Saint John's (6-5, 2-4 MIAC) plays host to Gustavus Adolphus (6-5, 4-2 MIAC) for a 7:30 p.m. contest tonight at Sexton Arena in Collegeville. – Listen Live | Live Stats
Preview Video:
-Head coach Jim Smith (4:05)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's aims to earn its first win of 2011 and bring the current three-game losing streak to halt tonight. Concordia made seven of its first 10 shots of the second half and then proceeded to go on an 8-1 run to bust open a four-point halftime lead and defeat SJU 77-63 last Saturday in Moorhead. The Cobbers followed a 10-for-25 (40.0 percent) showing in the first half by shooting 68.2 percent (15-22) in the game's final 20 minutes. Seniors Aaron Burtzel (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) and Chris Schwartz (Sioux Falls, S.D./Lincoln) led SJU with 14 points apiece. Burtzel also added five rebounds and four assists. Schwartz led all scorers with 10 points in the first half. Freshman Patrick Butcher (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) scored a career-high 10 points off the bench on 4-for-4 shooting (2-for-2 from three-point range). Concordia entered Saturday's game with the MIAC's (conference games only) third-worst free-throw shooting percentage (.658, 77-117), but shot at a 95.0 percent (19-20) clip on the afternoon. With Saturday's 6-for-16 showing from behind the arc, SJU now has a .292 (21-72) three-point shooting percentage in its last four games at Memorial Auditorium.¬
A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: The Johnnies and Gusties enter tonight's meeting having a pair of things in common: both teams are 6-5 overall and have lost their last three games. Gustavus, however, is 4-2 in the MIAC and dropped all three games in overtime. A player off the bench led the team in scoring each of the three losses. The Gusties combined to shoot 29.4 percent (5-17) from the field in the three overtimes.
BURTZEL PICKS UP THE PACE: Despite losses in the first three games of 2011, senior Aaron Burtzel remained steady, averaging 17.3 points, 10.7 rebounds and four assists per game with a .531 shooting percentage. The rest of the team shot just 40.3 percent from the field. He is currently in the top six of the MIAC (conference games only) in seven different categories: minutes played (first, 36.17 mpg.), assists (second, 5.0 apg.), rebounding (second, 10.0 rpg.), assist/turnover ratio (fourth, 3.00) scoring (sixth, 16.2 ppg.), shooting percentage (sixth, .571) and steals (sixth, 1.83 spg.). He has scored in double figures each of the last nine games (16.1 ppg.).
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 49-50 all-time against Gustavus under the direction of head coach Jim Smith despite a 30-18 record in Collegeville. The Gusties have won 14 of the last 20 meetings overall and three of the last four in Sexton Arena.
