University of St. Thomas Athletics
Thursday, January 11
St. Paul, Minn.
7:00 p.m. Central
vs
South Dakota State
Photo by: Wesley Dean
St. Thomas hosts South Dakota State, travels to face Oral Roberts
1/9/2024 4:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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Tommies play pair of 7 p.m. games Thursday in St. Paul, Saturday in Tulsa, Okla.
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- St. Thomas men's basketball prepares for the final stretch of the 2023-24 season with a pair of games against Summit League opponents South Dakota State Jan. 11 and Oral Roberts Jan. 13. The Tommies welcome South Dakota State to Schoenecker Arena Thursday before traveling to Tulsa, Okla., Saturday to face Oral Roberts.
The Tommies (12-5, 2-0 Summit League) and Jackrabbits (8-8, 1-0 Summit League) tip-off at 7 p.m. Thursday night in Schoenecker Arena before another 7 p.m. start time Saturday night against the Golden Eagles (7-8, 1-1 Summit League).
Tommie fans can purchase tickets for Thursday's game HERE.
TUNE IN
Basketball fans can watch both games on the Summit League Network and listen on ESPN 1500 radio with Corbu Stathes calling the action. Live stats are available for Thursday's game on tommiesports.com and Saturday at oruathletics.com.
SERIES HISTORY | SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
The Tommies and Jackrabbits have met 20 times throughout the series history, led 12-8 by SDSU, including four times since St. Thomas joined the Summit League in 2021-22.
The Purple won the most recent meeting, 60-54, Jan. 26, 2023 in St. Paul as sophomore Ahjany Lee scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with eight rebounds. The Tommies held the Jackrabbits to zero bench points while 38 of its 54 points came from two players (Matt Dentlinger and Zeke Mayo). Graduate student Brooks Allen recorded the team's highest single-game scoring total of the year and a career high at South Dakota State last season with 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting. During the win in St. Paul, Allen totaled nine points and nine rebounds.
THE OPPOSITION | SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
South Dakota State begins the second week of Summit League play 8-8 overall and 1-0 in conference play. The Jackrabbits come off a split during the Big Sky-Summit Challenge, opening with a buzzer-beating 75-73 loss at Weber State and finishing with an 89-61 win over Montana State. SDSU is led by Eric Henderson in his fifth season with a career record of 95-43
The Jackrabbits feature four players with double-digit scoring averages, led by junior Zeke Mayo with 17.8 points per game, which ranks third in the conference, on 47.6 percent shooting, including 37.3 percent from 3-point range. Sophomore William Kyle III averages 12.6 points per game and is 20th in the nation and leads the Summit shooting 62.6 percent from the field. Senior Luke Appel totals 11.1 points per game on 48.6 percent shooting followed by senior Charlie Easley with 10.5 points. Easley is 14th in the country and leads the league with 2.53 steals per game.
SDSU is fourth in the Summit League with 75.8 points per game and third allowing 70.4 points. The Jacks lead the conference allowing 40.8 percent shooting overall and with 6.81 steals per game, and are tied for first shooting 47.5 percent overall.
SERIES HISTORY | ORAL ROBERTS
St. Thomas and Oral Roberts have played five times in the series history, led by ORU 5-0, dating back to Jan. 6, 2022. The Tommies and Golden Eagles played three times last season as the final two games were decided by seven points or less. ORU took the most recent meeting, 70-65, March 6, 2023 during the semifinal round of the Summit League Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Bjorklund has averaged nearly 20 points per game (19.4) in five contests against ORU, including three straight 20-point outings during his first three career games against the Golden Eagles. He recorded his sixth career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds during the Summit League Championship loss while graduate student Brooks Allen added 17 points with seven rebounds in the game. Sophomore Kendall Blue averaged 10.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in the regular season against ORU last year.
THE OPPOSITION | ORAL ROBERTS
Oral Roberts enters the week 7-8 overall and 1-1 in the Summit League, most recently taking a split during the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge. ORU opened the series with an 82-76 win at Montana State before taking an 83-78 loss to Weber State in Tulsa. Russell Springmann is in his first season as head coach.
The Golden Eagles have four student-athletes averaging double digit points, led by senior Issac McBride with 19.6 points per game, which is 33rd in the nation and third in the Summit League. Junior Jailen Bedford is scoring 14.3 points per game, followed by graduate student Kareem Thompson with 12.7 points and graduate student DeShang Weaver with 10.7 points. Weaver is 28th nationally and leads the conference with 2.08 blocks per game.
ORU is fifth in the Summit League with 75.2 points per game and sixth allowing 74.5 points per game. The Golden Eagles lead the Summit League and rank 20th in the country shooting 38.2 percent from 3-point range and also lead the conference and rank 67th in the nation with a +2.5 turnover margin.
