western Illinois since the opening minutes of the contest.
With just under 15 minutes to play in the contest, senior G Anders Nelson took over scoring 10 of the next 12 points for the Purple and got down and dirty with a diving jump ball, which counted as a steal for the team's leading assister. With that 14-5 run, St. Thomas opened up a 63-51 lead and captured all of the momentum behind a ruckus Schoenecker Arena crowd and enabled St. Thomas to capture an 89-66 win.
Individually, six Tommies contributed double-digit points led by Nelson with 20 points, he shot 8-of-11 from the field, added five rebounds and five assists and played a team-high 32 minutes. Joining him in double figures were grad student G Burt Hedstrom (16), senior G Riley Miller (13), Cunningham (13), Bjorklund (12), and Lindberg (11).
As a team, St. Thomas connected on 31-of-58 (53 percent) of their shots from the field and 14-of-30 (47 percent) from behind the arc. They dished out 17 assists and out-rebounded the Leathernecks 32-29.
Preseason Progress
St. Thomas played its 12th and final non-conference game over the holiday break, downing North Central 97-45. Now the Purple turned their full attention to the Summit League schedule this past Saturday against Western Illinois, earning their second league win.
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.
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 15 games into their D-I tenure, averaging 79.5 points per game, 13.9 made three-point shots per game and 7.7 turnovers per game.
He's the Coach
Dr. Johnny Tauer's has an overall record of 226-57 15 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 15 games with one start...averages 19.2 minutes per game, 6.3 points per game and 2.2 rebounds each contest...D-III: played in 49 games totaling 160 points
No. 2 Ben Nau: Freshman guard...2021-22: Played in all 15 games...averages 12.9 minutes per game and on average, contributes 3.9 points and 1.5 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 15 games...averages 29.7 minutes per game...averages 17.0 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 nine games he's played...averages 26.1 minutes per game played...contributes an average of 13.2 points per game in addition to 7.7 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: Started all 14 games played this season...averages a team-high 31.9 minutes per contest...averages a team-best 17.8 points per game...shoots 45.5 percent from behind the arc...has a 3.2 assist to turnover ration through 14 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 15 games...averages 7.8 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 15 games...averages 29.3 minutes per contest...averages 9.7 points and 1.6 assists per game...through 15 games, has a 3.0 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 15 games with six starts...averages 23.1 minutes per contest...contributes 5.8 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
