University of St. Thomas Athletics
Thursday, January 25
St. Paul, Minn.
7:00 p.m. Central
vs
North Dakota State
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Men’s Basketball to play NDSU, UND in eventful weekend
1/23/2024 4:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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Toms to take part in Coaches vs Cancer Thursday, recognize 1993-94 Final Four team Saturday
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- St. Thomas men's basketball returns home for an eventful weekend as it hosts North Dakota State Jan. 25 and North Dakota Jan. 27 at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (13-7, 3-2 Summit League) will host Coaches versus Cancer against the Bison (9-11, 2-3 Summit League) at 7 p.m. during the first series meeting of the season. The Toms come back on Saturday at 7 p.m. against North Dakota, where the 1993-94 Final Four team will be recognized at halftime.
TUNE IN
Basketball fans can watch Thursday and Saturday's games on the Summit League Network and listen on ESPN 1500 radio with Corbu Stathes calling the action. Live stats are available at tommiesports.com.
SERIES HISTORY | NORTH DAKOTA STATE
St. Thomas and North Dakota State have played 22 times in the series history, led by NDSU 13-9, dating back to the 1908-09 season. The Tommies are 1-3 against the Bison since joining the Summit League, nabbing its first win Dec. 21, 2022 at home 78-68.
Graduate student Brooks Allen has scored in double figures in all four games against the Bison the past two seasons, averaging 15.3 points on 53.3 percent shooting with 4.8 rebounds per game. Fellow graduate student Parker Bjorklund has reached double digit scoring over the past three games in the series, averaging 13.5 points on 53.5 percent shooting with 4.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore Kendall Blue averaged 10.0 points per game against NDSU last season on 53.8 percent shooting.
THE OPPOSITION | NORTH DAKOTA STATE
North Dakota State holds a 9-11 overall record and 2-3 mark in the Summit League heading into the first season matchup against St. Thomas. After opening its conference season with a loss, NDSU has split its past two weekends, most recently taking a 72-67 win over Oral Roberts. David Richman is in his 10th season as head coach with a career record of 184-125.
The Bison are led in scoring by senior Boden Skunberg with 14.8 points per game, followed by sophomore Damari Wheeler-Thomas with 12.8 points and junior Andrew Morgan with 11.9 points. Skunberg is seventh in the league in scoring and fifth shooting 78.1 percent from the free throw line.
NDSU is second in the Summit League with 78.0 points per game and seventh allowing 75.4 points. The Bison are second in the conference and 27th nationally shooting 37.9 percent from behind the arc and is second in the league and 46th nationally shooting 47.8 percent from the field.
SERIES HISTORY | NORTH DAKOTA
St. Thomas and North Dakota have played 17 times in the series history, led 9-8 by the Fighting Hawks. Before meeting regularly starting in 2022, the two programs hadn't played since 1962. Bjorklund has averaged 17.6 points all-time against UND and 22.3 points per game over the last three in the series, including a 21-point 8-rebound performance during the 2023-24 Summit League opener in Grand Forks, N.D. Freshman Carter Bjerke came off the bench Dec. 29, 2023 to score 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-4 from long range, while Blue recorded his first career game with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
THE OPPOSITION | NORTH DAKOTA
North Dakota continues Summit League play with an 11-10 overall record and 3-3 mark in conference games, winning three straight since Jan. 13 by an average margin of 12.3 points per game. Paul Sather is in his fifth season as head coach with a career record of 336-241.
The Hawks are led in scoring by sophomore B.J. Omot with 17.0 points per game, which ranks sixth in the Summit League. Senior Tyree Ihenacho follows with 14.9 points per game and sophomore Treysen Eaglestaff with 14.2 points. Omot is 10th in the nation with 302 field goal attempts while Eaglestaff is 30th in the country with 148 3-point attempts.
UND is fifth in the Summit League with 74.6 points per game and fifth allowing 72.7 points. The Hawks have attempted the most field goals and 3-point field goals in the league, but rank eighth on field goal percentage (.434) and ninth on 3-point field goal percentage (.311). The Hawks are 35th nationally with 26.0 3-point field goal attempts per game.
