Saint John's (7-8, 3-7 MIAC) plays host to Hamline (9-7, 7-4 MIAC) for a 7:30 p.m. contest tonight at Sexton Arena in Collegeville. – Listen Live | Live Stats
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's trimmed an 18-point deficit down to two but could not take the lead as then-No. 4 St. Thomas edged the Johnnies 62-59 last Saturday, Jan. 22. The Tommies led by as many as 18 points with 13 minutes left, and by 15 points with 6:16 remaining, but SJU went on a 21-8 run to pull it within two, 61-59. UST's Alex Healy made one of two free throws with 16 seconds left to increase the lead to 62-59, but senior Sam Blank's (Rollingstone, Minn./Winona Cotter) deep three-pointer was off the mark. Senior Todd Herman (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) led all scorers with 25 points on 11 of 15 shooting. Junior Aaron Barmore (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) added 12 points and senior Aaron Burtzel (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) totaled 10 points and seven rebounds. SJU shot 53.6 percent (15-28) to UST's 37.0 percent (10-27) in the second half to outscore the home team 38-31. The Johnnies, however, made just two of their 11 three-point attempts (18.2 percent). SJU outscored the Tommies 15-2 off turnovers and missed six layups in the contest.
A LOOK AT THE PIPERS' CARL HIPP: Senior center Carl Hipp won his second consecutive MIAC Athlete of the Week honor after posting his second straight week of three double-doubles. In doing so, he led the Pipers to a 2-1 week that included an upset of then-No. 4, and previously unbeaten, St. Thomas. The Pipers also recorded just their second road win at Concordia since 1994. He averaged 19.0 points and 15.0 rebounds while recording 10 blocks last week. He opened with week with 20 points, 15 rebounds, and four blocks in the home win over St. Thomas Monday. He then had another impressive game on Wednesday with 23 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks in a last-second, 70-67 loss to Carleton. His final double-double of the week came with 14 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in Saturday's 77-65 win at Concordia. Hipp currently leads the MIAC in rebounds per game (11.8) and blocks per game (1.94) while ranking second in scoring (18.4) and third in field-goal percentage (.579).
THE LAST MEETING: Saint John's was 18 of 22 from the free-throw line in the second half, including 11-for-14 in the final two minutes as the visiting Johnnies defeated Hamline 80-72 on Dec. 6 in St. Paul. Blank led the Johnnies in double figures with 20 points, thanks to a 10-for-12 performance from the charity stripe in the second half. Juniors Andy Burns (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) and Barmore followed with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Burtzel totaled 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for his first double-double of the season. Carl Hipp led all scorers with 23 points and added nine boards for the Pipers.
SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 72-24 against the Pipers under the direction of head coach Jim Smith, including a 39-9 record in Collegeville. The Johnnies have won seven of the last nine overall and five of the last six in Sexton Arena.
BURTZEL SET TO JOIN ELITE COMPANY: Burtzel is 10 rebounds shy of joining an exclusive group of NCAA Division III men's basketball student-athletes that have collected 1,000 points, 800 rebounds and 350 assists in their career. According to responses received from Division III sports information directors, only two other players have reached the plateau: Chris Fite of Rochester (N.Y.; 2,006 points, 1,023 rebounds, 371 assists) and Tanner Prosser of Grove City (Pa.; 1,263 points, 801 rebounds, 367 assists). Burtzel currently leads the MIAC (conference games only) in shooting percentage (.624), is second in steals (1.80 spg.), second in minutes played (34.40 mpg.), third in rebounding (9.2 rpg.), fifth in assists (3.60 apg.) and sixth in scoring (15.9 ppg.).
RECORD BOOK WATCH: Burtzel became the 32nd Johnnie in school history to reach 1,000 career points in the 84-68 win over Saint Mary's Jan. 17 (he now has 1,013). Fellow senior Chris Schwartz (Sioux Falls, S.D./Lincoln) currently has 908 career points. Burtzel needs 13 points to jump over three former Johnnies into 29th on the school's all-time scoring list: Corey Jackson (1,015; 1992-96), Nate Guetter (1,018; 1995-99) and Kipp Christianson (1,025; 1993-97). He also needs nine assists to reach 368 for his career and pass assistant coach Matt Ohme (2003-07) for the school's all-time record.
