University of St. Thomas Athletics
South Dakota State
Game Notes - Men's Basketball returns home looking to remain perfect at Schoenecker
1/25/2023 2:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Thomas Men's Basketball returns to the friendly confines of Schoenecker Arena to face South Dakota State and South Dakota, looking to avenge a pair of losses from earlier in the season.
The Tommies carry a 10-game home winning streak, including a mark of 9-0 this season into this week's games.
Earlier this season, the Tommies fell to SDSU by a score of 71-64 in Brookings and dropped a 92-84 contest against USD in Vermillion.
The Tommies, the league's third ranked offense (75.0 points per game) face the league's ninth ranked offense (68.4 points per game) on Thursday and the league's eighth ranked offense (68.7 points per game) on Saturday.
Freshman standout, Andrew Rohde leads the Tommies with 15.0 points per game, while grad students Parker Bjorklund and Riley Miller average 13.9 and 13.2 points per game, respectively. Miller leads the conference in three-point FG percentage (42.4 percent).
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 4-5 record conference play and a 13-9 overall record, St. Thomas sits in 7th in the Summit League standings.
Heading into this week's series, the Tommies could jump into the top-half of the standings with a pair of wins.
Last Time Out
With 26 seconds to play, a layup from senior Brooks Allen cut the Western Illinois lead to one point, 55-54, but the Tommies were unable to secure the victory, falling 60-56 in conference action.
The Leathernecks scored the first points of the game taking an early 2-0 lead before St. Thomas took its first lead of the game, 5-2 and didn't trail after. The Tommies led by as many as nine points in the first half before taking a five-point, 28-23 lead into halftime.
The Tommie defense forced nine first-half turnovers by the Leathernecks, but were only able to convert nine points off those turnovers. St. Thomas held Western Illinois to a 20 percent (1-of-5) showing from behind the arc, while the Tommies converted on 25 percent (1-of-4) from deep. 20-of-28 points in the opening half for the Purple came in the paint.
Freshman Andrew Rohde led all scorers with nine first-half points. Rohde added two assists, two steals and two rebounds in 17 minutes played in the first half.
Western Illinois outscored the Tommies 11-6 in the first five minutes of the second half to tie the game at 34-34 with 15:00 to play. Less than a minute later, the Leathernecks took their first lead of the game 37-36 with 14:06 to play. WIU had its largest lead of the game, five points, 43-38 with just under 10 minutes to play.
After cutting the lead to four points, 53-49 with 1:21 to play, the Tommies battled within one point, 55-54 with 26 seconds remaining before the Leathernecks outscored St. Thomas 5-2 in the final 26 seconds.
Rohde tallied a game-high 19 points and was joined in double-digit points by Allen who netted 13 points.
As a team, St. Thomas connected on a DI era low two made-threes in the game. The Tommies shot 40 percent (22-of-55) from the field, and 13 percent (2-of-16) from behind the arc. St. Thomas forced 13 WIU turnovers and the Purple scored 40 points in the paint.
About South Dakota State
South Dakota State takes its longest winning streak of the season on the road for a stretch of three away games in a five-day span beginning on Thursday when the Jackrabbits take on St. Thomas in Schoenecker Arena.
The Jackrabbits have won four straight contests following a two-game stretch at home. SDSU picked up victories in Frost Arena over Omaha (84-61) on Jan. 19 and Denver (76-61) on Jan. 21. The wins improved the Jacks to 6-2 in Summit League play, placing them alone in second in the standings. Oral Roberts sits in first at 8-0 while NDSU and Western Illinois are tied for third at 5-4.
SDSU embarks on its longest single trip away from Brookings since December. On Dec. 2, SDSU lost 83-68 to Kent State, a team now receiving votes in major polls. The following day, the Jackrabbits held a late second-half lead, but eventually fell to current No. 2 Alabama 78-65 in Tuscaloosa. SDSU ended its three-game road stretch falling to Montana, 81-56, on Dec. 6.