LAST TIME OUT | SOUTH DAKOTA
A string of final second shots came up empty for St. Thomas men's basketball during a 74-73 overtime loss at South Dakota Thursday night in Vermillion, S.D. Despite shooting 34.3 percent from the floor, the Tommies overcame a nine-point deficit to lead by as many as 10 midway through the second half. The Coyotes shot 48.2 percent overall and sank eight 3-pointers compared to nine for the Tommies.
THE CAST | AT SOUTH DAKOTA
Graduate student Parker Bjorklund led St. Thomas with 17 points, his eighth game leading the Tommies in scoring, and seven rebounds while fellow graduate student Raheem Anthony followed with 14 points and added five assists to one turnover. Sophomore Kendall Blue scored 13 points, his seventh straight game in double figures, on 4-of-9 shooting while senior Drake Dobbs tacked on 11 points, his 11th double-digit scoring game.
COACHES VERSUS CANCER
The Tommies are teaming up with the American Cancer Society and the NABC to bring awareness to cancer screening and help raise money to end cancer as we know it. The St. Thomas coaching staff will suit up Thursday night for #SuitsAndSneakers week to promote the cause, which has a personal tie to Head Coach Johnny Tauer. His wife, Chancey Anderson Tauer, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2018 before again being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. Because of an early cancer screening in 2020, she was able to beat cancer for the second time. If you'd like to learn more, visit www.coaches.cancer.org.
1993-94 FINAL FOUR TEAM
St. Thomas (24-7, 18-2 MIAC) became the first MIAC men's team to reach a Final Four in the post NAIA era. The Toms went 5-0 to start the postseason (conference and early NCAA playoffs) to reach the national semifinals in New York, where they lost in the semifinals and again in the third-place game.
After a 1-3 start, St. Thomas reeled off wins in 23 of its next 25 games, including an 18-2 burst to claim the conference title. They were just the second Tommie men's team to sweep the MIAC regular-season and playoff crowns in the 10-year history of the league's playoff format.
Current head coach Johnny Tauer was a junior forward on that balanced team that was led by senior Brent Longval. Then freshman Karnell James (1,854 points), Tauer (1,219) and Longval (1,119) were all eventual 1,000-point career scorers. Two of the better passers in program history were also on that team: juniors Matt McDonagh and Mike Bergan.
The Purple avenged two losses to St. John's with a 66-63 home win in the playoff championship clash. The 24 wins were the second most by a St. Thomas team in the previous 20 seasons.
(Most of that Tommie team returned in 1994-95 and led another excellent season that started with a 27-0 record before a season-ending loss to Nebraska Wesleyan in the NCAA playoffs. That group was the first MIAC men's team to sweep all 22 games against conference opponents.)
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
The Toms' defense has been the best in the Summit League to start the conference schedule, holding its league opponents to 66.4 points per game, which is 6.2 points fewer than the next lowest. St. Thomas' conference scoring margin of +11.0 is the best in the league, 6.0 more than the next highest. Overall, the Toms rank tied for 11th in the nation with 63.1 points allowed per game.
MARGIN FOR SUCCESS
St. Thomas has made a statement with its margin of victories thus far, winning by an average of 18.2 points. Including only DI opponents, the Tommies have won by an average of 11.9 points including an average of 19 points over its three Summit League wins. The Purple's margins of loss have been slim at 4.3 points per loss with only one double-digit loss.
TAKE CARE OF THE BALL
Tauer's teams have historically taken care of the basketball and this season is no different. The Tommies are currently tied with Duke for 9th nationally in fewest turnovers per game (9.3) after ranking tied for 11th nationally in the fewest total turnovers (327) last season and leading the category in 2021-22. 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.
