University of St. Thomas Athletics
Denver
Game Notes - Men’s Basketball returns home to close out the 2021-22 season starting with Denver
2/23/2022 3:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Paul - Minn. - The St. Thomas Men's Basketball Team returns to Schoenecker Arena for the final two games of the 2021-22 season. The Tommies look to split the season series with Denver after falling to the Pioneers on a buzzer beater shot in the Purple's opening weekend of conference play.
Heading into the final two games this season, St. Thomas has three scorers averaging double-digits, led by the senior duo G Riley Miller (15.6) and G Anders Nelson (14.2). Miller is shooting 40 percent from behind the arc, connecting on 98-of-243 three point attempts. Nelson leads the team with a team-best 76 assists this season. Senior F Parker Bjorklund (12.6 points per game) rounds out the top scorers for the Purple.
As a team, the Tommies are averaging 73.8 points per game and connecting on 43 percent of their shots from the field and 35 percent from behind the arc. Additionally, St. Thomas has dished out 351 assists and committed only 226 turnovers.
Corbu Stathes will call the game live from Skor North radio, on 1500 a.m.
Snippets from the first game against the Pioneers
With 41 seconds to play, Denver converted on an old-fashioned three-point play with the and-one. With 20 seconds to play, Nelson made a layup to own a 74-73 lead. With five seconds to play, junior F Brooks Allen stepped to the line for the bonus, missed the free throw. Denver got the rebound, pushed the ball down the floor and connected on an alley-oop as time expired to earn the 75-74 win.
St. Thomas made 45 percent (26-of-58) of its shots from the field, 35 percent (9-of-26) of its shots from behind the arc and committed only six turnovers in the contest.
Individually, senior G Anders Nelson led the Purple with 23 points and senior G Riley Miller contributed 17 points, including two huge three-pointers down the stretch.
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 rank 5th in NCAA Division I in made 3-pointers (98). Miller has made 98-of-243 three-point attempts this season and averages 15.6 points per contest.
Probing the Pioneers
Last Thursday, The University of Denver men's basketball team couldn't hold off a last-minute comeback from Omaha on Thursday, falling on a buzzer-beater to the Mavs, 72-69 in Baxter Arena. The win for the Mavericks made it a split in the season series.
KJ Hunt had another solid all-around night, finishing with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists. Coban Porter kept up his scoring spree, notching 16 points, his fourth straight game in double figures. Michael Henn added 13 points. Touko Tainamo nearly recorded his third double-double this season with eight points and 11 rebounds.
As a team, the Pioneers are averaging 69.7 points per game and connecting on 45 percent of their shots from the field and 36 percent from behind the arc.
Denver has four scorers averaging double-figures led by KJ Hunt with 15.5 points per game. Hunt is joined by Jordan Johnson (11.0), Coban Porter (11.0) and Tevin Smith (10.3) as the leading scorers for Denver.
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.
*The rankings below do not reflect totals following the Tommies win on Tuesday as stats were not yet available at the time of publication.*
Rank Category Stat
Team
2nd Three-Point Field Goals Made 11.2 per game
3rd Free-Throw Percentage .748
Individual
1st Three-Point Field Goal Percentage R. Miller, .406
2nd Field Goal Percentage P. Bjorklund, .525
2nd Three-Point Field Goals Made R. Miller 3.7 per game
2nd Free Throw Percentage R. Miller, .904
5th Scoring R. Miller, 15.7
Last Time Out
The St. Thomas Men's Basketball Team (9-19, 3-13) used an efficient offensive effort to snap their 12-game skid with an 84-74 win over North Dakota (6-24, 2-15) in Grand Forks for the final road game of the 2021-22 season.
The Purple took an 11-point lead into halftime and led by as many as 25 points in the Tommies win over the Fighting Hawks. As a team, St. Thomas shot 49 percent (27-of-55) from the field, 33 percent (10-of-30) from behind the arc and 91 percent (20-of-22) from the charity stripe and only committed six turnovers in the game.
The Fighting Hawks soared to a 6-0 lead through the first three minutes of the game. The Tommies earned their first lead, 14-13, with 12:24 to play in the first half. UND briefly regained the lead before St. Thomas controlled a 17-16 lead with just over 11 minutes to play in the first half
Through the final 10 minutes of the first half, St. Thomas went on a 27-14 run to open a 41-30 lead going into the locker room at halftime. Through the late first-half run, the Purple connected on 9-of-13 shots from the field and 4-of-6 from deep and protected the ball, not committing a turnover.
In the first half, St. Thomas connected on 14-of-26 (54 percent) from the field, 6-of-14 (43 percent) from behind the arc and 7-of-9 (78 percent) from the charity stripe. The Purple only committed two first-half turnovers.
Grad student G Ryan Lindberg led the scoring efforts with seven points. St. Thomas used a balanced scoring effort in the first half, all nine Tommie that saw the floor contributed at least three first-half points.
Through the first eight minutes of the second half, the Purple powered their way to the largest lead of the game, 25 points, 59-34 with 12:18 to play in the game. UND battled its way back into the ball game, going on a 40-25 run through the final 12 minutes of the game, but the lead proved to be too much as St. Thomas snapped its 12-game losing streak and ended North Dakota's chances of making the Summit League Tournament.
Individually, all nine players that saw the court for the Purple contributed at least three points. There were five Tommies that reached double digits, led by Lindberg with 14 points. He was joined by senior G Riley Miller (12), junior F Brooks Allen (12), senior F Parker Bjorklund (10) and grad student G Burt Hedstrom (10) as the leading scorers for St. Thomas.
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 28 games into their D-I tenure, averaging 73.8 points per game, 11.2 made three-point shots per game and 8.07 turnovers per game.
He's the Coach
Dr. Johnny Tauer's has an overall record of 227-69 28 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 28 games with two starts...averages 19.1 minutes per game, 5.4 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 28 games...averages 10.8 minutes per game and on average, contributes 2.9 points and 1.3 rebounds per contest.
No. 3 Zach Theisen: Senior guard…2021-22: Played in 14 games...averages 1.7 points in 5.9 minutes per game...D-III: played in 47 games totaling 177 points.
No. 4 Anders Nelson: Senior guard…2021-22: Started all 27 games played...averages 28.5 minutes per game...averages 14.2 points per game, has a 1.6 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 22 games he's played...averages 25.4 minutes per game played...contributes an average of 12.6 points per game in addition to 6.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists 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 27 games he's played this season...averages a team-high 31.8 minutes per contest...averages 15.6 points per game...shoots 40 percent from behind the arc...has a 2.0 assist to turnover ration through 27 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 28 games...averages 6.8 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 28 games...averages 30.8 minutes per contest...averages 8.1 points and 1.2 assists per game...through 28 games, has a 1.9 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 28 games with six starts...averages 22.r minutes per contest...contributes 6.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game...D-III: played in 12 games.
No. 32 Dom Martinelli: Sophomore Guard…2021-22: Played in 12 games for the Tommies...averages 5.5 points and 1.8 rebounds per game...transfer from Northwestern, where he played in four games.
No. 33 Bennett Kwiecinski: Sophomore forward…2021-22: Played in 10 games for the Tommies...averages 1.8 points and 1.6 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
