The Johnnies (12-10, 8-9 MIAC) travel to take on Gustavus Adolphus (12-10, 10-7) for a 7:30 p.m. tilt tonight in St. Peter. – Listen Live | Live Stats/Live Video
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's shot 58.6 percent from the field in the second half and held Concordia to a season-low 48 points in a 74-48 win last Saturday in Collegeville. Seniors Nermin Hujdurovic (Tuzla, Bosnia/Medical) and Aaron Burtzel (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) led SJU with 13 points apiece. Hujdurovic added five rebounds and three blocks in 19 minutes of play, while Burtzel recorded his 24th career double-double with 14 rebounds and four assists. Senior Todd Herman (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) added 12 points. The game was still within 10 points with 10 minutes remaining before SJU went on a 13-2 run to break the contest wide open. The 48 points allowed are the least by SJU since Feb. 15, 2006, at Augsburg (72-48). With the win, SJU head coach Jim Smith passed longtime DePaul head coach Ray Meyer for 23rd in college basketball history with a 725-509 record in 47 seasons.
A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus dropped its fourth-straight game with an 81-70 loss to St. Thomas on Saturday. Seth Anderson led with a career-high 28 points, while Phil Wirtjes and Bobby Johnson followed with 14 and 10 points, respectively. After knotting the score at two apiece early in the game, the Gusties failed to pull within three points of the Tommies the rest of the way. Gustavus outscored the Tommies 42-41 in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome the 40-28 halftime deficit. Wirtjes leads the team in scoring with an average of 12.4 points per game and is second in rebounding (4.5 rpg.).
THE LAST MEETING: Gustavus eliminated a one-point halftime deficit by outscoring Saint John's 45-29 in the game's final 20 minutes to earn a 72-57 win on Jan. 12 in Collegeville. The Gusties opened the second half with a 6-0 run and never looked back as they shot 61.5 percent (16-26) from the field. 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. Senior Sam Blank (Rollingstone, Minn./Winona Cotter) led the Johnnies with 12 points, while junior Andy Burns (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) added 11. Burtzel and Hujdurovic tallied nine points apiece. Seth Anderson, Dan Schmidtknecht and Phil Wirtjes led four Gustie starters in double figures with 16 points each. Wirtjes and Anderson scored 13 and 12 points, respectively.
SERIES HISTORY: SJU head coach Jim Smith is just 49-51 all-time against Gustavus. The Gusties have won seven of the last eight meetings overall, and 15 of the last 21. SJU has lost eight of the last nine games in St. Peter.
HUJDUROVIC HEATS UP: Hujdurovic averaged 14.5 points, seven rebounds and four blocks with an average of just 23 minutes per game in the pair of wins last week. He tallied 16 points, nine boards and five blocks in the 81-79 win at Macalester last Wednesday, then added 13 points, five rebounds and three blocks in 19 minutes of Saturday's win against the Cobbers.
OPPOSITE STREAKS: SJU and GAC enter tonight's game with opposite trends, as the Johnnies have won three straight, while the Gusties are riding a four-game losing streak. The Johnnies shot 53.2 percent (92-173) from the field over the last three games, including an even 50.0 percent (16-32) from beyond the arc. SJU also kept its turnovers below double digits with an average of 8.3. The Gusties, meanwhile, shot 45.9 percent (102-222) in its last four contests, including 25.5 percent (12-47) from three-point range, and committed an average of 12.3 turnovers per game. GAC's opponents, on the other hand, shot 50.0 percent (110-220) from the floor and 47.5 percent (29-61) from three-point land.
