University of St. Thomas Athletics
Kansas City
Game Notes - Men’s Basketball continues four-game road stand in Kansas City
2/2/2022 1:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Paul - Minn. - The St. Thomas Men's Basketball Team takes to the road for the third-of-four straight road games in the heart of their conference schedule.
Through the first 20 games of the season, St. Thomas has three scorers averaging double-digits, led by senior G Riley Miller who is averaging 16.4 points per game and shooting 42 percent from behind the arc, connecting on 76-of-183 three point attempts. Fellow senior G Anders Nelson is averaging 15.9 points per game and senior F Parker Bjorklund (12.1 points per game) rounds out the top scorers for the Purple.
As a team, the Tommies are averaging 76.2 points per game and connecting on 44 percent of their shots from the field and 38 percent from behind the arc. Additionally, St. Thomas has dished out 278 assists and committed only 160 turnovers
Corbu Stathes will call the game live from Skor North radio, on 1500 a.m.
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 be 5th in NCAA Division I in made 3-pointers (76). Miller has made 76-of-183 three-point attempts this season and averages a team-best 16.4 points.
Readin' up on the Roos
Kansas City enters the contest with a 13-9 record and a 6-4 mark in conference action. Most recently, the Roos defeated Western Illinois, 83-75, by way of hot shooting coupled with multiple career-highs moved KC into a tie for third place in the Summit standings. Evan Gilyard II dropped 33 points and dished out eight assists, both career-highs for the graduate student. Caden Boser also had a career-high 14 points with a career-high-tying four three-pointers made, while Marvin Nesbitt Jr. finished with a career-high-tying 12 rebounds.
Through 20 games this season, Kansas City has four scorers averaging double-digits, led by Evan Gilyard II, who is averaging 15.3 points per game and shooting 4` percent from behind the arc, connecting on 48-of-118 three-point attempts. Arkel Lamar is averaging 12.3 points per game, Josiah Allick (11.7) and Marvin Nesbitt Jr. (10.6 points per game) round out the top scorers for the Roos.
As a team, KC is averaging 72.9 points per game and connecting on 47 percent of its shots from the field and 35 percent from behind the arc. Additionally, KC has dished out 309 assists and committed 243 turnovers.
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 - 12.7 per game
3rd - Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - .380
3rd - Free-Throw Percentage - .747
4th - Scoring Offense - 76.2 points per game
Individual
2nd - Three-Point Field Goals Made - R. Miller 4.0 per game
2nd - Free Throw Percentage - R. Miller, .879
2nd - Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - R. Miller, .415
3rd - Scoring - R. Miller, 16.4
3rd - Assist To Turnover Ratio - A. Nelson, 1.8
4th - Three-Point Field Goals Made - R. Lindberg 2.4 per game
5th - Field Goal Percentage - A. Nelson, .437
5th - Assists per game - A. Nelson, 3.2
5th - Scoring - A. Nelson, 15.9
Leatherneck Recap
St. Thomas men's basketball (8-12, 2-6 Summit League) was stifled in a road contest at Western Illinois (13-8, 4-5 Summit League), 81-52, on Saturday.
After senior forward Parker Bjorklund scored the game's first points, the Leathernecks went on a 16-5 run over the next 7:42 of game time to open a 16-7 lead with 11:47 remaining in the first half. In that run, WIU hit seven of its 15 shot attempts including a pair a threes.
St. Thomas was unable to get anything to fall in the first half of action, connection on 33 percent (10-of-30) of its shots from the field and only 19 percent (3-of-16) from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes of the game. The Tommies trailed 45-26 heading into halftime.
Individually in the first half, senior G Anders Nelson led the team in scoring with seven points. Bjorklund added six points and senior G Riley Miller contributed three points and dished out three assists.
Through the first five minutes of the second half, WIU went on a 13-6 run opening a 57-32 lead with 14:38 remaining in the game. The Leathernecks would continue to stave off any potential Tommie runs, In the second half, the Toms shot 30.8 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from deep, while going 6-9 (66.7 percent) at the free throw line.
There was a wide discrepancy of points being scored in the paint between both teams, with Western Illinois amassing 48 points inside to St. Thomas' 16.
Will Engels found the bucket for St. Thomas twice, in limited playing time, while also tallying one rebound. Ben Nau and Dom Martinelli, both playing in reserve action, combined for 10 points and six rebounds.
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 20 games into their D-I tenure, averaging 76.2 points per game, 12.7 made three-point shots per game and 8.0 turnovers per game.
He's the Coach
Dr. Johnny Tauer's has an overall record of 226-62 19 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. 17 games into the D-I era, Coach Tauer has led him team to an 8-9 record with a 3-3 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 20 games with one start...averages 18.8 minutes per game, 5.6 points per game and 1.9 rebounds each contest...D-III: played in 49 games totaling 160 points
No. 2 Ben Nau: Freshman guard...2021-22: Played in all 20 games...averages 11.9 minutes per game and on average, contributes 3.6 points and 1.3 rebounds per contest.
No. 3 Zach Theisen: Senior guard…2021-22: Played in 10 games...averages 1.5 points in 5.7 minutes per game...D-III: played in 47 games totaling 177 points.
No. 4 Anders Nelson: Senior guard…2021-22: Started all 20 games...averages 29.5 minutes per game...averages 15.9 points per game, has the third-best assist to turnover ratio in the league (1.8)...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 14 games he's played...averages 25.0 minutes per game played...contributes an average of 12.1 points per game in addition to 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 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 19 games he's played this season...averages a team-high 32.1 minutes per contest...averages a team-best 16.4 points per game...shoots 42 percent from behind the arc...has a 2.5 assist to turnover ration through 19 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 20 games...averages 7.5 points and 3.8 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 15 games...averages 10.3 minutes per game and contributes 2.3 points and 3.0 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 20 games...averages 30.2 minutes per contest...averages 8.7 points and 1.4 assists per game...through 20 games, has a 2.1 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 20 games with six starts...averages 22.7 minutes per contest...contributes 6.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game...D-III: played in 12 games.
No. 32 Dom Martinelli: Sophomore Guard…2021-22: Played in four games for the Tommies...transfer from Northwestern, where he played in four games.
No. 33 Bennett Kwiecinski: Sophomore forward…2021-22: Played in seven games for the Tommies...averages 2.3 points and 2.0 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: 21 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