HOLDING 'EM BELOW 45
The Purple held a Summit League opponent at 45 points or fewer in a game for the second time over the past two seasons following its 70-45 win at North Dakota. St. Thomas previously defeated Kansas City, 73-43, on Feb. 11, 2023. No other team in the Summit League has held a conference opponent to 45 points or fewer multiple times since 2021-22. Denver, Kansas City, and Oral Roberts have all done it once since then.
HOME COOKING
The Tommies have embraced playing in front of the hometown crowd, going 20-3 over its last 23 games at Schoenecker Arena. St. Thomas closed out the 2021-22 season with a home win and went 12-2 last season, including a 10-game home winning streak, before opening the 2023-24 season with seven straight home wins.
The only three home losses over that span came Jan. 28, 2023 to South Dakota, Feb. 9, 2023 to Oral Roberts, and Jan. 11, 2024 to South Dakota State. Over the final five home games of the 2022-23 season, St. Thomas averaged an attendance of 1,707 per game, including a record crowd of 2,013 against Oral Roberts, and set the top five attendance marks during the DI era. The Tommies added another top five attendance mark Jan. 11, 2024 against South Dakota State with a crowd of 1,515.
NOTHING BUT NET
When the NCAA's first NET Rankings were released on Dec. 4, St. Thomas was slotted at 175 and currently ranks 138, first in the Summit League ahead of South Dakota State (147) and Denver (163), through games on Jan. 22. The Tommies entered its matchup at No. 7 Marquette ranked 185 and jumped 20 spots to 165 following a five-point loss to the Golden Eagles. North Dakota State enters the week 245 in the NET rankings, fifth among Summit League teams.
I'M JUST KEN (POM RANKINGS)
The Tommies saw a more impressive ascent in the Ken Pom Rankings following the game at Marquette. The Purple entered Milwaukee, Wis., ranked 218 in the Ken Pom Rankings before moving up to 185 after the loss. St. Thomas, currently ranked 137, is first in the Summit League ahead of South Dakota State (144) and Denver (177). North Dakota State is 259 in the rankings heading into the week.
Of 363 NCAA Division I programs, St. Thomas ranks 357 in adjusted tempo with 62.8 possessions per 40 minutes. The Tommies are 139 with an adjusted offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions) of 109.1 and 157 with an adjusted defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 106.5.
GOING IN FOR THE KILL SHOT
St. Thomas has recorded a "Kill Shot," a scoring run of 10-0 or more, in 11 games this season, going 9-2 in those games. The largest scoring run of the season came against Sacramento State when it went on a spurt of 21-0. The only losses came by one point against both South Dakota State and South Dakota.
Opponents have recorded a "Kill Shot" in five games against the Tommies, in which the Purple have gone 3-2. The largest run against St. Thomas were two 12-0 runs during a win at Western Michigan, a game in which the Toms put together two "Kill Shots," and the loss to SDSU. The only other loss when allowing a "Kill Shot" was against No. 7 Marquette.
PICK YOUR LEADER
The Tommies have seen eight different student-athletes lead the way in scoring and six lead in rebounds through their first 20 games. Anthony and Bjorklund have each led the team in rebounds seven times, Blue four times, Lee twice, and Nau and Allen twice.
Bjorklund has led in scoring eight times while the next highest is Anthony with four, senior Drake Dobbs with three, graduate student Brooks Allen with two, and Carter Bjerke, Kendall Blue, Ahjany Lee and Ben Nau all with one. The Tommies have four athletes averaging double-digit points this season (Bjorklund, Anthony, Blue, Dobbs) and haven't had a quartet each average at least 10 points in a season since the 2015-16 national championship season (excluding 2020-21 COVID season).
ALL BUSINESS FOR BJORKLUND
Bjorklund became the 39th member of the 1,000-point club at St. Thomas Saturday, Jan. 6 during the win over Sacramento State. He's the most recent Tommie to cross 1,000 career points since Riley Miller did so in November 2022, excluding current Tommie Raheem Anthony who began his career in the Purple with over 1,000 points. Bjorklund has 417 career rebounds, 28 shy of tying Joe Buri (1996-2000) for 30th all-time at St. Thomas.
