University of St. Thomas Athletics
Oral Roberts
Men's Basketball wraps up 2022-23 home schedule with three games in a nine-day span
2/8/2023 1:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Thomas Men's Basketball returns home to Schoenecker Arena for its final three-game home stand of the season as the Tommies take on Oral Roberts and Kansas City this week, looking to bounce back from a pair of road losses in Kansas City and Tulsa earlier this season.
The Tommies host the Golden Eagles Thursday for the fourth all-time meeting, ORU currently sits atop the Summit League standings. With a 10-1 home record, the Tommies look to continue their season success in a push to reach the highest possible seed ahead of the Summit League tournament.
Earlier this season, the Tommies lost to Kansas City 81-60 on the road, and two days later dropped an 81-69 contest against Oral Roberts.
The Tommies, the league's second ranked offense (74.4 points per game) face the league's top-ranked offense in Oral Roberts (85.2 points per game) on Thursday and the league's last ranked offense in Kansas City (66.0 points per game) on Saturday.
Freshman standout, Andrew Rohde leads the Tommies with 15.6 points per game, while grad students Parker Bjorklund and Riley Miller average 14.5 and 12.9 points per game, respectively.
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 7-6 record in conference play and a 16-10 overall record, St. Thomas sits in 4th place in the Summit League standings.
Heading into this week's series, the Tommies are looking to gather as much momentum as possible heading into the Summit League tournament.
Last Time Out
After earning their first conference road win of the season less 48 hours earlier in Omaha, Neb., the St. Thomas Men's Basketball defeated Denver 68-57 for its second-straight road win, improving to 16-10 on the season and 7-6 in Summit League action.
After connecting on 35 percent of their shots from deep in the first half, the Tommies shot 50 percent (5-of-10) in the second half to finish the game with a 41 percent three-point shooting clip.
Through the first five minutes of play, the two teams exchanged baskets and found themselves in an 8-8 tie. The game was tied at 10-10, 12-12 before St. Thomas went on an 8-2 run to open at 20-14 lead with 7:29 remaining in the first half.
St. Thomas led by as many as nine points, 28-19 with 2:46 remaining in the first half before Denver closed the half on a 9-2 run to bring the score to 30-28 in favor of the Purple as the teams went to the locker room.
Grad student Parker Bjorklund led the Tommies with nine points in the first half on a 3-of-4 showing from behind the arc. Senior Brooks Allen added seven points in the opening frame with one rebound, one assist and one steal.
As a team St. Thomas connected on 39 percent (10-of-29) of its shots from the field, 35 percent (6-of-17) from deep and made all four shots from the charity stripe in the first half. The Tommies posted seven assists on 10 made baskets in the first half, but committed six first-half turnovers.
One minute into the second half, Denver tied the game at 30-30 with just under 16 minutes to play, the Pioneers earned their first lead, 34-33 since leading 4-3 early in the game. The lead was short lived as the Tommies went on a 7-0 run to open a 40-34 lead with 14 minutes to play.
With 11:11 to play, sophomore Ryan Dufault scored his first bucket of the game to give St. Thomas its first double-digit lead of the game, 48-38. With less than eight minutes to play, the Purple opened its largest lead, 14 points, 57-43, which proved insurmountable by Denver as St. Thomas earned the 68-57 win.
After posting six turnovers in the first half, St. Thomas committed only four second-half turnovers to finish with the team's average, 10 on the night. St. Thomas shot 44 percent (24-of-55) from the field and 41 percent (11-of-27) from behind the arc.
Bjorklund led the Purple with 19 points. The grad student was joined in double-figures by freshman Andrew Rohde (15) and fellow grad student Riley Miller (12) to lead the Tommies.
About Oral Roberts
Oral Roberts travels to Schoenecker Arena hoisting a perfect 12-0 Summit League record this season and is currently taking an eight-game winning streak on the road for a stretch of three away games against Kansas City (W 85-57), St. Thomas, and Western Illinois.
• Oral Roberts looks to continue its perfect league record on Thursday after winning its 10th, 11th, and 12th conference games last week in a jampacked stretch against Omaha, South Dakota, and Kansas City.
• The Golden Eagles dismantled the Roos and Coyotes last Saturday and Monday with 50- and 28-point victories against the two opponents. Summit League leading scorer, Max Abmas, averaged 26 PPG in the two contests.
•In the victories, Kareem Thompson and Issac McBride put on top-notch performances for the Golden Eagles. Against the Roos, Thompson recorded a 10 point, 8 rebound, and 4 assist performance, while McBride added 13 points.
• Against the Coyotes, senior standout and 5th leading scorer in the nation, Max Abmas dropped 31 points, recording his 5th 30+ game this season. Kareem Thompson recorded a near triple double with a stat line of 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists.
• Saturday's game against South Dakota marked the Golden Eagles biggest win of the season, winning by a stunning 50 points.
