University of St. Thomas Athletics
Western Illinois
Game Notes - Tommies finish three-game road stint with matinee game against Western Illinois
1/20/2023 12:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Thomas Men's Basketball wraps up its three-game road stand with a Saturday matinee in Macomb Ill., against Western Illinois, which currently sits one game behind St. Thomas in the Summit League standings.
A season ago, The Tommies posted an 89-66 win over the Leathernecks in St. Paul, and fell by a score of 81-52 in Macomb 28 days later.
The Tommies, the league's second ranked offense (75.9 points per game) face the league's fourth ranked offense (74.9.8 points per game) on Saturday afternoon. The Leathernecks are led by Trenton Massner, who averages 16.2 points per game.
Freshman standout, Andrew Rohde leads the Tommies with 14.8 points per game, while grad students Parker Bjorklund and Riley Miller average 14.6 and 13.8 points per game, respectively. Miller leads the conference in three-point FG percentage (43.5 percent) and second in made three-pointers per game (3.2).
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 4-4 start to conference play and a 13-8 overall record, St. Thomas sits in 4th in the Summit League standings.
Heading into this weekend's series, St. Thomas leads Western Illinois in the conference standings by one game.
Last Time Out
In a streaky game which featured 23 points from Grad Student Parker Bjorklund, St. Thomas Men's Basketball falls short against Oral Roberts, 81-69.
Despite starting the game connecting on one of their first six three-pointers, the Tommies only trailed the Golden Eagles one point, 13-12 with 12:20 to play in the first half. Over the next four minutes, ORU went on a 12-3 run to open a 25-15 lead with 8:32 remaining in the half.
The next five minutes was dominated by the Tommies who went on a 15-6 run of their own to cut the Golden Eagle lead to one point, 31-30 with 3:45 to play in the opening frame. ORU ended the first half on a 7-0 lead to take a 38-30 lead into halftime.
Bjorklund scored the first eight points for the Purple and almost four minutes into the game, his eight points matched ORU's point total, 8-8. Bjorklund finished the half with eight points.
St. Thomas connected on 36 percent of its shots from the field, 31 percent from behind the arc and went 5-of-5 at the charity stripe in the first half.
To start the second half, ORU opened up an 11 point, 43-32 lead before St. Thomas went on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 45-41 with 14 minutes to play. The Golden Eagles responded and opened their largest lead of the game, 69-55 with six minutes remaining. St. Thomas was able to cut the deficit to single digits briefly, but the Tommies come-back bid fell short.
Bjorklund's 23 points marked his third 20-plus point outing of the season. Freshman Kendall Blue added 12 points on a 4-of-6 shooting effort from behind the arc, while fellow freshman Andrew Rohde added 12 points in the game.
St. Thomas finished the game shooting 38 percent (24-of-63) from the field, 36 percent (12-of-33) from deep and 90 percent (9-of-10) from the charity stripe. The Tommies forced nine Golden Eagle turnovers, registering seven steals.
About Western Illinois
The Tommies are currently in fourth in the Summit League. The Leathernecks take on UND on Monday, a make-up from a postponed game earlier this season.
The Leathernecks won last Saturday, topping Kansas City 60-52 in KC. Western Illinois led the bulk of the game with Trenton Massner's 19 points leading the way. The win snapped a threegame conference road game losing streak.
Western Illinois split with St. Thomas last season and swept North Dakota. Western Illinois is 2-1 all-time vs. the Tommies. UND leads the all-time series vs. WIU, 7-6 but Western Illinois has won three straight.
After Saturday's game with St. Thomas, the Leathernecks continue the four-game homestand on Monday, hosting, North Dakota (Jan. 23). Western Illinois remains at home next week, taking on South Dakota (Jan. 26) and South Dakota State (Jan. 28) at Western Hall.
Western Illinois snapped a three-game road losing streak on Saturday, topping Kansas City 60-52. The Leathernecks were led by Trenton Massner's 19 points while Vuk Stevanic added 11.
The Leathernecks led by as many as 13 in the first half. In the second half, the Roos tied the game but were never able to take the lead as a 9-2 WIU run early in the second half kept Western Illinois in control. Defense was the key as WIU held KC to 31.3 percent shooting from the field, including 12 percent from three. KJ Lee and Jesiah West tied season highs in rebounding as Lee pulled down 10 boards and West had nine.
Western Illinois is 7-2 at home this season, including 6-2 inside Western Hall. The Leathernecks are outscoring opponents 85.1-72.4 inside Western Hall. Overall Western Illinois is outscoring foes 74.9-72 this season. The Leathernecks are making 45.1 percent of their shots while holding foes to 45. WIU is shooting 31.3 percent from three while opponents are making 30.8.
The Leathernecks are 2-1 in the all-time series against St. Thomas. The two teams split their meetings last season, with each team winning on their own home floor. The only other time the two programs met was a 59-45 WIU win in Macomb on Dec. 8, 1948.
Trenton Massner is fifth in the Summit in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game. His 5.4 assists per contest lead the league and his 1.7 steals are second. His 42.4 shooting percentage is fourth. Alec Rosner is fifth in the league in minutes per game, averaging 35.2. His 41.0 percent shooting from three ranks him second. Jesiah West is second in the conference in block shots per game, averaging 1.8.
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.
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').
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 21 of the Tommies 2022-23 games.
Rank Category Stat
Team
2nd Assist to Turnover Ratio 1.28 assist/turnover ratio
2nd Scoring Offense 75.9 points per game
2nd Scoring Margin +5.0 points per game
2nd Turnover Margin 1.62
3rd 3-point FG Percentage 37.4 percent
3rd Team FG Percentage 46.1 percent
3rd Assists 13.1 per game
3rd 3-point FGs Made 9.0 per game (173 total)
3rd Free Throw Percentage 78.2 percent
4th Scoring Defense 70.9 points allowed per game
4th Steals 6.1 per game
Individual
1st 3-point FG Percentage R. Miller, 43.5 percent
2nd 3-point FGs Made Per Game R. Miller, 3.2 made 3pt FG per game
3rd Free Throw Percentage R. Miller, 91.8 percent
5th Steals A. Rohde, 1.4 steals per game
6th Field Goal Percentage A. Rohde, 41.5 percent
5th Assists Per Game A. Rohde, 3.6 assists per game
5th Assist to Turnover Ratio A. Rohde, 1.7 assist to turnover ratio
9th Scoring A. Rohde, 14.8 points per game
7th Steals B. Allen, 1.3 steals per game
10th Minutes R. Miller, 31.5 minutes per game
10th Scoring R. Miller, 13.8 points per game
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 816 of his 1,263 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 272 made in his 115-game career, 25 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 nine of his 19 games played this season and leads the team scoring 14.8 points per game, which ranks first among all Summit League freshmen and eighth overall. He has a team-high 100 field goals made and 3.6 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 ranks fifth on the team with 8.6 points per game on 46.4 percent shooting. Blue has scored double-digits points in seven of the last nine games for the Tommies. He has scored double-digit points in 12 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 20 games this season, his first on Nov. 13 versus St. Francis Brooklyn. He set career highs of 14 points against Chicago State and and eight rebounds Dec. 31. Lee ranks sixth on the team with 5.1 points per game and tied for second 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.
