University of St. Thomas Athletics
North Dakota State
Men's Basketball to host NDSU Wed., Dec. 21 at 12 noon in Schoenecker Arena
12/20/2022 3:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Thomas Men's Basketball completes its 2022 portion of its schedule in the friendly confines of Schoenecker Arena on Monday, Dec. 21 when it hosts the North Dakota State Bison with tip-off at 12 p.m.
Tommie Watch
Despite a 24-6 rebounding deficit heading into halftime, St. Thomas held even with North Dakota, 30-30, before grad student Parker Bjorklund erupted for 22 second-half points to lift St. Thomas to a 75-62 win to open Summit League action.
With the win, St. Thomas improves to 10-4 on the season and 1-0 in conference action. The 10 wins matches last season total only 14 games into the 2022-23 campaign.
The Tommies opened the game with three-straight made baskets jumping out to an early 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. The Fighting Hawks answered with a 15-9 run of their own to bring it to a one-point contest on two separate occasions, 16-15, and 18-17 with 7:41 to play in the opening half.
North Dakota would take its first lead of the ball game, 19-18 with 7:34 to play in the opening half. The two teams battled their way to a 30-30 tie at halftime as senior Riley Miller hit a three-point play as time expired in the first half.
Miller led the way with 16 points on a 5-of-7 showing from the field, all of which were from behind the arc. As a team, the Tommies connected on 11-of-25 (44%) from the field, including 7-of-14 (50%) of their shots from behind the arc in the first half.
UND opened a 37-34 lead, its largest lead of the night, with 16:36 to play. St. Thomas went on a 17-6 run over the next 5:15 to open a 10-point, 51-41 lead with 11:33 to play in the contest.
The Fighting Hawks were able to battle back within five, 64-59 with just under four minutes to play before the Purple ended the game on an 11-5 run to earn their 10th win of the season and improve to 1-0 in Summit League action.
The Duo of Bjorklund and Miller led St. Thomas with 29 and 24 points, respectively. Miller went 5-of-8 from behind the arc in the contest and went a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe. Bjorkund made 13-of-20 of his field goal attempts for a career-best 29-point effort. Junior Courtney Brown Jr. contributed 23 minutes which included some momentum changing defensive and rebounding efforts.
As a unit, St. Thomas connected on 53 percent (28-of-53) of its shots from the field and 43 percent (9-of-21) from downtown in the winning efforts. An efficient offensive effort highlighted by five turnovers from the Tommies made up for the rebound deficit.
Series History
Wednesday will be the 21st meeting all-time between the Bison and Tommies, with NDSU leading the series 12-8. NDSU won both games last season.
Bits on the Bison
North Dakota State's Grant Nelson finished with 35 points and 16 rebounds, but Western Illinois beat the Bison men's basketball team 79-60 in the Summit League opener for both schools on Monday evening.
Nelson set new career-highs in both points and rebounds.
NDSU fought its way back from a 10-point deficit to get within one at 44-43 with 12 minutes remaining. The Leathernecks pieced together an 18-8 run over the next four minutes to take control.
Junior guard Boden Skunberg added 10 points and a pair of steals for the Bison.
Western Illinois shot 48 percent for the game and made 10-of-22 (45 percent) from three-point range. The Bison made 44 percent overall, but only 1-of-17 from beyond the arc.
Nelson's totals were the most points by a Bison since January 2018 (Paul Miller, Cameron Hunter), and the most rebounds by a Bison since December 2014 (Dexter Werner).
NET Ranking
St. Thomas entered the week ranked 127th of 363 teams in the NCAA Evaluation Tool Ranking, second among all Summit League teams. Only Oral Roberts is ranked highest than St. Thomas at 53.
The Tommies have played two games against top 50 teams (Utah, 18th/Creighton, 46th) and have wins against Troy (99th) and Milwaukee (168th).
Above .500
The Tommies have shot above 50 percent from the field in eight of their 10 wins this season. In addition, the Purple shot exactly 42.9 percent from 3-point range in wins over Chicago State, St. Francis Brooklyn, Troy, and North Dakota. St. Thomas has hit at least 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range in eight of its 14 games.
St. Thomas has totaled eight games shooting at least 50 percent from the floor this season after recording six such games last season. The Tommies are 8-0 in those games this season compared to 5-1 in those games a season ago.
From the Parking Lot
St. Thomas' 3-point shooting has been on display in recent years, and this season is no different. The Tommies sank a season-high 17 3-point field goals against Merrimack on Nov. 19, totaling the Warriors' rebound total in the game.
The St. Thomas program record for 3-pointers in a game was 15 from 1992-2018. Since 2018, the Tommies have made at least 17 3-pointers in a game on 16 occasions. The current program record is 22, set twice during the 2021-22 season against Northland and North Central.
