Tommies host Broncos, Polars for final home games of 2024

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The final home games of the calendar year are on deck for St. Thomas men's basketball as it prepares to host Western Michigan Dec. 13 at 8 p.m. and Crown College Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. in Schoenecker Arena.

The Tommies and Broncos play for the second consecutive season, which will be broadcast on television on FOX9+, before the Purple host the Polars on Sunday for the final home game of the 2024 calendar year.

TUNE IN
Tickets: Friday vs Western Michigan / Sunday vs Crown
Watch: Friday vs Western Michigan / Sunday vs Crown
TV: Friday vs Western Michigan on FOX9+
Live Stats: Friday vs Western Michigan / Sunday vs Crown
Listen: The Varsity Network

SERIES HISTORY | WESTERN MICHIGAN
St. Thomas and Western Michigan have met once all-time, coming on the first day of December last season as the Tommies came away from Kalamazoo, Mich., with a 65-51 win. Ben Nau led all returners with 11 points against the Broncos after playing 20 minutes off the bench.

SERIES HISTORY | CROWN
St. Thomas and Crown will play for the fourth time ever and the fourth straight season. The Tommies average 83 points per game over the first three meetings with an average margin of victory of 24.7 points per win. During last season's 85-66 win, Ryan Dufault led all returners with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting along with four assists and no turnovers followed by Drake Dobbs with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting with four assists and no turnovers.

BIG SKY-SUMMIT SUCCESS
For the second consecutive season, St. Thomas went perfect during the Big Sky-Summit Challenge with wins at Northern Colorado (87-75) and versus Montana (88-81). The Tommies are the only team between the two conferences to go undefeated in both seasons. Kendall Blue is averaging 14 points per game shooting 51.3 percent followed by Drake Dobbs with 12.5 points per game on 60.1 percent shooting in the four Big Sky-Summit games. During their first Big Sky-Summit Challenge, Nolan Minessale averaged 20 points per game on 71.4 percent shooting while Miles Barnstable averaged 18.5 points per game on 76.5 percent shooting.

TAMED THE COUGARS
The Tommies continued their perfect start to the home schedule with a 98-76 win over Chicago State on Dec. 4. St. Thomas is now 27-4 over its last 31 games at home and have scored at least 90 points in every win this season. At least 10 players scored at least five points for the second time this season, led by Ben Nau and Ben Oosterbaan off the bench with 13 points each. The Purple used a 16-0 run over a six-minute stretch to take control of the game, leading by as many as 33 points.
A TRUE CREAM CITY CHALLENGE St. Thomas Men's Basketball (4-4) concluded the Cream City Challenge with a 69-65 loss to host Milwaukee after splitting its first two games of the tournament. The Tommies opened the event Friday with a career-high 20-point performance from Carter Bjerke during an 81-73 loss to Wofford, followed by a dominant 91-65 win over Portland State on Saturday, highlighted by Ben Nau's career-best 18 points and 10 Tommies with at least five points. Drake Dobbs led the way in Sunday's narrow defeat with 16 points, five rebounds, and five assists, marking his first career game with at least 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

BY THE TIME I GET TO ARIZONA
St. Thomas men's basketball battled Arizona State closely but fell short, 81-66, after a late 11-0 Sun Devil run at Desert Financial Arena. The Tommies trimmed a 10-point halftime deficit to three with eight minutes remaining, fueled by improved second-half defense and outscoring ASU 16-5 on second-chance points. Despite leading by as many as six in the first half, St. Thomas struggled with turnovers and offensive rebounds early, while Arizona State capitalized with 18 free throws compared to the Tommies' three. Miles Barnstable led the Purple with 12 points, including three 3-pointers, while Kendall Blue added 11 points and a team-high four assists.

