Miller tops 1,000 points in 83-61 Men’s Basketball win over Chicago State

Team	1	2	F
Chicago St.	24	37	61
St. Thomas (MN)	38	45	83

Chicago St.

St. Thomas (MN)

St. Paul, Minn. -- Graduate student Riley Miller topped 1,000 career points Friday night as part of an 83-61 win for St. Thomas Men's Basketball over Chicago State. Miller hit the milestone midway through the second half and was one of five Tommies with double-digit scoring.

"We're very pleased tonight to get a victory against a tough Chicago State team," Head Coach John Tauer said. "Coming into the game we had a good plan. These guys executed on it really well. They're aggressive defensively and they offensively rebounded well."

"Coming off of Monday's game at Creighton, this was huge for us to play in front of a home crowd that was electric. Our students were phenomenal. This is the kind of team that, I'm biased, but if I were a fan I'd want to come watch. They're really unselfish, they're really hard working and they love to play basketball together. Really thrilled from the performance tonight, the showing from the crowd and excited for the journey we're on in 2022-23."

The Tommies jumped out to a six-point lead over the first four minutes behind the first of Miller's four 3-pointers in the game and four points from senior Will Engels.

The lead grew to double-digits four minutes later and was extended to a first-half-high lead of 20 points, 33-13, following one of freshman Ahjany Lee's two dunks in the game. The highlight play capped a 14-2 run where the Tommies held the Cougars to 1-of-9 shooting from the field.

After leading by 14 at halftime, 38-24, Chicago State went on a 7-0 run to cut the St. Thomas lead to single digits again, 40-31. Graduate student Parker Bjorklund provided one of the team's eight offensive rebounds and converted with second-chance points to snap the skid.

Miller followed Bjorklund's score with his final 3-pointer of the night as part of a 15-2 run to take a 55-33 lead with 13:30 to play. Miller's final points of the game pushed him over the 1,000 point threshold, sinking two free throws just before the 10-minute mark.

Miller finished with a team-high 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting, all coming from behind the arc. Lee followed with 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting and added a team-high seven rebounds. Freshman Kendall Blue dished out five assists while a trio of Tommies recorded two steals each.

The Tommies shot 63.3 percent from the field (31-49) for its highest shooting percentage in the NCAA Division I era. St. Thomas also knocked down 6-of-14 from behind the arc and outrebounded Chicago State, 37-30. The Purple also dominated play in the paint, outscoring the Cougars 50-36 in the lane.

St. Thomas returns to Schoenecker Arena Sunday to host St. Francis Brooklyn at 2 p.m.

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Team Stats

Riley Miller

Ahjany Lee

Andrew Rohde

Will Engels

Players Mentioned

Parker Bjorklund

Will Engels

Riley Miller