University of St. Thomas Athletics
Kansas City
Game Notes - Men's Basketball face two-tough road tests in Kansas City and Oral Roberts
1/10/2023 2:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Thomas Men's Basketball takes to the road looking to remain near the top of the Summit League standings with games against Kansas City and Oral Roberts, who currently sits atop the Summit League standings.
A season ago, The Tommies suffered losses in both home and away series with the Roos and the Golden Eagles.
The Tommies, the league's second ranked offense (77.1 points per game) face Oral Roberts, the league's top ranked offense (83.8 points per game) on Saturday night after facing Kansas City (No. 9 offense, 66.2 points per game) on Thursday.
Freshman standout, Andrew Rohde leads the Tommies with 15.2 points per game, while grad student Riley Miller averages 14.5 points per game and leads the conference in three-point FG percentage (45.1 percent) and made three-pointers per game (3.4).
All of the St. Thomas Men's Basketball games are called by the voice of the Tommies, Corbu Stathes. The broadcasts can be heard live on skornorth.com/listen or by tuning your radio dial to 1500 am in the Twin Cities area.
Summit League Standings
With a perfect 2-0 start to conference play and an 11-4 overall record, St. Thomas sat by itself atop the Summit League standings after the first week of conference play.
Heading into this weekend's series, St. Thomas sits two games behind Oral Roberts for the top-spot in the conference standings.
Last Time Out
St. Thomas was able to keep its impressive home winning-streak intact with an 80-68 win over Omaha. All 9 of the Tommies home wins this season have been by at least 10 points.
Freshman Andrew Rohde posted a career-high 24 points, a D1 era freshman record, in the game to top off his near perfect stat line. Rohde finished with 24 points, 8 assists 4 rebounds, three steals and no turnovers.
With the win, St. Thomas improves to 13-6 overall and 4-2 in Summit League action. With the win, St. Thomas trails only Oral Roberts (12-3 overall, 3-0 conference) atop the Summit League Standings.
The Tommies led by as many as 11 points, 22-11 with 8:29 to play with a stymy defensive effort and some momentum generating offensive efforts. The Mavericks then went on a 20-8 run to earn their first lead of the game, 31-30 with 1:54 to play in the opening half.
The Tommies responded with two-straight threes by the freshman duo of Andrew Rohde and Kendall Blue to hope a 36-33 lead with 1:11 to play before halftime. The two teams exchanged buckets in the final minute of the half to bring the score to 38-35 in favor of the home team going into intermission.
St. Thomas connected on 42 percent of its shots from the field and 41 percent from behind the arc in the first half. The Tommies forced six first-half turnovers by the Mavericks and out-rebounded Omaha 20-16 in the first 20 minutes of play.
Seven different Tommies made their way into the scoring column in the first half, led by Blue who netted 11 points in the opening half on a 4-of-5 shooting effort from the field and a 3-of-4 showing from behind the arc.
The second half started with a scoring draught, neither team was able to score a bucket in the first over four minutes before Rohde scored the scoring draught with a layup. Less than 30 seconds later, fellow freshman Ahjany Lee slammed home a momentum-seizing alley-oop forcing Omaha to take a timeout with the Tommies leading 42-35 with 15:33 to play.
The Mavericks were able to cut the Tommie lead to as few as three points, 50-47 with 9:44 to play before St. Thomas erupted on a 17-9 run opening a 67-54 lead with 3:28 to play. In that run, Rohde accounted for eight of the Tommies 17 points. The Tommies were able to make their shots at the line down the stretch to earn the 80-68 win.
Joining Rohde in double figures were grad student Riley Miller (18 points), Blue with 13 points, and Lee with 10 points.
As a team, St. Thomas connected on 43 percent (25-of-58) of its shots from the field, 41 percent (11-of-27) from behind the arc and finished +2 in the rebounding column.
About Kansas City
Behind four double-digit scorers, Kansas City Men's Basketball (6-11, 2-2 Summit) took the Summit League preseason favorites to the wire before falling to Oral Roberts (13-3, 4-0 Summit), 74-71. RayQuawndis Mitchell led the Roos with 23 points, three assists and two steals, playing over 37 minutes of game time.
Kansas City took a seven-point edge into halftime, shooting 50% from the field and from three in the first stanza. The second half was back-and-forth, but Oral Roberts claimed a six-point lead going into the under-four timeout.
The Roos had one of their most balanced scoring efforts of the year, with Allen (11 points), Promise C. Idiaru (11) and Allen David Mukeba Jr. (10) joining Mitchell in double-digits. Mukeba added a team-high eight rebounds.
On Omaha
The Oral Roberts men's basketball team fell, 82-75, Monday evening at (RV) New Mexico inside The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Known for its hostile crowd, The Pit proved tough with a crowd of 9,000-plus filling the seats as Oral Roberts stepped out of league play Monday evening. The Golden Eagles didn't shy away from the challenge as ORU led four times to silence the Lobos. Max Abmas continued to prove why he is one of the best players in college basketball as he led all scorers with 26 points. It was his ninth 20-plus point game of the season. Connor Vanover also shined with 18 points, his 11th double-digit outing of the 2022-23 campaign.
