University of St. Thomas Athletics
South Dakota
Game Notes - Men’s Basketball embarks on final road stretch of 2021-22 season
2/16/2022 2:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Paul - Minn. - The St. Thomas Men's Basketball Team embarks on their final three-game road trip with three games in a six-day stretch starting with the University of South Dakota, in Vermillion, S.D. on Thursday.
Through 25 games this season, St. Thomas has three scorers averaging double-digits, led by the senior duo G Riley Miller (15.2) and G Anders Nelson (14.9). Miller is shooting 39 percent from behind the arc, connecting on 84-of-215 three point attempts. Nelson leads the team with 373 points and has dished out a team-best 75 assists this season. Senior F Parker Bjorklund (13.3 points per game) rounds out the top scorers for the Purple.
As a team, the Tommies are averaging 74.5 points per game and connecting on 44 percent of their shots from the field and 36 percent from behind the arc. Additionally, St. Thomas has dished out 313 assists and committed only 205 turnovers.
Corbu Stathes will call the game live from Skor North radio, on 1500 a.m.
Snippets from the first game against the Coyotes
The two teams traded runs in the early portion of the second half, before the Coyotes put together an extended scoring streak in the latter portion of the half. Anders and Nelson hit on back-to-back three-pointers to allow the Tommies to take a five-point lead, 52-47, at the 17:49 mark. A Lindberg three on an assist from Brooks Allen with just over four minutes left cut the South Dakota lead to four, 73-69. The Tommies would be unable to rally back over the final few minutes, falling by a score 90-79.
Historic Season
After 112 seasons as a small-college, NAIA and Division III men's basketball program, St. Thomas started its Division I era 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 be tied for 8th in NCAA Division I in made 3-pointers (84). Miller has made 84-of-215 three-point attempts this season and averages 15.2 points per contest.
Looking in on the Yotes
Mason Archambault scored a game-high 25 points and South Dakota continued to play well on the road, getting past Denver 84-76 Saturday inside Hamilton Gymnasium.
The Coyotes showed no weariness in playing their fourth game in eight days, the last three on the road. They improved to 15-10 overall and 8-6 in Summit League play. They have won five of their last six road games inside the conference.
As a team, the Coyotes are averaging 75.2 points per game and connecting on 46 percent of their shots from the field and 37 percent from behind the arc.
USD has four scorers averaging double-figures led by Kruz Perrott-Hunt with 15.0 points per game. He is joined by Mason Archambault (14.7), Xavier Fuller (11.3) and Tasos Kamateros (10.7) as the leading scorers for the Coyotes.
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
2nd Three-Point Field Goals Made 11.2 per game
3rd Free-Throw Percentage .748
Individual
2nd Field Goal Percentage P. Bjorklund, .551
2nd Three-Point Field Goals Made R. Miller 3.5 per game
2nd Free Throw Percentage R. Miller, .900
2nd Three-Point Field Goal Percentage R. Miller, .391
3rd Assist To Turnover Ratio A. Nelson, 1.6
5th Rebounds per game P. Bjorklund, 6.4
Last Time Out
The St. Thomas Men's Basketball Team used a huge four-point play to swing momentum in their favor heading into halftime, and led by over 10 minutes of the second half before falling to North Dakota State 75-64.
In a defensive start to the game, the Bison struck first with over two-and-a-half minutes expired with a three-point shot. The Bison led by as many as 10 points, 27-17 with five minutes to play in the first half.
Over the final five minutes of the first half, St. Thomas went on a 17-4 run, highlighted by a four-point play by senior G Riley Miller with less than a minute to play in the first half. With the run, St. Thomas opened up a 34-31 lead heading into intermission.
Individually, junior F Brooks Allen led the Purple in the first half with 12 points on a 4-of-6 effort from the field and a 4-of-5 effort from the charity stripe. Six different Tommies made their way into the scoring column in the opening half. Senior F Parker Bjorklund added eight points and Miller added seven points.
As a team, St. Thomas connected on 44 percent (11-of-25) of its shots from the field and 25 percent (2-of-8) from behind the arc. Defensively, the Tommies forced nine first-half turnovers by the Bison.
Through the first 11 minutes of the games the two teams exchanged blows, but the Tommies never lost the lead, and led by as many as four points.
With 8:07 to play in the second half, NDSU took its first lead of the second half 53-52 on a four-point swing following a foul and an offensive rebound, put-back by the Bison. After surrendering the lead, the Tommies could never regain it.
With 3:09 to play the Purple cut the lead to three points, 62-59 from a lay-up from Allen. In the final three minutes of the game, St. Thomas could never cut the lead to less than six points, with NDSU ultimately earning the 75-64 win.
As a team, St. Thomas connected on 42 percent (22-of-53) of its shots from behind the arc and only 14 percent (3-of-21) from behind the arc. The Tommies played a strong, smart 40-minute effort, committing only eight turnovers and limiting the Bison to a 39 percent (7-of-18) showing from deep.
Individually Allen and Bjorklund led the scoring efforts with 18 points each. Miller added 10 points of his own.
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 25 games into their D-I tenure, averaging 75 points per game, 11.2 made three-point shots per game and 8.2 turnovers per game.
He's the Coach
Dr. Johnny Tauer's has an overall record of 226-66 25 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. 21 games into the D-I era, Coach Tauer has led him team to an 8-16 record with a 2-10 record on the 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 25 games with one start...averages 18.6 minutes per game, 5.1 points per game and 1.6 rebounds each contest...D-III: played in 49 games totaling 160 points
No. 2 Ben Nau: Freshman guard...2021-22: Played in all 25 games...averages 10.7 minutes per game and on average, contributes 3.0 points and 1.1 rebounds per contest.
No. 3 Zach Theisen: Senior guard…2021-22: Played in 11 games...averages 1.4 points in 5.3 minutes per game...D-III: played in 47 games totaling 177 points.
No. 4 Anders Nelson: Senior guard…2021-22: Started all 25 games...averages 29.5 minutes per game...averages 14.9 points per game, has the third-best assist to turnover ratio in the league (1.6)...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 19 games he's played...averages 25.7 minutes per game played...contributes an average of 13.3 points per game in addition to 6.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 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 24 games he's played this season...averages a team-high 31.9 minutes per contest...averages 15.2 points per game...shoots 39 percent from behind the arc...has a 2.3 assist to turnover ration through 25 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 25 games...averages 7.1 points and 3.6 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 16 games...averages 9.8 minutes per game and contributes 2.1 points and 2.8 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 25 games...averages 30.8 minutes per contest...averages 8.4 points and 1.2 assists per game...through 25 games, has a 1.8 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 25 games with six starts...averages 22.5 minutes per contest...contributes 6.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game...D-III: played in 12 games.
No. 32 Dom Martinelli: Sophomore Guard…2021-22: Played in nine games for the Tommies...averages 5.0 points and 1.7 rebounds per game...transfer from Northwestern, where he played in four games.
No. 33 Bennett Kwiecinski: Sophomore forward…2021-22: Played in eight games for the Tommies...averages 2.0 points and 1.9 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: 26 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, 6 Rebounds, 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
