Gene's Blog: Johnny, Ruth have Tommie hoops on good path

A memorable, 21-week long NCAA Division I basketball season ended Monday night in Houston, Texas. Connecticut went unranked in the AP preseason top 25 poll, but the Huskies hoisted the national championship trophy this week after their 6-0 run through the NCAA tournament.

Back on opening day, Nov. 7, if a Huskie fan had wagered $1,000 on the UConn men to be national champions, they could have cashed a $67,000 payoff on Monday night. The elite Huskies' women's hoops team had 11 times better odds then the UConn men of winning a title last preseason, although Coach Geno Auriemma's team eventually fell short of a Final Four trip for just the first time in 15 seasons.

The UConn men won their first 14 games. After a mid-season slump produced seven losses over the next 12 games, they regrouped and won 12 of their last 13 contests to finish 31-8.

More evidence of the national parity in men's basketball this winter: It's just the third time in the last 25 seasons that a national champ in men's hoops lost eight or more games -- all three being Connecticut squads.

Patience with coaches is usually a good thing. UConn's Dan Hurley built a modest 50-37 record over his first three seasons with the Huskies before going 23-10 in the 2021-22 season. That set the stage for this winter's national title run.

Shining Moments in Purple

Tommie Men's Hoops had a 17-week season that started as underdogs in Omaha, Neb., and ended as underdogs in Sioux Falls, S.D., in the Summit League tournament semifinals. Those nights proved to be two of several shining moments.

With four Division III-era players in its 10-man rotation, Coach Johnny Tauer's team threw a scare at eventual Elite 8 tourney team Creighton back on Nov. 7, falling 72-60 in a game that was tied with 10:00 to play. They took Oral Roberts to the wire on March 6 in the conference tournament with a 70-65 season-ending loss.

The Purple beat one team, Merrimack, that would go on to win its conference regular season and tournament crowns. Merrimack was ineligible for the NCAA tournament as a reclassifying program, meaning runner-up Farleigh Dickinson University would represent the Northeast Conference in March Madness. Boy did FDU ever rep its conference. The No. 16-seed Knights ignored the stat that said that No. 1 seeds were 150-1 all-time against No. 16s. They went out and eliminated top-seed Purdue, causing the biggest ripple in a tournament of surprises.

St. Thomas made the first shot it took this season (Will Engels) and also made the last shot it attempted (Brooks Allen). In between it had a lot of lively developments as it continues its historic march in year two of Division I:

Picked for eighth place, it finished tied for fourth in Summit League race, despite often starting four D-III era guys.
Its 19-14 record was a nice improvement from its 10-20 mark in season one of D-I.
That nine-win improvement from year one to year two ranks second best among Division I's last 50 reclassifying teams, all since 2000.
It lost just one conference game by 15 or more points after taking seven such Summit League losses the previous season.
After enduring a 12-game losing streak in season one, it never lost more than three consecutive games this season.
It played five games against NCAA tournament qualifiers Creighton, Oral Roberts and Montana State.
It beat 22-win NIT qualifier UW-Milwaukee (on the road) and 20-win Troy (neutral court), and also beat Northeast Conference champ Merrimack.
It posted the program's first D-I wins over North Dakota State and South Dakota State.
It defeated Western Illinois in the first D-I postseason game in program history.
It went 12-2 at home. It posted a 16-3 record in games when it scored 70 or more points, and was 10-1 in games when it outrebounded opponents.
It posted the best won-loss record among the 11 schools currently reclassifying into Division I.
It lost three times to 30-5 Oral Roberts by a combined 24 points, in a season when Oral Roberts averaged a 19-point margin in its 30 victories.
It ranked in the top 10 nationally in D-I in free-throw percentage with a school-record .785 clip, and ranked 12th nationally in fewest turnovers at 9.9.
It received 43 percent of its scoring from its freshmen players.
Andrew Rohde went viral with a November buzzer-beater. He was named Summit League Freshman of the Year and was a finalist for National Freshman of the Year, one of five players on the list from non-Power Six programs.
Johnny Tauer's 12-season tenure is the longest among the 10 Summit League MBB head coaches at their current school. It also ranks him in the top 40 of all D-I MBB head coaches for longest tenure in their current role.

Tommie Women's Progress

Coach Ruth Sinn's team is also making steady progress as it looks to build a competitive program in the Summit League. In 2022-23, St. Thomas:

Improved from eight wins in season one to 13 victories in year two.
Picked for ninth place in the conference preseason poll, it won seven league games, one victory shy of fifth place.
It posted the fourth best won-loss record among the 11 schools currently reclassifying into Division I.
It won five of its last seven games, including the first D-I postseason game played, a defeat of Western Illinois.
Its roster had 11 of its 14 players in their first or second year of college eligibility.
In its final home game, it upset CBI tourney qualifier North Dakota, a 19-win team.
It posted the program's first D-I defeats of South Dakota, North Dakota, Oral Roberts and Kansas City.
It also lost by just eight points at Wisconsin, and fell by just 12 at 23-win, NIT qualifier Northern Iowa.
Overall it lost six games by six or less points, including three overtime losses on the road.
After enduring a 13-game losing streak in season one, it only lost more than two games in a row in one stretch in 2022-23.
It went 7-6 at home, and went 7-0 in games when it allowed 57 or less points.
It outrebounded 19 of 30 opponents, and held 11 foes under 38 percent shooting.
Sophomore guard Jade Hill is on pace by next season to become the first 1,000-point scorer of the Division I era.
Sinn's 18-season tenure here is the second longest among the 10 Summit League WBB head coaches at their current school. She also ranks in the top 25 of all D-I WBB head coaches for longest tenure in their current role.

We're This Close

Warning: Sarcasm ahead.

True believers in the value of comparative scores can make the case that St. Thomas is already on the verge of becoming a D-I national champion program.

After all, Tauer's 2022-23 men's team beat North Dakota State... which beat Portland... which beat Villanova... which beat Xavier... which beat NCAA champion UConn.

And Sinn's women's team beat North Dakota... which beat Northern Illinois... which beat Ball State... which beat BYU... which beat Washington State... which beat UCLA... which beat Tennessee... which beat NCAA champion LSU.

Sarcasm aside, we can't wait to see what year three of the D-I era brings for St. Thomas Basketball.

--

Gene's Blog is a sports column penned by Tommie sports information director Gene McGivern. Gene is working his 29th season at St. Thomas and 35th overall with Twin Cities college athletics teams. He blogs periodically on various topics regarding the Tommies and college sports.

If you have comments or questions, e-mail Gene at ejmcgivern@stthomas.edu

University of St. Thomas Athletics

Gene's Blog: Johnny, Ruth have Tommie hoops on good path

Players Mentioned

Brooks Allen

Will Engels

Jade Hill

Andrew Rohde

Related Videos