THE 1,500 POINT/NEWCOMER 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 in 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. Anthony's also at 709 career rebounds, including 620 at Saint Mary's, which ranks 11th at St. Thomas.
Anthony is second on the Tommies with 10.9 points per game and leads with 3.0 assists per game, with at least three assists in 11 games this season and an eight-assist performance Dec. 10 in a win at Chicago State. He scored a season-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting to push him over the 1,500 point mark against Milwaukee and currently has 1,615 points.
350 LEADING THE PURPLE
Johnny Tauer made his 350th appearance as head coach for St. Thomas Jan. 13, 2024 at Oral Roberts, coming away with a win and a career record of 260-90. Tauer, the longest tenured head coach in the Summit League, coached his 350th career game against ORU's Russell Springmann in his first season as a head coach.
JOINING ELITE COMPANY
Johnny Tauer is one of seven active head coaches among all of NCAA with 250 career wins and a .740 winning percentage at one program.
The Tommies (13-7, 3-2 Summit League) will host Coaches versus Cancer against the Bison (9-11, 2-3 Summit League) at 7 p.m. during the first series meeting of the season. The Toms come back on Saturday at 7 p.m. against North Dakota, where the 1993-94 Final Four team will be recognized at halftime.
TUNE IN
Basketball fans can watch Thursday and Saturday's games on the Summit League Network and listen on ESPN 1500 radio with Corbu Stathes calling the action. Live stats are available at tommiesports.com.
SERIES HISTORY | NORTH DAKOTA STATE
St. Thomas and North Dakota State have played 22 times in the series history, led by NDSU 13-9, dating back to the 1908-09 season. The Tommies are 1-3 against the Bison since joining the Summit League, nabbing its first win Dec. 21, 2022 at home 78-68.
Graduate student Brooks Allen has scored in double figures in all four games against the Bison the past two seasons, averaging 15.3 points on 53.3 percent shooting with 4.8 rebounds per game. Fellow graduate student Parker Bjorklund has reached double digit scoring over the past three games in the series, averaging 13.5 points on 53.5 percent shooting with 4.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore Kendall Blue averaged 10.0 points per game against NDSU last season on 53.8 percent shooting.
THE OPPOSITION | NORTH DAKOTA STATE
North Dakota State holds a 9-11 overall record and 2-3 mark in the Summit League heading into the first season matchup against St. Thomas. After opening its conference season with a loss, NDSU has split its past two weekends, most recently taking a 72-67 win over Oral Roberts. David Richman is in his 10th season as head coach with a career record of 184-125.
The Bison are led in scoring by senior Boden Skunberg with 14.8 points per game, followed by sophomore Damari Wheeler-Thomas with 12.8 points and junior Andrew Morgan with 11.9 points. Skunberg is seventh in the league in scoring and fifth shooting 78.1 percent from the free throw line.
NDSU is second in the Summit League with 78.0 points per game and seventh allowing 75.4 points. The Bison are second in the conference and 27th nationally shooting 37.9 percent from behind the arc and is second in the league and 46th nationally shooting 47.8 percent from the field.
SERIES HISTORY | NORTH DAKOTA
St. Thomas and North Dakota have played 17 times in the series history, led 9-8 by the Fighting Hawks. Before meeting regularly starting in 2022, the two programs hadn't played since 1962. Bjorklund has averaged 17.6 points all-time against UND and 22.3 points per game over the last three in the series, including a 21-point 8-rebound performance during the 2023-24 Summit League opener in Grand Forks, N.D. Freshman Carter Bjerke came off the bench Dec. 29, 2023 to score 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-4 from long range, while Blue recorded his first career game with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
THE OPPOSITION | NORTH DAKOTA
North Dakota continues Summit League play with an 11-10 overall record and 3-3 mark in conference games, winning three straight since Jan. 13 by an average margin of 12.3 points per game. Paul Sather is in his fifth season as head coach with a career record of 336-241.