HANGING WITH THE BOYS
St. Thomas men's basketball fell to Oklahoma State, 80-71, on Sunday Nov. 10, hindered by 20 turnovers that led to 20 points for the Cowboys in front of 5,447 fans at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Despite shooting just 27.6% in the first half, the Tommies bounced back to finish the game at 40.3%, with Kendall Blue recording a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Three other St. Thomas starters also scored in double figures — Drake Dobbs with 14 points, Nolan Minessale with 13, and Carter Bjerke with 12 — but a strong Oklahoma State run and effective free-throw shooting in the final minutes secured the win for the Cowboys.

A SUCCESSFUL ROAD OPENER
St. Thomas men's basketball defeated Green Bay 90-76 at the Kress Center Friday night during its first road game of the season. The Tommies, now 2-0, were led by junior Miles Barnstable, who scored 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting. St. Thomas showcased impressive efficiency, shooting 60.4% from the field, including 44.4% from three-point range, and dominated the rebounding battle 37-25. The Tommies built a 19-point lead at halftime and extended it to 24 early in the second half, with contributions from Kendall Blue (17 points) and Ryan Dufault (14 points). Despite a late push by Green Bay, St. Thomas held on, sealing the win with a clutch three-pointer from Ben Oosterbaan with four minutes to play to keep the lead in double digits.

DIVISION I FRESHMEN DEBUTS
The freshmen duo of Nolan Minessale and Ben Oosterbaan (a redshirt freshman) each finished with 14 points during the season opener against North Central, marking the second and third Tommie freshmen to score as many points in their debuts. The only other freshman to do so was Andrew Rohde with 15 points at No. 9 Creighton to open the 2022-23 season.

Minessale and Oosterbaan are also each one of 10 Tommie freshmen, five within the past three seasons, to score at least 14 points within their first three career games.

CLIMBING THE NET RANKINGS
St. Thomas was initially ranked 133 in the NET Rankings before jumping to 99, the highest ranking in program history, following its win over Northern Colorado on Dec. 4. The Tommies' 99 ranking marks just the second transition team to top the 100 ranking since 2000, joining Grand Canyon from the 2015-16 season when it finished the season 88.

The Tommies are one of three Summit League teams currently among the top 118 (South Dakota State, 105/North Dakota State, 118) with South Dakota also ranking among the top 200 at 191, as of games through Dec. 11.

KEN POM RANKINGS
St. Thomas is 134 in the Ken Pom Rankings after winning three straight games. The Purple are 87th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency, which includes points scored per 100 possessions. SDSU is the only Summit League team ahead of St. Thomas at 118 while NDSU followed at 145.

Western Michigan enters Thursday 237 in the NET Rankings and 278 in the Ken Pom Rankings.

GOODBYE, SCHOENECKER ARENA
Tommie Basketball is preparing its farewell tour at Schoenecker Arena with the anticipation of the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, expected to be completed in late 2025. Schoenecker Arena has featured 182 men's basketball contests, in which the Tommies have gone 153-30 in those games and 29-4 at home over the past 33 games. The Tommies are the only Summit League team with 12-win seasons at home in both 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Since February 26, 2022, St. Thomas has won its home games by an average margin of 21.4 points, including a margin of 15.7 points against DI opponents. Ten of the program's 22 home wins against DI opponents since that time have been by more than 20 points while just four were decided by fewer than 10 points.

AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION
St. Thomas continues to rank among the best in the country in several stats, landing among the top 34 programs in six categories and top 25 in four.

Category	Total	Rank
Effective FG Pct.	.582	t-13th
3FG/Game	10.5	t-21st
FG Pct.	.495	t-25th
FT Pct.	.781	25th
3FG Pct.	.392	26th
Scoring Offense	84.3	34th

GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE
The Toms have been pouring on points all season, including at least 87 points in all seven wins, and are second in the Summit League averaging 84.3 points per game and with a 10.7-point scoring margin. The league's most efficient field goal shooting team is powering the offense, shooting 49.5 percent overall to lead the league while the team's 39.2 percent shooting from long range trails only North Dakota State.

SHOOTING 60
St. Thomas set season highs in field goal percentage in a half during the Dec. 4 win at Northern Colorado, opening the game shooting a season best 63.3 percent before topping that at 65.4 percent to close the final 20 minutes. The Tommies have now shot over 60 percent in a half five times this season.

