Saint John's (4-2, 0-1 MIAC) faces its first MIAC road test of the 2010-11 season with a 7:30 p.m. contest at Hamline tonight in St. Paul. – Listen Live | Watch Live
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: SJU shot just 36 percent (9-25), including 2-for-13 from three-point range, in a 72-64 loss to St. Olaf in the MIAC opener for both teams this past Saturday. The Oles (6-0, 1-0 MIAC), meanwhile, shot 57.1 percent (12-21) in the second half. SJU took a 36-35 lead into halftime after shooting 55.6 percent from the field, despite a 1-for-6 performance from behind the arc. The Johnnies were just three of 19 from three-point range in the game. The Johnnies led by seven with 13:43 left, but went 0-for-7 from the field, including 0-for-5 from beyond the arc, to create a 6:48 drought without a field goal. A layup and free throw by senior Sam Blank (Rollingstone, Minn./Winona Cotter) with 6:55 remaining ended the skid and gave SJU a two-point lead. Five straight free throws, four by Tucker Sheley with the help of a technical foul called on Blank, gave St. Olaf a three-point lead 1:27 later. The home team cut the deficit to two with 3:10 left, but that was the closest they would get. The Oles' Stu Neville led all scorers with 28 points on 11 of 14 shooting, including 19 points (7-for-8) in the second half. Blank and senior Nermin Hujdurovic (Tuzla, Bosnia/Medical) led SJU with 13 points apiece. Senior Aaron Burtzel (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) added 12 points, six assists and four rebounds. Ten of St. Olaf's 14 second-chance points came in the second half. The win was just the sixth for the Oles in the last 47 years (6-37 record) against the Johnnies in Collegeville.
A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (2-2, 0-1 MIAC) lost its MIAC opener by a score of 62-56 at Carleton last Wednesday. Senior post Carl Hipp leads the Pipers in both scoring (15.0) and rebounding (11.0), while junior Mike Campbell is close behind with 1.4 points per game. Hipp averaged 17.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and three blocks in the two meetings last season. He shot just 44.7 percent (17-38) from the field, however, a far cry from his .606 season shooting percentage. Burtzel, meanwhile, averaged 19.5 points, including a career-high 25, 12 rebounds and 5.5 assists in the two games last year (.636 shooting percentage, 14-22).
DID THEY MOVE THE LINE?: SJU shot 41.6 percent (32-77) from three-point range in its first four games of the season (3-1 record) but is shooting just 17.1 percent (6-35) in the last two games. Despite the poor shooting from behind the arc, the Johnnies shot 49.1 percent from the field (64.4 percent, 47-73 from inside the line) in those two games.
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 71-24 all-time against Hamline under the direction of head coach Jim Smith, including a 32-15 record in St. Paul. The Pipers, however, have won each of the past two meetings in Hutton Arena and four of the last eight.