The Hawks are led in scoring by sophomore B.J. Omot with 17.0 points per game, which ranks sixth in the Summit League. Senior Tyree Ihenacho follows with 14.9 points per game and sophomore Treysen Eaglestaff with 14.2 points. Omot is 10th in the nation with 302 field goal attempts while Eaglestaff is 30th in the country with 148 3-point attempts.
UND is fifth in the Summit League with 74.6 points per game and fifth allowing 72.7 points. The Hawks have attempted the most field goals and 3-point field goals in the league, but rank eighth on field goal percentage (.434) and ninth on 3-point field goal percentage (.311). The Hawks are 35th nationally with 26.0 3-point field goal attempts per game.
LAST TIME OUT | SOUTH DAKOTA
A string of final second shots came up empty for St. Thomas men's basketball during a 74-73 overtime loss at South Dakota Thursday night in Vermillion, S.D. Despite shooting 34.3 percent from the floor, the Tommies overcame a nine-point deficit to lead by as many as 10 midway through the second half. The Coyotes shot 48.2 percent overall and sank eight 3-pointers compared to nine for the Tommies.
THE CAST | AT SOUTH DAKOTA
Graduate student Parker Bjorklund led St. Thomas with 17 points, his eighth game leading the Tommies in scoring, and seven rebounds while fellow graduate student Raheem Anthony followed with 14 points and added five assists to one turnover. Sophomore Kendall Blue scored 13 points, his seventh straight game in double figures, on 4-of-9 shooting while senior Drake Dobbs tacked on 11 points, his 11th double-digit scoring game.
COACHES VERSUS CANCER
The Tommies are teaming up with the American Cancer Society and the NABC to bring awareness to cancer screening and help raise money to end cancer as we know it. The St. Thomas coaching staff will suit up Thursday night for #SuitsAndSneakers week to promote the cause, which has a personal tie to Head Coach Johnny Tauer. His wife, Chancey Anderson Tauer, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2018 before again being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. Because of an early cancer screening in 2020, she was able to beat cancer for the second time. If you'd like to learn more, visit www.coaches.cancer.org.
1993-94 FINAL FOUR TEAM
St. Thomas (24-7, 18-2 MIAC) became the first MIAC men's team to reach a Final Four in the post NAIA era. The Toms went 5-0 to start the postseason (conference and early NCAA playoffs) to reach the national semifinals in New York, where they lost in the semifinals and again in the third-place game.
After a 1-3 start, St. Thomas reeled off wins in 23 of its next 25 games, including an 18-2 burst to claim the conference title. They were just the second Tommie men's team to sweep the MIAC regular-season and playoff crowns in the 10-year history of the league's playoff format.
Current head coach Johnny Tauer was a junior forward on that balanced team that was led by senior Brent Longval. Then freshman Karnell James (1,854 points), Tauer (1,219) and Longval (1,119) were all eventual 1,000-point career scorers. Two of the better passers in program history were also on that team: juniors Matt McDonagh and Mike Bergan.
The Purple avenged two losses to St. John's with a 66-63 home win in the playoff championship clash. The 24 wins were the second most by a St. Thomas team in the previous 20 seasons.
(Most of that Tommie team returned in 1994-95 and led another excellent season that started with a 27-0 record before a season-ending loss to Nebraska Wesleyan in the NCAA playoffs. That group was the first MIAC men's team to sweep all 22 games against conference opponents.)
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
The Toms' defense has been the best in the Summit League to start the conference schedule, holding its league opponents to 66.4 points per game, which is 6.2 points fewer than the next lowest. St. Thomas' conference scoring margin of +11.0 is the best in the league, 6.0 more than the next highest. Overall, the Toms rank tied for 11th in the nation with 63.1 points allowed per game.
MARGIN FOR SUCCESS
St. Thomas has made a statement with its margin of victories thus far, winning by an average of 18.2 points. Including only DI opponents, the Tommies have won by an average of 11.9 points including an average of 19 points over its three Summit League wins. The Purple's margins of loss have been slim at 4.3 points per loss with only one double-digit loss.