The Purple's 64.3 percent shooting overall against the Bears set a new Division I single-game record, hitting at least 60 percent shooting in seven games since 2021-22. St. Thomas shot above 60 percent during its road win at Green Bay and held a previous record of 63.3 percent on Nov. 11, 2022 against Chicago State.

GOING FOR THE KILL SHOT
St. Thomas recorded a "Kill Shot," a scoring run of 10-0 or more, in 18 games last season, going 14-4 in those games. The Tommies completed "Kill Shots" in all four games to open this season, going on runs of 12-0 against North Central to start the second half, 10-0 at Green Bay early in the first half, a 10-0 run at Oklahoma State late in the first half, and a 20-0 run towards the end of the first half versus St. Norbert.

The Tommies have recorded Kill Shots in back-to-back games and are now 5-1 overall in games this season with a run of 10-0 or better. St. Thomas went on a 16-0 run against Chicago State to open the game and a run of 11-0 as part of a 19-1 run to end the first half at Northern Colorado.

Opponents recorded a "Kill Shot" in nine games against the Tommies last season, in which the Purple went 4-5. The first "Kill Shot" against St. Thomas this season came at Oklahoma State as the Cowboys went on a 10-0 run to overtake a Tommie lead for good, while Arizona State went on two runs of 10-0 or better, each coming within the final 10 minutes of each half. The only other Kill Shot against St. Thomas this season came during its 98-76 win over Chicago State.

DOBBS BACK HOME
With St. Thomas serving as the most unique story in college basketball, it's only fitting graduate student Drake Dobbs closed out his unique path as a part of the 2024-25 Tommie squad. The guard from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, was a regarded high school recruit as a senior at Eden Prairie High School. During his senior season, Dobbs led EPHS to a perfect 28-0 record and ranked #10 nationally before COVID shortened the season. He led his team to a road win over nationally ranked Minnehaha Academy and future NBA draft picks Jalen Suggs and Chet Holmgren. Dobbs was a Minnesota Mr. Basketball top five finalist, a McDonald's All-America nominee, an all-metro first team selection (alongside Suggs, Holmgren and Dawson Garcia), and the all-time leading scorer at EPHS with over 2,000 points.

Dobbs committed to Liberty University and played 39 games (including a NCAA Tournament First Round versus Oklahoma State) with two starts before transferring in the middle of the 2021-22 season to St. Thomas. Dobbs played in 11 games in 2022-23 before starting all 33 games as a senior. He set the tone as the Tommies' staple in the backcourt last season (playing a team-high 30.3 minutes per game), consistently drawing the opponent's top offensive threat while also directing the St. Thomas offense (3.28 assist-to-turnover ratio). He's again leading in minutes per game and holds a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio to lead the Summit League.

THE TELEVISED TOMMIES
Fans can watch all home games and Summit League contests on the Summit League Network, while four will be broadcast locally on FOX9+ including Dec. 7 against Montana (part of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge), Dec. 13 versus Western Michigan, Jan. 8 against South Dakota State, and Feb. 15 against Omaha. The Feb. 2 home contest against North Dakota State will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network while road non-conference games will be streamed on ESPN+.

THE DIII PIPELINE
After the departure of three former NCAA Division III athletes (Brooks Allen, Raheem Anthony, Parker Bjorklund), St. Thomas brought in another DIII product in junior Miles Barnstable from University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. Barnstable played two seasons with the Warhawks (2022-24) where he was a 2023-24 NABC All-District Second Team and two-time WIAC All-Conference First Team selection. He was named the WIAC and WBCA Newcomer of the Year and to the D3hoops.com All-Region Third Team after leading UW-Whitewater to a Final Four run, upsetting five ranked teams along the way, while scoring 22 points per game. During his Tommie debut, Barnstable led St. Thomas with 16 points in 16 minutes. He followed with 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting in the win at Green Bay and leads the team in scoring (12.9 ppg). Barnstable scored his 1,000th career collegiate point Nov. 15, 2024 versus St. Norbert and has led the Tommies in scoring in four games.

