The Johnnies play host to No. 11 St. Thomas in the regular-season finale this Saturday, Feb. 19. The game is set for 3 p.m. in Collegeville. – Listen Live | Live Stats
Preview Video:
-Head coach Jim Smith (1:28)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (14-10, 10-9 MIAC) opened the second half with a 20-6 run and extended its winning streak to five with a 74-67 win at Saint Mary's Wednesday night. Saint Mary's shot 58.6 percent (17-29) to build at 38-31 lead at the half. Meanwhile, the Johnnies shot 44.4 percent (12-27) and just two of 10 from beyond the arc. SJU led by as much as eight with 10:32 left, but SMU cut it to two, 66-64, with two minutes remaining. The Johnnies then proceeded to end the game with an 8-3 run to seal the victory. Junior Andy Burns (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) led the Johnnies with 21 points, 15 of which came on 5-for-10 shooting from three-point range. Senior Aaron Burtzel (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) tallied his 25th career double-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Seniors Todd Herman (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) and Nermin Hujdurovic (Tuzla, Bosnia/Medical) added 14 and 12 points, respectively. Lukas Holland led four Cardinals in double figures with 16 points. SMU cooled in the second half, shooting 34.4 percent (11-32) from the field.
A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: No. 11 St. Thomas (21-3 overall, 16-3 MIAC) earned its first-round MIAC playoff bye with an 82-60 victory over Hamline Wednesday. Alex Healy led the Tommies with 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Tyler Nicolai finished with 12 points, while Tommy Hannon, Teddy Archer and John Nance each added 10 points. The Tommies had a 45-25 advantage on the glass and shot 49 percent from the floor. Healy currently leads the team with an average of 13.4 points per game, while Nicolai is close behind with 13.0 points per game.
CLOSE GAMES & “FREE-THROW-DEFENSE”: The Tommies have won seven games by a margin of five points or less this season, as well as each of the last three meetings with SJU. The Johnnies are a combined 22 of 48 (45.8 percent) from the free-throw line in the last three meetings.
THE LAST MEETING: SJU trimmed an 18-point deficit down to two but could not take the lead as St. Thomas edged the Johnnies 62-59 on Jan. 22 in St. Paul. The Tommies led by as much 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 made one free throw and a desperation three-pointer by SJU did not fall. Herman led all scorers with 25 points on 11 of 15 shooting. He scored a game- and career-high 28 points on 12 of 16 shooting in the 67-62 loss to the Tommies last February. 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).
PLAYOFF PICTURE: SJU earns a berth in the MIAC Playoffs with two different scenarios: 1) A win Saturday over St. Thomas. SJU would then earn the fifth seed because it holds the head-to-head tiebreaker vs. Gustavus. 2) If SJU loses to St. Thomas, it needs Gustavus to lose (vs. Saint Mary's), St. Olaf to lose (at Carleton) and Concordia to win (at Hamline). The St. Olaf loss secures a third-place finish for Hamline, regardless of the Pipers' result against Concordia. There would then be a four-way tie for fifth. Pool-play records: Gustavus (4-2), SJU (3-3), Concordia (3-3) and Augsburg (2-4). Gustavus is in as the fifth seed and Augsburg is then eliminated. SJU is then in via the third tie-breaker (record against teams above you, in rank order) with its two wins over Hamline. Any deviation of the other games' results would eliminate SJU.
If SJU, Gustavus and Concordia all lose, it will be a three-way tie between GAC/SJU/AUG. In that scenario, Gustavus is No. 5 and Augsburg is No. 6. If both St. Olaf and Concordia win, the Oles would then jump Hamline for third via the head-to-head tie-breaker. Gustavus would then be No. 5 and Concordia is No. 6 because of the Cobbers' sweep of St. Olaf.
