Men's Basketball to host Crown College Sunday

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Coming off a tight contest at No. 7 Marquette on Thursday, the St. Thomas men's basketball team will host Crown College at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17 in Schoenecker Arena.

TUNE IN
Basketball fans can follow Sunday's game on the Summit League Network or on ESPN 1500 radio with Corbu Stathes. Live Stats is available on TommieSports.com.

SERIES HISTORY
The Tommies and Polars have met twice in the all-time series, both games going to the Purple by an average margin of 27.5 points. The series began Dec. 2, 2021, a 73-53 win, with the most recent meeting Dec. 3, 2022, a 91-56 victory. Three Tommies played in both games (Brooks Allen, Bennett Kwiecinski and Ben Nau), including a 10-point performance from Allen last season. Senior Dom Martinelli also added 10 points off the bench during the 2023 meeting.

THE OPPOSITION | CROWN
Sunday's game is an exhibition for Crown who enters the weekend 7-3 overall and 2-0 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play. The Polars are coming off back-to-back wins over UW-Superior, 67-58, and Northland College, 94-78, and will face Webster University in non-conference play on Saturday, Dec. 16.

Crown is scoring 71.8 points per game on 43 percent shooting overall and 28.2 percent from long range. The Polars pull down 35.1 rebounds per game with a 1.5 rebound margin and give away 12.3 turnovers per game.

Graduate student Cade Carroll leads the team with 16.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game while junior Tyrus Buckner follows in scoring and rebounding with 15.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Buckner has scored in double figures in every game this season while Carroll has done so in all but one, including a 32-point outing during his last game against Northland.

POWER SIX
St. Thomas played its second game against a Top 10, Big East opponent in as many years on Thursday night during an 84-79 loss at No. 7 Marquette in Milwaukee, Wis., the highest ranked opponent and fourth Power Six team played by the Tommies in the Division I era. St. Thomas began the 2022-23 season at No. 9 Creighton, a 72-60 loss to the Bluejays.

The Tommies opened the 2023-24 season at Cal and led by as many as four points late before the Golden Bears closed the game on a 7-2 run. The first Pac-12 opponent for St. Thomas came during a loss at Utah on Nov. 26, 2022 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

HIGH SCHOOL REUNION
Junior Ben Nau, coming off a career-high performance Sunday, Dec. 10 at Chicago State, returned home to the Badger State for his second collegiate game ever played in Milwaukee and led the Tommie bench with 12 points against Marquette, all coming from behind the arc. Nau reunited with former teammate and current men's basketball student-athlete at Marquette David Joplin. Nau and Joplin helped Brookfield Central, under the guidance of head coach Dan Wandrey, to its first state championship in 2018-19.

LAST TIME OUT | NO. 7 MARQUETTE
The Tommies broke a 10-10 tie midway through the first half behind three straight 3-pointers, which led to the squad shooting 7-of-16 from behind the line in the first half. The bench contributed over half the points (17) of a 30-25 halftime lead. The Purple pushed the lead to eight again before the Cougars went on a run of 11-4 to climb within one, 43-42. Graduate student Brooks Allen scored 11 points during a 23-8, game-closing run over the final nine minutes, including two of the team's five 3-pointers over that span to extend its winning streak to three games.

THE CAST | AT NO. 7 MARQUETTE
Allen and Nau scored 17 points each to lead the Tommies, the total matching Allen's season high while Nau set a career high. The duo combined to make nine of the team's 13 3-pointers, the second most total 3-pointers by the team this season. Graduate student Raheem Anthony set a season high with eight assists and led the Purple with five rebounds. Senior Drake Dobbs scored seven points and dished out six assists, with only one turnover, to go along with one steal.

JOINING ELITE COMPANY
Johnny Tauer became one of five active head coaches among all of NCAA to reach 250 career wins with a .740 winning percentage, all with one program, after the Nov. 19 win over Portland State.

Head Coach	School	Wins	Pct.
Mark Few	Gonzaga	695	.835
Jeff Young	Walsh	441	.756
Joe Lombardi	Indiana (PA)	405	.785
Ben McCollum	Northwest Mo. State	371	.807
Johnny Tauer	St. Thomas	253	.740

Tauer is also one of 11 active head coaches to reach 250 career wins with a .740 winning percentage at any program.

Since taking over as head coach in 2011, Tauer has averaged 20.5 wins per season heading into 2023-24. He is the fastest to reach 250 career wins in program history, joining Steve Fritz (594-246) and Tom Feely (417-269). Tauer was a senior with Tommie Basketball when Fritz reached the 250-milestone in 1995 and Fritz was a senior for the program when Feely reached the milestone in 1970-71.

LUCKY 13
Head Coach Johnny Tauer is in his 13th season at St. Thomas as the longest tenured head coach among all Summit League programs and among the top 50 in their current role among all DI men's basketball coaches. He leads league head coaches with a .742 winning percentage and is third in career wins (253).