RETURN OF THE LONG BALL
St. Thomas returns four of its top five 3-point shooters from last season as the team's top seven scorers all made at least 35 3-pointers on the season. Bjerke led all Tommies with 47 long balls and a .456 3-point percentage, followed by Brooks Allen with 46 3--pointers. Nau came off the bench to drain 45 on a .363 3-point percentage as Blue totaled 40 3-pointers and Dobbs finished with 38.

This season, Bjerke is again leading with 26 3-pointers on 50.0 percent shooting, which would lead the Summit League. He's made the team's most in a game this season with six coming Nov. 22, 2024 versus Wofford at the Cream City Challenge. Five Tommies have at least 14 3-pointers made this season while all but one of those are shooting at least 41.2 percent from long range.

St. Thomas currently ranks second in the Summit League in 3-point percentage at .392, trailing only North Dakota State at .401. The Tommies are also second to the Bison in 3-pointers per game at 10.5 compared to 12.0 for NDSU.

SMOOTH TRANSITION
St. Thomas is one of nine teams currently making the transition into NCAA Division I. Of those nine teams, the Tommies are the only one making the jump directly from the Division III ranks (while all 47 teams to transition to Division I since 2001 came from Division II). Among the current transitioning teams, St. Thomas led all last season in wins, Ken Pom, and NET Rankings, and was third in each among 2023-24 transitioning teams.

St. Thomas is one of four teams since 2001 to transition to Division I that improve its win total in each of its first three seasons. The 20-win season was just the third for a transitioning team in its third year during that span.

In addition to its win total, the Tommies saw their Ken Pom and NET Rankings rise in each of the past three seasons. The Toms final 2023-24 rankings in both (one of two Summit League teams to rank among the top 200) stand as the fourth best for a transitioning team in its third year of DI play. The Tommies' 99 NET Ranking prior to the Montana win this season marked just the second time a transitioning team has hit double digit marks in the NET Ranking (Grand Canyon '15-16).

After finishing the first year ranked 305 and the second at 202, the Tommies ended 2023-24 at 148 in the Ken Pom Rankings. The NET Rankings jumped from 314 to 199 between years one and two before ranking 159 to finish the 2023-24 season.

Johnny Tauer is one of four head coaches currently transitioning to Division I coaching at their alma mater. He is also one of eight DI head coaches in their first head coach stint, coaching at their alma mater, and a member of their athletics hall of fame. Tauer is the second longest tenured (14 seasons) among the eight, trailing only LeVelle Moton of NC Central (16 seasons).

SPREADING THE LOVE
Five Tommies are averaging at least 9.0 points per game with three scoring at least 11.0 points per game. Miles Barnstable leads with 13.5 points per game, which ranks 11th in the Summit League, followed by Kendall Blue with 11.8 and Drake Dobbs with 11.2. The Purple's top seven scorers are all shooting above 41.0 percent from the field, including six shooting above 50.0 percent. In total, seven different Tommies have led the team in single-game scoring, led by Barnstable four times. St. Thomas is 3-1 when Barnstable leads while Blue, Ben Nau, and Ben Oosterbaan have each led twice.

POWER FIVE
St. Thomas has played against two Power Five opponents in each of the past three seasons, this season traveling to face Oklahoma State and Arizona State. The Tommies fell in both games by an average margin of 12 points (-9 at Oklahoma State, -15 at Arizona State).

The Cowboys are led by first-year head coach Steve Lutz, who was an assistant under Creighton's Greg McDermott and Purdue's Matt Painter, before serving as head coach at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi from 2021-23 and at Western Kentucky last season. In the first game of the all-time series, the Tommies nearly overcame 20 turnovers and a poor shooting first half before falling to the Cowboys, 80-71.

Oklahoma State Head Coach Steve Lutz on St. Thomas: "They're well coached. They're disciplined. They really shoot the basketball well."

