University of St. Thomas Athletics
Kansas City
Game Notes - Men’s Basketball returns home for three games in five days
2/7/2022 11:46:00 AM | Men's Basketball
St. Paul - Minn. - The St. Thomas Men's Basketball Team returns to the friendly confines of Schoenecker Arena for three home games in a five-day stretch beginning with Kansas City on Tuesday night.
Through the first 22 games of the season, St. Thomas has three scorers averaging double-digits, led by the senior duo G Riley Miller and G Anders Nelson, each averaging 15.6 points per game. Miller is shooting 41 percent from behind the arc, connecting on 79-of-194 three point attempts. Nelson leads the team with 343 points and has dished out a team-best 68 assists this season. Senior F Parker Bjorklund (13.8 points per game) rounds out the top scorers for the Purple.
As a team, the Tommies are averaging 75.5 points per game and connecting on 44 percent of their shots from the field and 37 percent from behind the arc. Additionally, St. Thomas has dished out 292 assists and committed only 179 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 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 7th in NCAA Division I in made 3-pointers (79). Miller has made 79-of-194 three-point attempts this season and averages 15.6 points per contest.
Readin' up on the Roos
Kansas City enters the contest with a 15-9 record and an 8-4 mark in conference action. Most recently, the Roos picked up their eighth Summit League win, 91-82, over Western Illinois.
Despite having only eight players suited up, Kansas City rallied behind a career night from Marvin Nesbitt Jr. to defeat Western Illinois, 91-82. Five Roos finished in double-digit scoring, led by 26 on 10-of-17 shooting from Nesbitt. With the win, KC has won seven of its last eight, including six-of-seven Summit League contests.
Through 24 games this season, KC has four scorers averaging double-digits, led by Evan Gilyard II, who is averaging 15.5 points per game and shooting 41 percent from behind the arc. Arkel Lamar is averaging 12.9 points, Josiah Allick is contributing 11.7 points and Marvin Nesbitt Jr. (11.6 points per game) rounds out the top scorers for the Roos.
As a team, the Roos are averaging 74.0 points per game and connecting on 47 percent of their shots from the field and 36 percent from behind the arc. Additionally, Kansas City has dished out 337 assists and committed 263 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.
Stats as of Friday, Feb. 4 - League had not updated at time of publication.
Rank - Category - Stat
Team
2nd - Three-Point Field Goals Made - 12.2 per game
2nd - Free-Throw Percentage - .758
3rd - Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - .377
4th - Scoring Offense - 76.0 points per game
Individual
2nd - Three-Point Field Goals Made - R. Miller 3.9 per game
2nd - Free Throw Percentage - R. Miller, .883
2nd - Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - R. Miller, .414
3rd - Scoring - A. Nelson, 16.2
3rd - Assist To Turnover Ratio - A. Nelson, 1.7
t-4th - Three-Point Field Goals Made - R. Lindberg 2.3 per game
5th - Scoring - R. Miller, 15.9
5th - Assists per game - A. Nelson, 3.2
Last Time Out
The St. Thomas Men's Basketball Team (8-14, 2-8) hung tough with Oral Roberts (16-8, 10-3) through 35 minutes, but ultimately fell by a score of 88-66.
The Tommies raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first 53 seconds of the game with a turn-around jumper by senior F Parker Bjorklund and a three-point bucket by senior G Riley Miller. With 14:31 remaining in the first half, Oral Roberts took its first lead of the game, 13-12. The two teams exchanged blows for the remainder of the first half with neither team leading by more than four points.
In a true half-court game, there was only one fast-break point scored in the first 20 minutes of competition. A team defensive effort by the Purple held Golden Eagle Star and NBA prospect Max Abmas to two first-half points, which came in the final seconds of the first half.
As a team, St. Thomas connected on 50 percent (16-of-32) of its shots from the field and 43 percent (3-of-7) from behind the arc. Efficiency-wise, the Tommies committed four turnovers and dished out four assists. The Purple limited the Golden Eagle shooting efforts to a 36 percent showing from the field and allowed them to connect on only 5-of-20 shots from behind the arc.
Individually, Bjorklund scored 17 first-half points on an 8-of-15 showing from the field and a 1-of-3 effort from the charity stripe. Sophomore G Dom Martinelli had an efficient first half, finishing with seven points on a 3-of-3 shooting effort from the field, including a 1-of-1 showing from deep.
The two teams continued to exchange blows through the first five minutes of the second half with the score tied at 47-47, a huge dunk from Oral Roberts gave the Golden Eagles the lead, 49-47 followed by another lay-up opening a 51-47 lead forcing Head Coach Dr. Johnny Tauer to use a timeout to stop the momentum.
Oral Roberts pushed its lead to as many as 11 points, 70-59 with 6:29 to play. The Tommies simply had not answer for the 6-7, 280lbs. redshirt senior Elijah Lufile, as he caused chaos in the paint for the Purple down the stretch. With 3:39 to play, ORU pushed its lead to 16 points, 82-66 and didn't look back as they went on to earn the 88-66 win.
Individually, Bjorklund led the team in points (25) and rebounds (6), finishing one point shy of his career-high point total. The academic senior finished shooting 12-of-23 from the field. Miller was the only other Tommie to reach double-figures, finishing with 10 points.
As a team, St. Thomas connected on 41 percent (27-of-66) of its shots from the field and 24 percent (6-of-25) from deep. Oral Roberts owned the rebound advantage, 46-32. Each team committed only six turnovers in the game.
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 22 games into their D-I tenure, averaging 76 points per game, 12.0 made three-point shots per game and 8.1 turnovers per game.
He's the Coach
Dr. Johnny Tauer's has an overall record of 226-63 21 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 8-13 record with a 2-7 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 22 games with one start...averages 19 minutes per game, 5.4 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 22 games...averages 11.2 minutes per game and on average, contributes 3.2 points and 1.2 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 22 games...averages 29.5 minutes per game...tied for a team-best 15.6 points per game, has the third-best assist to turnover ratio in the league (1.7)...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 16 games he's played...averages 26.0 minutes per game played...contributes an average of 13.8 points per game in addition to 6.5 rebounds, 1.4 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 21 games he's played this season...averages a team-high 32.0 minutes per contest...averages 15.6 points per game...shoots 41 percent from behind the arc...has a 2.2 assist to turnover ration through 21 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 22 games...averages 7.3 points and 3.7 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 22 games...averages 30.2 minutes per contest...averages 8.1 points and 1.3 assists per game...through 21 games, has a 2.2 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 22 games with six starts...averages 22.2 minutes per contest...contributes 6.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game...D-III: played in 12 games.
No. 32 Dom Martinelli: Sophomore Guard…2021-22: Played in six games for the Tommies...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
