Saint John's (13-10, 10-8 MIAC) plays host to Hamline (15-8, 11-7 MIAC) for Senior Night this Wednesday, Feb. 17. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Sexton Arena in Collegeville. – Listen Live | Live Stats
Preview Video:
-Head Coach Jim Smith (3:10)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's left 14 points at the free-throw line (9-for-23) and surrendered a nine-point lead with nine minutes left in a 67-62 loss to No. 4 St. Thomas on Saturday, Feb. 13, in Collegeville. The Johnnies shot 58.5 percent from the field (24-41), including an even 60 percent mark in the second half (12-20), but committed 16 turnovers (eight in each half) and made just four of 14 shots from the charity stripe in the game's final 20 minutes, including misses on its last six attempts. Junior Todd Herman (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) led all scorers with a career-high 28 points on 12 of 16 shooting. He was 8-for-9 with 17 points in the first half alone, but ended the game 4-for-11 from the free-throw line. Herman became the first Johnnie to score 20 points or more in three consecutive games since Brady Brink (2007-08). Sophomore Andrew Latzke (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) added 14. Alex Healy led the Tommies with 17 points, including 11 in the second half. SJU made just two of its final seven shots following its nine-point lead at the 9:26 mark of the second half. UST, meanwhile, made seven of its last 11 shots and five of its last seven free throws.
A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Senior Ray Brown tallied 33 points but it wasn't enough to lift the Pipers to the win as they dropped a 98-77 road tilt at Saint Mary's last Wednesday, Feb. 10, in Winona. Saint Mary's led by as many as 20 in the first half before the Pipers cut the lead to 16, 52-36, at halftime. The Pipers closed to within nine, 62-53, on a Christian Taber three-pointer at 14:10. They bounced around the 10-point deficit for a minute, but ultimately the Cardinals pulled back out to a double-digit lead and never looked back. Freshman Noah Aguirre had 14 points and junior Carl Hipp added 10, along with four blocked shots.
THE LAST MEETING: Saint John's suffered an 88-75 loss at Hamline the last time these two teams met on Jan. 13 in St. Paul. Junior Aaron Burtzel (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) led the Johnnies with a career-high 25 points. He also added 11 rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Andy Burns (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) followed with 13 points. Ray Brown led the Pipers with 26 points and 13 rebounds, while Carl Hipp added 21 points and 14 rebounds of his own. Both SJU (54.3 percent, 19-35) and Hamline (56.3 percent, 18-32) found the net in fine fashion thru the game's first 20 minutes as the Pipers held a 44-40 lead at the half. The groove shifted for the Johnnies, however, as they shot just 32.4 percent (12-37) in the second half to finish at 43.1 percent. The Pipers shot an even 52 percent (13-25) in the second half to finish with a .544 shooting percentage. Hamline posted a 17-5 scoring advantage in second-chance points despite both squads recording 13 offensive rebounds. SJU also had 15 more shot attempts in the game.
SENIOR NIGHT: Four SJU seniors will participate in their final home game Wednesday night: wings Michael Braun (Hopkins, Minn.) and Nathan Ortmann (Buffalo, Minn.), student athletic trainer Drew Dorschner and student manager Tom Redmon.
HERMAN'S HOT HAND: Herman has had the hot hand for SJU as of late. He has scored 20 points or more in each of the last three games and averaged 25 points and three rebounds while shooting 75.0 percent (21-28) from the field in the Johnnies' two losses last week. He broke his four-day old career high for points with 22, on nine of 12 shooting, in the 78-63 loss at Augsburg on Feb. 10. Herman then totaled a new career-high of 28 points, including 17 points on 8-for-9 shooting in the first half, in the 67-62 loss to No. 4 St. Thomas on Feb. 13. The Johnnies lost both games last week despite shooting a combined 54.7 percent from the floor (47-86). The difference was an average of 17 turnovers per game, in which Herman contributed just four of the 34 total. He has averaged 19 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 66.0 percent (33-50) in his last four games starting in place of the injured Chris Schwartz.
HOME SUCCESS AGAINST THE PIPERS: Saint John's is 70-24 (2-1 in MIAC Playoffs) all-time under Jim Smith, including a 38-9 (1-1 in MIAC Playoffs) record in Collegeville.
