Saint John’s (10-7, 7-5 MIAC) plays host to Saint Mary’s (7-11, 5-8 MIAC) for a 3 p.m. tip-off this Saturday, Jan. 30, at Sexton Arena in Collegeville. – Listen Live | Live Stats
Preview Video:
-Head Coach Jim Smith (1:50)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: The Johnnies return action Saturday a week since their last competition, an 84-68 loss at Carleton. The Knights opened the game on a 19-6 run in the game’s first nine minutes. The contest was the Johnnies' fourth road game in their last five. Junior Aaron Burtzel (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) led the Johnnies with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists. Sophomores Andrew Latzke (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) and Andy Burns (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) added 16 and 11 points, respectively. All five of the Knights’ starters scored in double figures and combined to shoot 66.7 percent (22-33) in the contest. Carleton led by as much as 20 points near the end of the first half; a half in which it shot 60.9 percent to the Johnnies’ 34.6 percent (48-29 halftime score). SJU outscored the Knights 39-36 in the second half, but the first-half deficit was too much to overcome.
A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary’s has won three of its last five games, including a 78-75 comeback win over second-place Gustavus on Jan. 27. The victory was the first for the Cardinals over GAC since Feb. 11, 1987. With the scored tied 70-70, the Cardinals made a 5-0 run with under 1:13 to play to take the lead and close the door on the Gusties. Will Wright scored a game-high 18 points on 5-8 shooting, while teammate Michael Burfeind scored 17, shooting 8-10 from the field. The Cardinals led by as many as seven points with the score 44-37 in the opening minutes of the second half. Gustavus chipped away at the lead and tied the game at 46-46 on a jumper by Phil Wirtjes at the 15:01 mark. Gustavus would then go on a 6-0 run to take a 52-46 advantage with just over 12:00 minutes remaining in the game. GAC held the lead until the 4:26 mark, at which point Burfeind hit a jumper that put the Cardinals back on top 67-66. Free throws proved to be the difference down the stretch, as Saint Mary’s hit six of its last eight to hold on to the lead. Gustavus finished with a field goal percentage of 57 percent (32-56), while shooting 67 percent (4-6) from three-point range. Saint Mary’s shot 59 percent (27-46) from the field and 44 percent (8-18) from behind the three-point line. The Cardinals went to the charity stripe more than twice the amount as the Gusties, going 16-22, while Gustavus was 7-10. Although Gustavus out-rebounded Saint Mary’s 31-18 in the game, the Gusties lost the turnover battle 16-10.
THE LAST MEETING: Junior Sam Blank (Rollingstone, Minn./Winona Cotter) scored 22 points as Saint John’s defeated Saint Mary’s 69-62 back on Jan. 2. Burtzel tallied 16 points, 13 rebounds and five assists for his fourth double-double of the season. Nine different Johnnies scored a basket, eight of which scored four points or more. Will Wright led SMU with 17 points and nine rebounds. The Johnnies posted a 31-23 at the half and led by as much as 17 with 10:48 remaining. The Cardinals, however, went on a 21-9 run during the next 7:15 to cut the lead to 60-55. SJU then went 2-for-2 from the floor, including a three-pointer by junior Todd Herman (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer), and four of six from the charity stripe to seal the win.
HOME WINNING STREAK ON THE LINE: SJU is 69-20 all-time against the Cardinals under the direction of Smith, including a 43-1 home record. The Johnnies have won 36 of the last 44 meetings overall and 39 consecutive meetings in Collegeville (35-0 in the Warner Palaestra). Smith’s only home loss to SMU occurred Jan. 31, 1968, when SJU still played in the Old Gym (80-77 in overtime).