South Dakota State takes on St. Thomas and Western Illinois Saturday for the second time this season. The Jacks beat both teams 71-64, topping the Leathernecks on Dec. 29 and St. Thomas on New Year's Eve. SDSU faces Kansas City for the first time on Monday, serving as a make up for their postponed game from Dec. 21.
Zeke Mayo scored a career-high 33 points in the first meeting against the Leathernecks to pace SDSU. Western Illinois' Elijah Farr scored 16 to lead a trio of double digit scorers. Matt Dentlinger led the Jacks in the win over the Tommies on Dec. 31 with 22 points, while the game's leading scorer was Brooks Allen who scored a career-high 30 points.
Mayo has been the highlight for SDSU offensively of late. his back-to-back scoring performances of 31 and 25 points earned him his second TicketSmarter Summit League Men's Basketball Performer of the Week award on Monday. Mayo leads the Jackrabbits in scoring (16.2), rebounding (6.5) and assists (3.3) through 20 contests.
Covering the Coyotes
After three games at home, South Dakota now hits the road for three games and starts the second half of the schedule. The trip begins at Western Illinois Thursday night in Macomb. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
South Dakota snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Omaha Saturday. It was the final game of a three-game home stand for the Coyotes. Four Coyotes scored in double-figures in the win led by Perrott-Hunt's 22 points. Plitzuweit (19), Kamateros (16), and Damani Hayes (10) all posted double-digits as well.
The Coyotes got back to what they do best on Saturday - shooting the three ball. USD shot 30 percent better from three on Saturday compared to Thursday's game. The improvement jumped South Dakota to third-best in the nation in three-point percentage. The Coyotes have made 185 of 459 attempts from deep this season, a 40.3 percent mark.
Kruz Perrott-Hunt has 944 career points. He is 56 points away from 1,000 points in his South Dakota career
NET Ranking
St. Thomas entered the week ranked 204th 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 52.
The Tommies have played two games against top 50 teams (Utah, 47th/Creighton, 20th) and have wins against Troy (127th) and Milwaukee (160th).
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 21 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 22 of the Tommies 2022-23 season.
Rank Category Stat
Team
2nd Assist to Turnover Ratio 1.26 assist/turnover ratio
2nd Scoring Margin +4.6 points per game
2nd Turnover Margin 1.73
3rd Scoring Offense 75.0 points per game
3rd 3-point FG Percentage 36.6 percent
4th Team FG Percentage 45.8 percent
3rd Assists 12.9 per game
4th 3-point FGs Made 8.7 per game (192 total)
3rd Free Throw Percentage 78.3 percent
3rd Scoring Defense 70.4 points allowed per game
4th Steals 6.1 per game
Individual
1st 3-point FG Percentage R. Miller, 42.4 percent
2nd 3-point FGs Made Per Game R. Miller, 3.0 made 3pt FG per game
3rd Free Throw Percentage R. Miller, 91.8 percent
3rd Assist to Turnover Ratio A. Rohde, 1.8 assist to turnover ratio
3rd Steals A. Rohde, 1.5 steals per game
5th Field Goal Percentage A. Rohde, 42.2 percent
5th Assists Per Game A. Rohde, 3.6 assists per game
8th Scoring A. Rohde, 15.0 points per game
6th Steals B. Allen, 1.3 steals per game
10th Minutes R. Miller, 31.5 minutes 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 116-game career, 25 shy of the St. Thomas all-time record set by Bryan Schnettler from 2004-07 (297). 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 10 of his 20 games played this season and leads the team scoring 15.0 points per game, which ranks first among all Summit League freshmen and eighth overall. He has a team-high 108 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 45.9 percent shooting. Blue has scored double-digits points in seven of the last 10 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 21 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 leads the team with 13 blocks on the season, ranks sixth on the team with 4.9 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.
