The Saint John's basketball team travels to Augsburg for a much-needed win this Saturday, Jan. 15. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis. – Listen Live | Live Stats/Live Video
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: SJU (6-6, 2-5 MIAC) travels to Minneapolis Saturday riding a four-game losing streak. Gustavus Adolphus eliminated a one-point halftime deficit by outscoring SJU 45-29 in the game's final 20 minutes to earn a 72-57 win this past Wednesday in Collegeville. The Gusties (7-5, 5-2 MIAC) opened the second half with a 6-0 run and never looked back as they shot 61.5 percent (16-26) from the field. SJU cut the deficit to three with 11:01 left, but GAC went on a 17-5 run over the next 7:10 to pull away and hand the Johnnies their fourth consecutive loss. The home team went 1-for-6 with five turnovers during that stretch. Gustavus scored points, a total of 11, off all five turnovers.
Senior Sam Blank (Rollingstone, Minn./Winona Cotter) led the Johnnies with 12 points, while junior Andy Burns (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) added 11. Seniors Aaron Burtzel (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) and Nermin Hujdurovic (Tuzla, Bosnia/Medical) tallied nine points apiece. SJU shot 44.0 percent in the second half, but went 0-for-7 from beyond the arc. The Johnnies held an advantage in points in the paint (34-18), second-chance points (13-7) and bench points (22-11), but was outscored 22-8 off turnovers.
A LOOK AT THE AUGGIES: Augsburg (9-4, 4-4 MIAC) is riding a two-game winning streak with back-to-back wins over the bottom teams in the MIAC: Bethel (74-72 in overtime) and Macalester (66-57). Three of the Auggies' nine victories have been by two points or less. Three different Auggies enter Saturday's contest averaging 13 points per game or more: junior Andy Grzesiak-Grimm (13.6), senior Matthew Quammen (13.2) and junior Cory Polta (13.0). Grzesiak-Grimm and Polta account for nearly half (14.2) of the team's average of 32.7 rebounds per game.
TOUGH ROAD GAME: The Johnnies are 49-47 against Augsburg under the direction of head coach Jim Smith, including a 19-30 record in Minneapolis. The Auggies have won 13 of the last 17 meetings at home, including each of the last four.
