Saint John's (6-2, 2-1 MIAC) resumes MIAC action as it travels to face Carleton for a 7:30 p.m. contest tonight at the West Gymnasium in Northfield. – Listen Live | Live Stats/Live Video
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: It has been a long 26 days since Saint John's erased a 16-point deficit in the second half to defeat Bethel 69-65 in Collegeville on Dec. 8. SJU shot a dreary 28.6 percent (6-21) in the first half and headed into halftime with a 33-20 deficit. The Johnnies went 9:15 between field goals (0-for-7 from the field with four turnovers), both of which were layups by junior Aaron Barmore (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson). The home team turned it on in the second half, shooting 53.3 percent (16-30) from the floor to outscore Bethel 49-32 in the game's final 20 minutes. Bethel led by 11 points with 12:04 left in the game and proceeded to miss eight consecutive shots and commit a turnover, which allowed the Johnnies to gain a one-point lead. Senior Sam Blank (Rollingstone, Minn./Winona Cotter) made a three-pointer to put SJU up by two, but Bethel's Daniel Baah answered back with a three-pointer of his own. The Royals, however, missed their next three shots and Saint John's went up by five. BU gained the lead one more time on a three-pointer by Greg Meyer, but that would be the end of its scoring, as the visitors missed their next four shots. Bethel turned the ball over with 0:42 left in the contest and Blank completed a three-point play to put the Johnnies up by four.
Senior Aaron Burtzel (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) led the Johnnies with 20 points, 14 rebounds and six assists to post his second consecutive double-double. He tallied 15 points on five of six shooting in the second half alone. Blank followed with 13 points, while senior Chris Schwartz (Sioux Falls, S.D./Lincoln) and Barmore recorded 11 and 10 points, respectively. Senior Nermin Hujdurovic (Tuzla, Bosnia/Medical) added 12 points and eight rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.
A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: The reigning MIAC Playoff champions are 4-4 on the season, but a perfect 3-0 in the MIAC. Senior Jeremy Sutherland scored a season-high 27 points and made 17 free throws to tie the Carleton record as the Knights pulled away for an impressive 89-61 victory over Bethany Lutheran in Northfield Dec. 17. Four players finished in double figures as Carleton tallied a season-best point total, thanks in part to 45 trips to the free throw line as the Vikings (3-5) choppy defense was whistled for 36 fouls. Sutherland did the bulk of the lifting at the charity stripe, tying the Carleton record with 17 makes and establishing a new program standard with 21 attempts. Sutherland has averaged 13.6 points with a .538 shooting percentage in five previous meetings against the Johnnies.
SJU FACES TOP MIAC DEFENSE, WORST SCORING OFFENSE: Carleton ranks last in the MIAC (conference games only) in scoring (62.7 ppg.) and free-throw percentage (.623) and is third-to-last in three-point shooting (.266). On the other hand, the Knights lead the conference in points allowed (58.0 ppg.), is second in rebounding margin (+5.0) and third in field-goal percentage defense (.430). Six of the Knights' first eight games have been decided by six points or less. In those games, Carleton shot .398 from the field and .632 at the free-throw line, with both figures last among MIAC squads.
BURTZEL, BARMORE NEAR TOP IN SHOOTING PERCENTAGE: Burtzel and Barmore enter tonight's game second (.689) and third (.683) in all of NCAA Division III in shooting percentage. Burtzel averaged 19.5 points, seven rebounds and 4.5 assists despite a pair of losses to Carleton last year.
SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 35-25 all-time against Carleton under the direction of head coach Jim Smith, but is just 14-16 at West Gymnasium. Six of the last 10 meetings overall have been decided by five points or less.