The Sun Devils feature one of the top 10 incoming freshman classes of 2024-25 including two five-star and one four-star recruit. Joining ASU are five-star freshmen Jayden Quaintance (C, 6-9), who flipped his commitment from Kentucky, and Joson Sanon (G, 6-5), who previously committed to Arizona. Also joining Arizona State is four-star freshman Amier Ali (G/F, 6-8). ASU is led by Head Coach Bobby Hurley in his 10th season as the program transitions into the Big 12.

Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley on St. Thomas: "I knew it was going to be a tough game. Their style is different. They're a very unique team. They move very fast, they back cut, shoot a lot of threes, a lot of long rebounds, a lot of long possessions of defense... There are easier teams that you most likely could find to play than this one."

NEW LOOK TOMMIES
The 2024-25 Tommies will feature a majority of new faces on the court after the departure of seven letter winners. St. Thomas returns five letter winners (including two starters) and three redshirt freshmen, and brought in three transfers and five true freshmen.

TAKE CARE OF THE BALL
Tauer's teams have historically taken care of the basketball and last season was no different. The Tommies finished tied for ninth nationally in fewest turnovers per game (9.2) after ranking tied for 11th nationally in the fewest total turnovers (327) in 2022-23 and leading the category in 2021-22. St. Thomas was one of seven teams nationally to record fewer than 10.0 turnovers per game in each of the past three seasons. Only Houston, Vermont and Virginia had a better scoring defense and fewer turnovers per game than St. Thomas nationally last season.

A WINNING TRADITION
Winning has been the tradition at St. Thomas with the trend continuing under Head Coach Johnny Tauer. Since 2011, the Tommies have finished with eight 20-win seasons, 10 19-win seasons and 11 nine-win conference seasons. The only seasons to not win 19 games or nine conference games included the COVID season and the 2021-22 inaugural DI season.

Tauer has averaged 20.5 wins per season at St. Thomas and became the fastest coach in program history to reach 250 career wins, doing so in 337 career games. He is one of 18 active head coaches among all of NCAA with at least 250 wins and a .731 winning percentage at any program, and one of eight active among all of NCAA with both at one program.

TENURED IN THE SUMMIT
Head Coach Johnny Tauer is in his 14th 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 all league head coaches in winning percentage and is third in career wins.

2024-25 Summit League Head Coaches
Head Coach	School	Wins	Pct.
Paul Sather	North Dakota	347	.580
Marvin Menzies	Kansas City	278	.578
Johnny Tauer	St. Thomas	274	.731
David Richman	North Dakota State	198	.595
Eric Henderson	South Dakota State	117	.692
Jeff Wulbrun	Denver	49	.445
Chris Crutchfield	Omaha	38	.400
Eric Peterson	South Dakota	32	.427
Russell Springmann	Oral Roberts	15	.366

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 25th in career scoring (1,219 points) and 23rd 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 606 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.

FROM ONE ARENA TO THE OTHER
Both St. Thomas and Western Michigan basketball programs will be calling a new court home in the near future as both have projects underway for new arenas. The Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, the future home of Tommie Basketball and Hockey, is currently underway on south campus with a projected finish date of Fall 2025. Western Michigan's $300 million arena, first announced in early 2023, will be located in downtown Kalamazoo and was initially planned to begin construction in November 2024 with a completion date of 2027-28.

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
To reserve your seat to be a part of the Tommies' 2024-25 season, click HERE to view ticketing information and purchase options.

-- St. Thomas Athletics --

Tommies host Broncos, Polars for final home games of 2024

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brooks Allen

Raheem Anthony

Miles Barnstable

Carter Bjerke

Parker Bjorklund

Kendall Blue

Drake Dobbs

Ryan Dufault

Nolan Minessale

Ben Nau

Ben Oosterbaan

University of St. Thomas Athletics

Tommies host Broncos, Polars for final home games of 2024

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brooks Allen

Raheem Anthony

Miles Barnstable

Carter Bjerke

Parker Bjorklund

Kendall Blue

Drake Dobbs

Ryan Dufault

Nolan Minessale

Ben Nau

Ben Oosterbaan

Related Videos