• Senior guard and former Summit League Player of the Year (2022), Max Abmas is currently 5th in the nation in Points Per Game, averaging 22.3 PPG throughout the Golden Eagles 24 contests.
• Oral Roberts ranks 2nd in the nation in Points Per Game with an average of 85.2 points per contest. They are also first in the nation in total points scored tallying up 2,131 points as a team on the year.
• Blocks are another key facet of the Golden Eagles game as they are currently sitting at 5.7 Blocked Shots per game, 6th in the nation.
• In league play, Oral Roberts is shooting the three ball at an astounding 41.2 percent, with five players shooting over 38 percent from beyond the arc.
• Senior forward Connor Vanover is also ranked as a conference leader in scoring. Through the 12 games, he is averaging 13.5 ppg sitting 15th in the ranks.
• Sharing the ball hasn't been an issue for Kareem Thompson this season. Overall he's averaging 4.5 assists per game in conference action which ranks him second in the Summit league.
• Oral Roberts is currently ranked #38 in the nation in NET rankings, and #53 in the KenPom rankings.
• Head coach Paul Mills has a 57-67 overall record. It marks his fourth season as a head coach with the Golden Eagles after a 14 stint as a staff member of the Baylor Bears.
Checking into Kansas City
The University of Kansas City men's basketball team begins mid-February with a pair of away games. First up, a second meeting with Western Illinois on Thursday at 6 p.m., with the Roos looking to avenge a 60-52 loss earlier in the season.
• The Roos average 66.0 points per game this year, 10th in the Summit League.
• Kansas City is allowing 67.4 points per game this season, 1st in the Summit League.
• UMKC shoots 39.9 percent from the field in 2022-23, last in the Summit League.
• Kansas City is holding opponents to 40.9 percent shooting, first in the Summit League.
• The Blue and Gold rank second in the Summit League at crashing the glass, averaging 37.6 rebounds per game, and a league leading 13.8 offensive rebounds per game.
• The Roos are led in scoring by the standout duo of graduate senior RayQuawndis Mitchell and senior guard Shemarri Allen averaging 18.0 and 17.6 points per game, respectively.
• RayQuawndis Mitchell put up a red-hot performance earlier in the season, recording 35 points against Toledo on Nov. 22, marking the 4th highest Summit league scoring game this season.
• Allen David Mukeba ranks third in the league in rebounds, averaging 7.6 rebounds per game.
• Jeff Ngandu ranks seventh in the Summit League in blocks averaging 1.2 blocks per game.
• Head coach Marvin Menzies is in his first year as head coach of the Roos. He has 12 years of head coaching experience including a nine year run at New Mexico State and a three year stint at UNLV. At NMSU, his teams won the WAC conference tournament five times to advance to the NCAA tournament, and he was named the WAC coach of the century by Busting Brackets.
Above .500
The Tommies have shot above 50 percent from the field in 10 of their 16 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 totaled ten games shooting at least 50 percent from the floor this season after recording six such games last season. The Tommies are 10-0 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 Feb. 1. These stats and rankings include totals from all 26 of the Tommies 2022-23 season.
Rank Category Stat
Team
2nd Free Throw Percentage 78.7 percent
2nd Assist to Turnover Ratio 1.27 assist/turnover ratio
2nd Scoring Margin +3.9 points per game
2nd Turnover Margin 1.96
3rd Scoring Offense 74.0 points per game
3rd 3-point FG Percentage 35.9 percent
3rd Assists 12.9 per game
3rd Scoring Defense 70.2 points allowed per game
3rd Steals 6.21 per game
4th 3-point FGs Made 8.8 per game (210 total)
5th Team FG Percentage 45.2 percent
Individual
1st 3-point FG Percentage R. Miller, 41.8 percent
2nd Free Throw Percentage R. Miller, 92.2 percent
3rd 3-point FGs Made Per Game R. Miller, 2.9 made 3pt FG per game
4th Assist to Turnover Ratio A. Rohde, 1.8 assist to turnover ratio
2nd Steals A. Rohde, 1.5 steals per game
6th Field Goal Percentage A. Rohde, 43.1 percent
5th Assists Per Game A. Rohde, 3.7 assists per game
8th Scoring A. Rohde, 15.4 points per game
8th Steals B. Allen, 1.3 steals per game
10th Minutes A. Rohde, 31.9 minutes per game
10th Blocked Shots A. Lee, 0.7 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.
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').
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 822 of his 1,273 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 278 made in his 118-game career, 19 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 11 of his 24 games played this season and leads the team scoring 15.6 points per game, which ranks first among all Summit League freshmen and eighth overall. He has a team-high 132 field goals made and 3.5 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 and again against South Dakota. Rohde most recently dropped 20 in a road win at Omaha.
Kendall Blue ranks fifth on the team with 7.9 points per game on 43.5 percent shooting. Blue 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 25 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 17 blocks on the season, ranks sixth on the team with 5.0 points per game and second in rebounding, averaging 4.0 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.