St. Thomas has recorded double digit 3-pointers during six of its 14 games and sank at least nine in 10 games. The Tommies are currently tied for 16th nationally shooting 40.2 percent from 3-point range and are tied for 29th with 9.6 3-pointers per game.
Head in the Clouds
St. Thomas played four of a five game stretch at high altitude, three at the Zootown Classic (Nov. 17-19) in Missoula Mont, (3,209') and Nov. 26 at Utah (4,226'). After a two-game homestand Nov. 29 and Dec. 3, St. Thomas will close its non-conference road schedule at even higher elevation. The Purple played Montana State Dec. 8 in Bozeman, Mont., (4,793') before taking on Idaho State Dec. 10 in Pocatello, Idaho (4,462'). As part of the Summit League schedule, St. Thomas will also travel to Denver, Colo., Feb. 4 to take on Denver at its highest elevation (5,279').
Reaching the Peak for the First Time
Riley Miller became the first Tommie to earn the TicketSmarter Summit League Peak Performer of the Week on Nov. 21 following his performance at the Zootown Classic.
Zootown Classic
Riley Miller led St. Thomas with 16.7 points per game on 43.3 percent shooting from the field (13-30) and 46.4 percent from 3-point range (13-28). He also went a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line while playing 32.2 minutes per game.
Andrew Rohde's performance at the Zootown Classic was highlighted by the game-winning basket to lift St. Thomas over Troy. He tied Miller for a team-high 16 points against the Trojans, including shooting 7-of-7 from the free throw line, with three 3-pointers, two assists and one block.
Miller and Rohde were both selected to the Zootown Classic All-Tournament Team.
The 38th Member of the Club
Riley Miller entered the 2022-23 season 27 points shy of 1,000 for his career. After scoring 13 points against No. 9 Creighton in the season opener, he scored 15 against Chicago State to hit the milestone. He became the 38th Tommie all-time to reach the mark, sinking the first of two free throws with 10:22 to play against the Cougars.
Miller began his Tommie career with 145 points as a freshman and 247 as a sophomore before further increasing his scoring average with 133 points in just seven games during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. Miller totaled nearly half of his career scoring total last season with 448 points while 738 of his 1,145 of his career points have come behind the 3-point line.
Miller is the first Tommie to reach 1,000 career points since guard Anders Nelson during the 2020-21 season.
The 3-Point Veteran
Riley Miller surpassed 100 made 3-pointers last season and is at 256 made in his 108-game career, 41 shy of the St. Thomas all-time record set by Bryan Schnettler from 2004-07. Miller made 103 treys as he converted 41 percent behind the arc last season. He was one of just four D-I shooters to make 100 or more threes and convert at 40 percent or better behind the arc.
His nine 3-pointers against Merrimack this season set a new career-high and was one shy of tying the program single-game record, set by Curt Kietzer with 10 in 1987. It's also the second-best 3-point performance in NCAA D-I this season.
Miller is third in the nation with 51 total 3-pointers and leads the Summit League and is tied for ninth nationally with 3.6 3-point field goals per game. He also leads the league and is 30th in the country shooting 45.1 percent from long range and is seventh in the conference with 15.4 points per game.
Freshmen Leading the Way
Andrew Rohde has led the Tommies in scoring in six of his 13 games played this season and ranks second the team scoring 14.5 points per game, which ranks first among all Summit League freshmen and seventh overall. He has a team-high 71field goals made and 3.5 assists per game.
Rohde scored 20 points during the Nov. 13 win over St. Francis Brooklyn, becoming the first Tommie freshman to score at least 20 points in a game since Anders Nelson recorded six games with at least 20 points in 2018-19. Rohde followed up with a career-high 22 points Dec. 8 at Montana State and recorded nine rebounds, becoming the first Tommie with at least 20 points and nine rebounds since Connor Bair with 26 points and 11 rebounds on Feb. 9, 2019 and the first freshman to do so since at least 2012-13.
Kendall Blue leads the bench with 7.6 points per game on 44.7 percent shooting. He has scored double-digit points in five games, including a career-high 15 against St. Francis Brooklyn. Blue made his first career start Nov. 29 versus North Central.
Ahjany Lee has made four starts in 14 games this season, his first on Nov. 13 versus St. Francis Brooklyn. He set career highs of 14 points and seven rebounds Nov. 11 against Chicago State.
NCAA DI Recruiting Class: Part Two
After bringing in Ben Nau and Ryan Dufault during the 2021 Tommie Signing Class, the 2022 class was bumped up to four with the additions of Carter Bjerke (6-9, F), Kendall Blue (6-6, G), Ahjany Lee (6-9, F) and Andrew Rohde (6-6, G).
The 2022 class was ranked number 52 of 368 schools according to Rivals.com. Additionally, only three of the top 50 ranked classes were mid-major schools.