Oral Roberts fell behind early to start the game as New Mexico went on a quick 6-0 burst. Vanover broke the run with a triple to put the Golden Eagles on the board. ORU was then able to tie the game, 11-11, just four minutes in. The Golden Eagles then led by three twice before UNM retook the lead and went on an 11-0 run to lead by 10 with five minutes left. A pull-up jumper by Abmas brought ORU to within five with less than a minute on the clock, but the Lobos were able to hit a three-pointer to make it a 43-35 game at the half. The home team shot 54.3 percent from the field in the first half, but Abmas and Vanover each scored in double-digits in the first 20 minutes with Abmas leading the team with 12.
New Mexico grabbed an early 10 point lead to start the second half. For the first 10 minutes, the two teams exchanged buckets as the Golden Eagles managed to pull to within seven, but trailed by as much as 11 in that stretch. The Lobos did put together an 8-0 run with 8:19 left that was highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers to lead by as much as 15.
The Golden Eagles out-scored the Lobos in the second half, 40-39, and upped their shooting percentage to 42.3 percent overall on the night.
Individual Leaders
Oral Roberts: Abmas had 26 and Carlos Jurgens pulled down nine rebounds with seven being on the offensive glass.
NET Ranking
St. Thomas entered the week ranked 161st 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 65.
The Tommies have played two games against top 50 teams (Utah, 45th/Creighton, 24th) and have wins against Troy (117th) and Milwaukee (153rd).
Above .500
The Tommies have shot above 50 percent from the field in nine of their 13 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 15 games.
St. Thomas has totaled nine games shooting at least 50 percent from the floor this season after recording six such games last season. The Tommies are 9-0 in those games this season compared to 5-1 in those games a season ago.
Climbing the Summit
In just its second year of Division I and Summit League membership, St. Thomas tipped off conference with wins against UND and NDSU before falling at USD and SDSU. The Tommies rank the conference's top-5 in numerous standings and has a handful of players in the individual statistical category top-10.
Below are rankings and statistics through Jan. 10. These stats and rankings include totals from all 19 of the Tommies 2022-23 games.
Rank Category Stat
Team
2nd Assist to Turnover Ratio 1.31 assist/turnover ratio
2nd Scoring Offense 77.1 points per game
2nd 3-point FG Percentage 38.4 percent
2nd Scoring Defense 69.8 points allowed per game
2nd Scoring Margin +7.3 points per game
2nd Team FG Percentage 47.4 percent
2nd Turnover Margin 1.84
3rd Assists 13.5 per game
3rd 3-point FGs Made 9.1 per game (173 total)
3rd Free Throw Percentage 77.9 percent
4th Steals 6.2 per game
Individual
1st 3-point FG Percentage R. Miller, 45.1 percent
1st 3-point FGs Made Per Game R. Miller, 3.4 made 3pt FG per game
3rd Free Throw Percentage R. Miller, 91.0 percent
4th Steals A. Rohde, 1.5 steals per game
7th Field Goal Percentage A. Rohde, 42.8 percent
4th Assists Per Game A. Rohde, 3.8 assists per game
4th Assist to Turnover Ratio A. Rohde, 1.9 assist to turnover ratio
8th Scoring A. Rohde, 15.2 points per game
7th Steals B. Allen, 1.3 steals per game
10th Minutes R. Miller, 31.4 minutes per game
10th Scoring R. Miller, 14.5 points per game
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 seven of its 19 games and sank at least nine in 12 games. The Tommies are currently tied for 22nd nationally shooting 38.6 percent from 3-point range and are tied for 40th with 9.1 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
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. 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.
Just over a month later, fellow grad student Park Bjorklund earned TicketSmarter Summit League Peak Performer of the Week on Dec. 27 after a pair of career games helping the Tommies to a 2-0 start in conference action. Bjorklund scored a career-high 29 points in the team's first conference game of the year against North Dakota and followed up with a 19-point effort against North Dakota State to help the Tommies to a 2-0 start in conference action. The Chaska, Minn., native averaged 24 points per game over the first series of Summit League action, connected on 66 percent (21-of-32) from the field, and averaged 4.5 rebounds per game.
Zootown Classic
In addition to Miller's award winning performance, freshman 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 810 of his 1,249 of his career points have come behind the 3-point line.
The 3-Point Veteran
Riley Miller surpassed 100 made 3-pointers last season and is at 270 made in his 109-game career, 27 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.
Freshmen Leading the Way
Andrew Rohde has led the Tommies in scoring in eight of his 17 games played this season and leads the team scoring 15.2 points per game, which ranks first among all Summit League freshmen and eighth overall. He has a team-high 92 field goals made and 3.8 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. Rohde had his third 20-plus point outing in the Tommies first Summit League road game at USD when he scored 22 points and posted a DI era freshman scoring record with 24 points in a win over Omaha.
Kendall Blue leads the bench with 8.4 points per game on 46.7 percent shooting. Blue has scored double-digits points in five of the last seven game for the Tommies. He has scored double-digit points in 10 games, including a career-high 15 against St. Francis Brooklyn and North Dakota State. Blue made his first career start Nov. 29 versus North Central.
Ahjany Lee has made four starts in 19 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. Lee ranks sixth on the team with 5.2 points per game and third in rebounding, averaging 4.1 boards per game.
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.