LAST TIME OUT | SACRAMENTO STATE
St. Thomas men's basketball was the only Summit League school to sweep the Big Sky-Summit Challenge following a 63-50 win over Sacramento State. The Tommies led the entire second half and majority of the first, going 20-of-47 shooting with 7-of-25 from 3-point range. Sacramento State, averaging nine 3-pointers per game entering the contest, was shut down behind the arc going just 3-of-21. The Hornets started the game 2-of-3 from beyond the arc over the first three minutes before finishing 1-of-18. St. Thomas forced 17 Sac State turnovers that led to 22 points, including 14 on fast break.
THE CAST | VS SACRAMENTO STATE
Graduate student Parker Bjorklund became the 39th member of the 1,000-point club at St. Thomas and led the team with 13 points against the Hornets. He surpassed the 1,000-point mark midway through the opening half and finished with his 23rd double-digit scoring game over the last 27 overall. Fellow graduate student Raheem Anthony totaled 12 points with four rebounds and two assists while sophomore Kendall Blue added 10 points, his fourth straight game in double figures, for his eighth double-digit game of the season.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
The Toms' defense has been the best in the Summit League to start the conference schedule, holding its league opponents to 50.5 points per game, which is 10.5 points fewer than the next lowest. St. Thomas' conference scoring margin of +23.0 is the best in the league, 17 more than the next highest with at least two conference games played. Overall, the Toms rank 7th in the nation with 60.6 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 18.8 points. Including only DI opponents, the Tommies have won by an average of 12.0 points including an average of 23 points over its two Summit League wins. The Purple's margins of loss have been slim at 5.6 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 currently rank tied for 19th nationally in fewest turnovers per game (9.7) 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 20-2 over its last 22 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 two home losses over that span came Jan. 28, 2023 to South Dakota and Feb. 9, 2023 to Oral Roberts. Over the final five home games, 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.
NOTHING BUT NET
When the NCAA's first NET Rankings were released on Dec. 4, St. Thomas was slotted at 175 and currently ranks 130, first in the Summit League ahead of South Dakota State (156), Denver (159), and Oral Roberts (196), through games on Jan. 8. 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.
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 135, leads all Summit League programs in the Ken Pom Rankings, slotting in ahead of South Dakota State (140), Denver (189) and Oral Roberts (195).
Of 363 NCAA Division I programs, St. Thomas ranks 358 in adjusted tempo with 63.1 possessions per 40 minutes. The Tommies are 142 with an adjusted offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions) of 106.6 and 144 with an adjusted defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 103.9.
GOING IN FOR THE KILL SHOT
St. Thomas has recorded a "Kill Shot," a scoring run of 10-0 or more, in nine games this season, going 9-0 in those games. The largest scoring run of the season came against Sacramento State when it went on a spurt of 21-0.
Opponents have recorded a "Kill Shot" in four games against the Tommies, in which the Purple have gone 3-1. The largest run against St. Thomas was a 12-0 streak during a win at Western Michigan, a game in which the Toms put together two "Kill Shots." The only loss came at No. 7 Marquette where the Golden Eagles put together a run of 10-0.
PICK YOUR LEADER
The Tommies have seen eight different student-athletes lead the way in scoring and six lead in rebounds through their first 17 games. Bjorklund has led in scoring seven times while the next highest is Anthony with three, senior Drake Dobbs and graduate student Brooks Allen with two each, and Carter Bjerke, Kendall Blue, Ahjany Lee and Ben Nau all with one.
Anthony has led the team in rebounds in seven games, followed by Bjorklund six times, Blue three times, Nau and Lee twice and Allen once.
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, which ranks 9th in the Summit League. Bjorklund is averaging 13.8 points per game through his career on 52.6 percent shooting, one of two Tommies (Raheem Anthony, 51.5%) with a career field goal percentage above .500 (minimum 250 FGA).
Bjorklund currently ranks third in the Summit League shooting 49.7 percent from the field and finished 13 games last season shooting above 50 percent while taking at least seven shots in all but one game. Bjorklund is currently fourth among active Summit League student-athletes (min. 30 games) in career scoring average (13.9 PPG).
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 403 career rebounds, one shy of surpassing Jack Tamble 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 697 career rebounds, including 620 at Saint Mary's, which ranks 11th at St. Thomas.
Anthony is second on the Tommies with 10.3 points per game and leads with 3.0 assists per game, with at least three assists in 10 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 1,572 points.
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) last season. 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. This season, St. Thomas ranks tied for 10th nationally with 60.9 points allowed per game.
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.
The Tommies (12-5, 2-0 Summit League) and Jackrabbits (8-8, 1-0 Summit League) tip-off at 7 p.m. Thursday night in Schoenecker Arena before another 7 p.m. start time Saturday night against the Golden Eagles (7-8, 1-1 Summit League).