TAKE CARE OF THE BALL
Tauer's teams have historically taken care of the basketball and this season is no different. The Tommies are currently tied with Duke for 9th nationally in fewest turnovers per game (9.3) after ranking tied for 11th nationally in the fewest total turnovers (327) last season and leading the category in 2021-22. 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.
HOLDING 'EM BELOW 45
The Purple held a Summit League opponent at 45 points or fewer in a game for the second time over the past two seasons following its 70-45 win at North Dakota. St. Thomas previously defeated Kansas City, 73-43, on Feb. 11, 2023. No other team in the Summit League has held a conference opponent to 45 points or fewer multiple times since 2021-22. Denver, Kansas City, and Oral Roberts have all done it once since then.
HOME COOKING
The Tommies have embraced playing in front of the hometown crowd, going 20-3 over its last 23 games at Schoenecker Arena. St. Thomas closed out the 2021-22 season with a home win and went 12-2 last season, including a 10-game home winning streak, before opening the 2023-24 season with seven straight home wins.
The only three home losses over that span came Jan. 28, 2023 to South Dakota, Feb. 9, 2023 to Oral Roberts, and Jan. 11, 2024 to South Dakota State. Over the final five home games of the 2022-23 season, St. Thomas averaged an attendance of 1,707 per game, including a record crowd of 2,013 against Oral Roberts, and set the top five attendance marks during the DI era. The Tommies added another top five attendance mark Jan. 11, 2024 against South Dakota State with a crowd of 1,515.
NOTHING BUT NET
When the NCAA's first NET Rankings were released on Dec. 4, St. Thomas was slotted at 175 and currently ranks 138, first in the Summit League ahead of South Dakota State (147) and Denver (163), through games on Jan. 22. The Tommies entered its matchup at No. 7 Marquette ranked 185 and jumped 20 spots to 165 following a five-point loss to the Golden Eagles. North Dakota State enters the week 245 in the NET rankings, fifth among Summit League teams.
I'M JUST KEN (POM RANKINGS)
The Tommies saw a more impressive ascent in the Ken Pom Rankings following the game at Marquette. The Purple entered Milwaukee, Wis., ranked 218 in the Ken Pom Rankings before moving up to 185 after the loss. St. Thomas, currently ranked 137, is first in the Summit League ahead of South Dakota State (144) and Denver (177). North Dakota State is 259 in the rankings heading into the week.
Of 363 NCAA Division I programs, St. Thomas ranks 357 in adjusted tempo with 62.8 possessions per 40 minutes. The Tommies are 139 with an adjusted offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions) of 109.1 and 157 with an adjusted defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 106.5.
GOING IN FOR THE KILL SHOT
St. Thomas has recorded a "Kill Shot," a scoring run of 10-0 or more, in 11 games this season, going 9-2 in those games. The largest scoring run of the season came against Sacramento State when it went on a spurt of 21-0. The only losses came by one point against both South Dakota State and South Dakota.
Opponents have recorded a "Kill Shot" in five games against the Tommies, in which the Purple have gone 3-2. The largest run against St. Thomas were two 12-0 runs during a win at Western Michigan, a game in which the Toms put together two "Kill Shots," and the loss to SDSU. The only other loss when allowing a "Kill Shot" was against No. 7 Marquette.
PICK YOUR LEADER
The Tommies have seen eight different student-athletes lead the way in scoring and six lead in rebounds through their first 20 games. Anthony and Bjorklund have each led the team in rebounds seven times, Blue four times, Lee twice, and Nau and Allen twice.
Bjorklund has led in scoring eight times while the next highest is Anthony with four, senior Drake Dobbs with three, graduate student Brooks Allen with two, and Carter Bjerke, Kendall Blue, Ahjany Lee and Ben Nau all with one. The Tommies have four athletes averaging double-digit points this season (Bjorklund, Anthony, Blue, Dobbs) and haven't had a quartet each average at least 10 points in a season since the 2015-16 national championship season (excluding 2020-21 COVID season).