2023-24 Summit League Head Coaches
Head Coach	School	Wins	Pct.
Johnny Tauer	St. Thomas	253	.740
Eric Henderson	South Dakota State	92	.697
David Richman	North Dakota State	182	.607
Paul Sather	North Dakota	331	.585
Marvin Menzies	Kansas City	261	.584
Russell Springmann	Oral Roberts	4	.500
Eric Peterson	South Dakota	19	.463
Jeff Wulbrun	Denver	32	.432
Chris Crutchfield	Omaha	24	.387

Tauer's winning percentage of .740 ranks 13th among active head coaches across all of NCAA with at least 10 years of experience. The only head coaches at their current NCAA DI programs for at least 10 seasons with a higher winning percentage than Tauer are John Calipari (Kentucky), Mark Few (Gonzaga), and Bill Self (Kansas).

DOCTOR, DOCTOR
An NCAA Postgraduate Scholar and Academic All-America honoree, Head Coach Johnny Tauer earned master's and PhD degrees in social psychology at UW-Madison. He returned to St. Thomas as a member of the faculty in 2000 before being promoted to full professor in 2011. Tauer taught for 21 years at St. Thomas and is one of the only head college basketball coaches in the nation to be a tenured faculty member and to hold a doctorate in sport-related psychology. He has published academic work on motivation, goal setting and competition in top academic journals, in addition to a book on youth sports, parents and motivation titled "Why Less is More for WOSPs (Well-Intentioned, Overinvolved Sports Parents); How to Be the Best Sport Parent You Can Be."

SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE
Head Coach Johnny Tauer's excellence within the Tommie Men's Basketball program dates back to his days as an Academic All-American that led to his induction to the St. Thomas Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001. As a student-athlete from 1991-95, Tauer was an All-MIAC player, first team All-West Region, and as a senior led the 1994-95 Toms to a school-record 27-0 start, including an MIAC Championship with an unprecedented 20-0 record. He helped the Toms to NCAA DIII Tournament berths in 1992-93, 1993-94, and 1994-95, including a run to the Final Four in 1993-94. Tauer ranks 24th in career scoring (1,219 points) and 22nd in career rebounding (482) at St. Thomas and was the school 3-point leader until 1999-2000.

After earning master's and PhD degrees at Wisconsin, Tauer joined the Tommie Men's Basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach and ran the St. Thomas defense for two seasons (2001-03) and also directed the Tommies' offensive sets that had consistently ranked among the best in NCAA basketball in overall offensive efficiency, field-goal percentage, 3-point proficiency, fewest turnovers, and assist-to-turnover ratio. With Tauer serving as an assistant, the Toms won the 2010-11 DIII National Championship title, made a run to the 2008-09 Final Four, and totaled seven DIII National Tournament runs.

With the retirement of longtime head coach Steve Fritz in 2011, Tauer took over the program and continued its storied tradition with another national title in 2015-16, a Final Four run in 2012-13, and five DIII National Tournament appearances.

As a student-athlete, assistant coach, and head coach at St. Thomas, Tauer has helped the Tommies to 586 wins in 28 seasons, averaging out to over 20 wins per season. He's been part of 19 conference titles, 15 national tournament appearances, three Final Fours, and two national championships.

ALL BUSINESS FOR BJORKLUND
Since joining the Tommies off the intramural courts, it's been all business for Parker Bjorklund as he's averaged double-digit scoring in each of his three seasons and leads the team this season with 13.9 points per game. He put in 12.6 points per game during the program's first DI season in 2021-22 on 54.4 percent shooting from the field. Bjorklund is averaging 13.8 points per game through his career on 52.5 percent shooting, one of two Tommies (Raheem Anthony, 51.8%) with a career field goal percentage above .500 (minimum 250 FGA).

He ranked second in the Summit League last season shooting 49.5 percent from the field and finished 13 games shooting above 50 percent while taking at least seven shots in all but one game. His 15.1 points per game ranked 10th in the Summit League and he's currently fourth among active Summit League student-athletes (min. 30 games) in career scoring average (13.9 PPG).

Bjorklund currently sits at 923 career points in 67 career games and has 377 career rebounds, which ranks 34th all-time at St. Thomas.

THE 1,500 POINT CLUB
Newcomer Raheem Anthony, a transfer from NCAA DIII Saint Mary's University in Winona, Minn., eclipsed 1,500 career points Dec. 6, 2023 during a 75-71 win over Milwaukee. He was a two-time All-American (NABC, D3hoops.com) in 2022-23 after averaging 24.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and shooting 54.5 percent from the field. Anthony started all 78 games played in at Saint Mary's and averaged 19.3 points during three games against St. Thomas during the 2019-20 season.

St. Thomas has five members of the 1,500-point club, all besides Anthony scored the entirety of their points in the Purple and Gray. Anthony is the first Tommie to reach the 1,500 mark since Karnell James (1993-97) who finished his career with 1,854. Six Tommies have transferred into the program and ended their careers with at least 1,000 points. He's also at 668 career rebounds, including 620 at Saint Mary's, which ranks 13th at St. Thomas.