Tommie fans can purchase tickets for Thursday's game HERE.
TUNE IN
Basketball fans can watch both games on the Summit League Network and listen on ESPN 1500 radio with Corbu Stathes calling the action. Live stats are available for Thursday's game on tommiesports.com and Saturday at oruathletics.com.
SERIES HISTORY | SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
The Tommies and Jackrabbits have met 20 times throughout the series history, led 12-8 by SDSU, including four times since St. Thomas joined the Summit League in 2021-22.
The Purple won the most recent meeting, 60-54, Jan. 26, 2023 in St. Paul as sophomore Ahjany Lee scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with eight rebounds. The Tommies held the Jackrabbits to zero bench points while 38 of its 54 points came from two players (Matt Dentlinger and Zeke Mayo). Graduate student Brooks Allen recorded the team's highest single-game scoring total of the year and a career high at South Dakota State last season with 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting. During the win in St. Paul, Allen totaled nine points and nine rebounds.
THE OPPOSITION | SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
South Dakota State begins the second week of Summit League play 8-8 overall and 1-0 in conference play. The Jackrabbits come off a split during the Big Sky-Summit Challenge, opening with a buzzer-beating 75-73 loss at Weber State and finishing with an 89-61 win over Montana State. SDSU is led by Eric Henderson in his fifth season with a career record of 95-43
The Jackrabbits feature four players with double-digit scoring averages, led by junior Zeke Mayo with 17.8 points per game, which ranks third in the conference, on 47.6 percent shooting, including 37.3 percent from 3-point range. Sophomore William Kyle III averages 12.6 points per game and is 20th in the nation and leads the Summit shooting 62.6 percent from the field. Senior Luke Appel totals 11.1 points per game on 48.6 percent shooting followed by senior Charlie Easley with 10.5 points. Easley is 14th in the country and leads the league with 2.53 steals per game.
SDSU is fourth in the Summit League with 75.8 points per game and third allowing 70.4 points. The Jacks lead the conference allowing 40.8 percent shooting overall and with 6.81 steals per game, and are tied for first shooting 47.5 percent overall.
SERIES HISTORY | ORAL ROBERTS
St. Thomas and Oral Roberts have played five times in the series history, led by ORU 5-0, dating back to Jan. 6, 2022. The Tommies and Golden Eagles played three times last season as the final two games were decided by seven points or less. ORU took the most recent meeting, 70-65, March 6, 2023 during the semifinal round of the Summit League Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Bjorklund has averaged nearly 20 points per game (19.4) in five contests against ORU, including three straight 20-point outings during his first three career games against the Golden Eagles. He recorded his sixth career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds during the Summit League Championship loss while graduate student Brooks Allen added 17 points with seven rebounds in the game. Sophomore Kendall Blue averaged 10.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in the regular season against ORU last year.
THE OPPOSITION | ORAL ROBERTS
Oral Roberts enters the week 7-8 overall and 1-1 in the Summit League, most recently taking a split during the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge. ORU opened the series with an 82-76 win at Montana State before taking an 83-78 loss to Weber State in Tulsa. Russell Springmann is in his first season as head coach.
The Golden Eagles have four student-athletes averaging double digit points, led by senior Issac McBride with 19.6 points per game, which is 33rd in the nation and third in the Summit League. Junior Jailen Bedford is scoring 14.3 points per game, followed by graduate student Kareem Thompson with 12.7 points and graduate student DeShang Weaver with 10.7 points. Weaver is 28th nationally and leads the conference with 2.08 blocks per game.
ORU is fifth in the Summit League with 75.2 points per game and sixth allowing 74.5 points per game. The Golden Eagles lead the Summit League and rank 20th in the country shooting 38.2 percent from 3-point range and also lead the conference and rank 67th in the nation with a +2.5 turnover margin.
LAST TIME OUT | SACRAMENTO STATE
St. Thomas men's basketball was the only Summit League school to sweep the Big Sky-Summit Challenge following a 63-50 win over Sacramento State. The Tommies led the entire second half and majority of the first, going 20-of-47 shooting with 7-of-25 from 3-point range. Sacramento State, averaging nine 3-pointers per game entering the contest, was shut down behind the arc going just 3-of-21. The Hornets started the game 2-of-3 from beyond the arc over the first three minutes before finishing 1-of-18. St. Thomas forced 17 Sac State turnovers that led to 22 points, including 14 on fast break.