ALL BUSINESS FOR BJORKLUND
Bjorklund became the 39th member of the 1,000-point club at St. Thomas Saturday, Jan. 6 during the win over Sacramento State. He's the most recent Tommie to cross 1,000 career points since Riley Miller did so in November 2022, excluding current Tommie Raheem Anthony who began his career in the Purple with over 1,000 points. Bjorklund has 417 career rebounds, 28 shy of tying Joe Buri (1996-2000) for 30th all-time at St. Thomas.
THE 1,500 POINT/NEWCOMER 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 in 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. Anthony's also at 709 career rebounds, including 620 at Saint Mary's, which ranks 11th at St. Thomas.
Anthony is second on the Tommies with 10.9 points per game and leads with 3.0 assists per game, with at least three assists in 11 games this season and an eight-assist performance Dec. 10 in a win at Chicago State. He scored a season-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting to push him over the 1,500 point mark against Milwaukee and currently has 1,615 points.
350 LEADING THE PURPLE
Johnny Tauer made his 350th appearance as head coach for St. Thomas Jan. 13, 2024 at Oral Roberts, coming away with a win and a career record of 260-90. Tauer, the longest tenured head coach in the Summit League, coached his 350th career game against ORU's Russell Springmann in his first season as a head coach.
JOINING ELITE COMPANY
Johnny Tauer is one of seven active head coaches among all of NCAA with 250 career wins and a .740 winning percentage at one program.
| Head Coach | School | Wins | Pct. |
| Mark Few | Gonzaga | 701 | .834 |
| Tom Brown | West Texas A&M | 252 | .813 |
| Ben McCollum | Northwest Mo. State | 378 | .808 |
| Joe Lombardi | Indiana (PA) | 411 | .784 |
| Jeff Young | Walsh | 448 | .758 |
| Johnny Tauer | St. Thomas | 260 | .741 |
| Mitch Oliver | Albertus Magnus | 324 | .740 |
Tauer is also one of 13 active head coaches with 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 .741 winning percentage and is third in career wins (260).
| 2023-24 Summit League Head Coaches | |||
| Head Coach | School | Wins | Pct. |
| Paul Sather | North Dakota | 336 | .581 |
| Marvin Menzies | Kansas City | 265 | .579 |
| Johnny Tauer | St. Thomas | 260 | .743 |
| David Richman | North Dakota State | 184 | .596 |
| Eric Henderson | South Dakota State | 98 | .686 |
| Jeff Wulbrun | Denver | 38 | .451 |
| Chris Crutchfield | Omaha | 29 | .414 |
| Eric Peterson | South Dakota | 21 | .408 |
| Russell Springmann | Oral Roberts | 8 | .471 |
Tauer's winning percentage of .741 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 592 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.
POWER SIX
St. Thomas played two games against Power Six opponents this season, a 71-66 season-opening loss Nov. 6 at Cal and an 84-79 loss Dec. 14 at No. 7 Marquette. The 71 points scored against the Tommies is the Golden Bears' third lowest offensive output of their season. Marquette allowed its most points (79) to St. Thomas while the margin of victory (5) was the second smallest for MU this season.
The meeting against Marquette was the second game against a Top 10 Big East opponent in as many years for St. Thomas after opening the 2022-23 campaign at No. 9 Creighton. The Tommies overcame a double-digit deficit to lead in the second half against the Bluejays and nearly overcame a double-digit deficit to the Golden Eagles, pulling within one point multiple times against MU.
The Tommies have now played four Power Six opponents over the past two seasons, adding a loss Nov. 26, 2022 at Utah for its first ever game against a Pac-12 opponent.
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
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.
The squad has nine guards and six forwards with an average height of 6-foot-4-inches, which ranks tied for 223rd in the nation among tallest teams. The Purple have three graduate students, four seniors, two juniors, two sophomores, one redshirt freshman, and three true freshmen.
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.
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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/ Men's BasketballTommie Men's Basketball: Summit League Tournament Cinematic Recap 2025
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