Anthony is second on the Tommies with 10.7 points per game and leads with 3.2 assists per game, with at least three assists in seven games this season. He scored a season-high 23 points, a season high among all Tommies, on 7-of-9 shooting to push him over the 1,500 point mark.

THE MAKEUP OF THE TOMMIE ROSTER
The heart of the St. Thomas men's basketball program is comprised from Minnesota natives, including 10 of 15 student-athletes, Head Coach Johnny Tauer and Assistant Coach Cameron Rundles. Four of the remaining five student-athletes hail from Illinois while one is from Wisconsin.

BACK FROM 2022-23
St. Thomas returns 10 letter winners and one redshirt freshman (Carter Bjerke, F), along with four newcomers. Among the newcomers is one transfer (Raheem Anthony, G) and three freshmen. Leading the pack is graduate student forward Parker Bjorklund who was named Preseason All-Summit League First Team. Fellow graduate student forward Brooks Allen also returns after starting all 33 games last season and playing in all 69 games for St. Thomas since joining NCAA Division I. Kendall Blue and Ahjany Lee come back for their sophomore seasons after Blue played in all 33 games, with 22 starts, and Lee played in 32 with four starts.

TAKE CARE OF THE BALL
Tauer's teams have historically taken care of the basketball and this season is no different. The Tommies currently average 10.7 turnovers per game after ranking tied for 11th nationally in the fewest total turnovers (327) last season and leading the category in 2021-22. The Purple also tied for 12th for fewest turnovers per game (9.9) and tied for 50th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.30) last year. Of the 14 teams with as few or fewer turnovers per game last season, only four (Iowa, NC State, Oral Roberts, Toledo) finished with a higher scoring offense than St. Thomas' 74.2 points per game.

HITTING FROM DEEP
St. Thomas has been one of the top teams in the country in sinking 3-pointers over the past five seasons (2020-21 COVID shortened season excluded). Since joining NCAA Division I in 2021-22, the Tommies have ranked among the top 47 in the nation each season. The trend began in DIII as St. Thomas finished 2018-19 10th and 2019-20 ninth nationally in total 3-pointers made.

A FRESHMAN FEAT
Redshirt freshman Carter Bjerke scored 14 points Nov. 12 against North Central, setting a career high. In doing so, he became the eighth freshman under Head Coach Johnny Tauer with a 14+ point performance within his first three career games.

2022-23
Kendall Blue: 15 pts vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (3rd career game)
Ahjany Lee: 14 pts vs. Chicago State (2nd career game)
Andrew Rohde: 15 pts vs. Creighton (1st career game)

2020-21
Parker Bjorklund: 15 pts vs. Concordia College (Minn.) (2nd career game)

2019-20
Will Engels: 15 pts vs. Whitman (1st career game)

2018-19
Anders Nelson: 24 pts vs. Emerson (2nd career game)

2017-18
Burt Hedstrom: 15 pts vs. St. Scholastica (3rd career game)

PREP CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE
Five of the Tommies' 15 student-athletes have reached the ultimate pinnacle of their high school prep careers, winning state titles, while COVID brought another imminent title run to a halt. Three others also led their programs to Minnesota State Tournament appearances in Kendall Blue (2018-22) and Courtney Brown, Jr., (2015-19) at East Ridge High School and Adam Tauer (2019-23) at Cretin-Derham Hall.

Carter Bjerke - Wayzata HS
            - 2020-21 Class AAAA MSHSL State Championship - 2021-22 Runner-Ups
Drake Dobbs - Eden Prairie HS
            - 2019-20 28-0 and #10 in the nation (COVID shortened season)
Ryan Dufault - Waseca HS
            - 2020-21 Class AA MSHSL State Championship - Game-winner with 3 seconds left
Ben Nau - Brookfield Central HS
            - 2018-19 WIAA Division I State Championship
Hayden Tibbits - Wayzata HS
            - 2020-21/2022-23 Class AAAA MSHSL State Championship - 2021-22 Runner-Ups
Ahjany Lee - Totino-Grace HS
            - 2021-22 Class AAA MSHSL State Championship

SUCCESS ON BOTH SIDES
The Purple were the only Summit League team to rank among the top three in both scoring offense (74.2) and scoring defense (70.2). St. Thomas joined South Dakota State as the only two teams in the league to rank among the top four in both 3-point field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage defense.

FOLLOW ALONG
For more information on St. Thomas Men's Basketball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) at @TommieMBBall and on Instagram at @TommieHoops

JOIN US
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-- St. Thomas Athletics --

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Players Mentioned

Brooks Allen

Raheem Anthony

Carter Bjerke

Parker Bjorklund

Kendall Blue

Courtney Brown, Jr.

Drake Dobbs

Ryan Dufault

Will Engels

Bennett Kwiecinski

Ahjany Lee

Dom Martinelli

Ben Nau

Andrew Rohde

Adam Tauer

Hayden Tibbits

University of St. Thomas Athletics