THE CAST | VS SACRAMENTO STATE
Graduate student Parker Bjorklund became the 39th member of the 1,000-point club at St. Thomas and led the team with 13 points against the Hornets. He surpassed the 1,000-point mark midway through the opening half and finished with his 23rd double-digit scoring game over the last 27 overall. Fellow graduate student Raheem Anthony totaled 12 points with four rebounds and two assists while sophomore Kendall Blue added 10 points, his fourth straight game in double figures, for his eighth double-digit game of the season.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
The Toms' defense has been the best in the Summit League to start the conference schedule, holding its league opponents to 50.5 points per game, which is 10.5 points fewer than the next lowest. St. Thomas' conference scoring margin of +23.0 is the best in the league, 17 more than the next highest with at least two conference games played. Overall, the Toms rank 7th in the nation with 60.6 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 18.8 points. Including only DI opponents, the Tommies have won by an average of 12.0 points including an average of 23 points over its two Summit League wins. The Purple's margins of loss have been slim at 5.6 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 currently rank tied for 19th nationally in fewest turnovers per game (9.7) 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 20-2 over its last 22 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 two home losses over that span came Jan. 28, 2023 to South Dakota and Feb. 9, 2023 to Oral Roberts. Over the final five home games, 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.
NOTHING BUT NET
When the NCAA's first NET Rankings were released on Dec. 4, St. Thomas was slotted at 175 and currently ranks 130, first in the Summit League ahead of South Dakota State (156), Denver (159), and Oral Roberts (196), through games on Jan. 8. 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.
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 135, leads all Summit League programs in the Ken Pom Rankings, slotting in ahead of South Dakota State (140), Denver (189) and Oral Roberts (195).
Of 363 NCAA Division I programs, St. Thomas ranks 358 in adjusted tempo with 63.1 possessions per 40 minutes. The Tommies are 142 with an adjusted offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions) of 106.6 and 144 with an adjusted defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 103.9.
GOING IN FOR THE KILL SHOT
St. Thomas has recorded a "Kill Shot," a scoring run of 10-0 or more, in nine games this season, going 9-0 in those games. The largest scoring run of the season came against Sacramento State when it went on a spurt of 21-0.
Opponents have recorded a "Kill Shot" in four games against the Tommies, in which the Purple have gone 3-1. The largest run against St. Thomas was a 12-0 streak during a win at Western Michigan, a game in which the Toms put together two "Kill Shots." The only loss came at No. 7 Marquette where the Golden Eagles put together a run of 10-0.
PICK YOUR LEADER
The Tommies have seen eight different student-athletes lead the way in scoring and six lead in rebounds through their first 17 games. Bjorklund has led in scoring seven times while the next highest is Anthony with three, senior Drake Dobbs and graduate student Brooks Allen with two each, and Carter Bjerke, Kendall Blue, Ahjany Lee and Ben Nau all with one.
Anthony has led the team in rebounds in seven games, followed by Bjorklund six times, Blue three times, Nau and Lee twice and Allen once.
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, which ranks 9th in the Summit League. Bjorklund is averaging 13.8 points per game through his career on 52.6 percent shooting, one of two Tommies (Raheem Anthony, 51.5%) with a career field goal percentage above .500 (minimum 250 FGA).
Bjorklund currently ranks third in the Summit League shooting 49.7 percent from the field and finished 13 games last season shooting above 50 percent while taking at least seven shots in all but one game. Bjorklund is currently fourth among active Summit League student-athletes (min. 30 games) in career scoring average (13.9 PPG).
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 403 career rebounds, one shy of surpassing Jack Tamble 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 697 career rebounds, including 620 at Saint Mary's, which ranks 11th at St. Thomas.
Anthony is second on the Tommies with 10.3 points per game and leads with 3.0 assists per game, with at least three assists in 10 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 1,572 points.
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) last season. 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. This season, St. Thomas ranks tied for 10th nationally with 60.9 points allowed per game.
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 | 699 | .834 |
| Jeff Young | Walsh | 445 | .757 |
| Joe Lombardi | Indiana (PA) | 408 | .785 |
| Ben McCollum | Northwest Mo. State | 376 | .809 |
| Johnny Tauer | St. Thomas | 259 | .744 |
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 .743 winning percentage and is third in career wins (259).
| 2023-24 Summit League Head Coaches | |||
| Head Coach | School | Wins | Pct. |
| Johnny Tauer | St. Thomas | 259 | .744 |
| Eric Henderson | South Dakota State | 95 | .688 |
| David Richman | North Dakota State | 182 | .597 |
| Paul Sather | North Dakota | 333 | .581 |
| Marvin Menzies | Kansas City | 264 | .581 |
| Russell Springmann | Oral Roberts | 7 | .467 |
| Jeff Wulbrun | Denver | 36 | .444 |
| Eric Peterson | South Dakota | 20 | .417 |
| Chris Crutchfield | Omaha | 27 | .397 |
Tauer's winning percentage of .744 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 591 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.
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.
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
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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