Saint John's (5-3, 1-2 MIAC) plays host to No. 13 St. Thomas (7-2, 4-0 MIAC) for a 7:30 p.m. game tonight at Sexton Arena in Collegeville. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: The Johnnies return to the hardwood following an 18-day hiatus from competition. SJU shot 68.2 percent (15-for-22) in the second half and forced a total of 23 turnovers in a 73-58 win at Minnesota-Morris in its last game Dec. 15. The Johnnies forced 13 turnovers in the first half but led by only five, 30-25, thanks to a handful of missed layups and a 3-for-11 showing from three-point range. Morris cut a nine-point deficit to one with 9:24 remaining, but SJU went on a 12-1 run in a four-minute span to break the game open for good. Senior Andy Burns (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) led the Johnnies with a season-high 21 points. Sophomore Patrick Butcher (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) added a career-high 14 points off the bench, while junior Chris Neumann (Winsted, Minn./Holy Trinity) totaled 12 points on six of eight shooting. UMM shot 51.2 percent (21-for-41) from the floor, but just 15.4 percent (2-for-13) from beyond the arc and left 10 points at the free-throw line (14 of 24). SJU scored a total of 27 points off UMM's 23 turnovers in the contest.

POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: SJU has scored 73 points off 61 opponent turnovers during its current three-game winning streak. On the other hand, Jim Smith's team turned the ball over 25 times and tallied 57 assists.

LEADING TRIO: Three Johnnies (Aaron Barmore, Burns and Neumann) averaged 13 points or more in each of SJU's last three games. Barmore and Neumann combined to shoot 70 percent (35-for-50) from the field and tally nine steals. Burns countered his icy shooting percentage (.387) with 17 assists, seven steals and a 10-for-11 showing at the free-throw line.

A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: St. Thomas dropped a 72-66 decision at No. 18 Wisconsin-Stevens Point Dec. 22 (SJU defeated the Pointers 60-55 Nov. 22 in Collegeville). Senior Tommy Hannon led the Tommies with 22 points and 12 rebounds, but Dan Tillema posted 18 points and 12 rebounds and three others scored in double figures for the Pointers. UWSP was nine of 18 from three-point range and built a 15-point lead midway through the second half. UST used a 16-5 run to pull within 63-61 with 1:23 to go. The Tommies entered the game averaging 13.5 turnovers a game but committed only 11. They were just 3-of-14 from beyond the arc. Hannon leads four Tommies with double-digit scoring averages at 16.3 points per game. He also averages seven boards per contest and is shooting 61.7 percent from the floor. Junior John Nance follows with 12.1 points per game, while junior Will DeBerg and sophomore Zach Riedeman both average 11.1 points off the bench. UST is shooting 51.6 percent as a team through its first nine games, though its opponents are not far behind at just over 48 percent.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 37-65 all-time (23-24 in Collegeville) against UST under the direction of head coach Jim Smith. The Tommies have won each of the last 10 meetings since SJU posted a 64-59 upset on Jan. 17, 2007, in Collegeville. UST entered the game ranked third nationally.

LAST SEASON: SJU lost a pair of close games (62-59 and 72-61) to the Tommies last season. SJU trimmed an 18-point deficit down to two but could not take the lead in the three-point loss last 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. Todd 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 in February 2010. Barmore added 12 points. Hannon led the Tommies with 16 points and 10 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). Both teams left eight points (9-17) at the foul line and were 24-for-53 (45.3 percent) from the field. SJU outscored the Tommies 15-2 off turnovers and missed six layups in the contest.

The 11-point loss in last year's rematch is a bit deceiving, as UST went on a 7-0 run in the game's final 45 seconds. The Tommies' Tyler Nicolai made five three-pointers and scored 19 of his game-high 27 points in the second half to help the visitors erase a 25-19 halftime deficit last Feb. 19. The Tommies were held to single digits in scoring until 3:41 left in the first half and shot 33.3 percent (7-21) with 11 turnovers. SJU scored 12 points off the 11 turnovers and shot 44.0 percent (11-25) from the field. St. Thomas made its first five shots of the second half, including two three's from Nicolai, to take its first lead of the game. He ended the game 7-for-12 from beyond the arc. The Tommies were also aided by their 35-23 rebounding advantage, including a 14-5 onslaught on the offensive glass. UST was also aided with nine points off seven second-half turnovers by SJU and held a 12-3 scoring advantage in second-chance points. SJU cut the deficit to as little as four with 47 seconds remaining. Aaron Burtzel '11 never left the floor and led the Johnnies with 19 points and six rebounds, while fellow senior Nermin Hujdurovic  '11 added 14, 12 of which came in the first half on five of five shooting. The two combined for 12 of 15 shooting, while the rest of the Johnnies were 10 of 30. Hannon followed Nicolai with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Alex Healy added 11 points and eight boards. SJU shot 48.9 percent (22-45) from the field, including an even 55.0 percent (11-20) in the second half. The Johnnies, however, ended the game 2-for-14 from three-point range, while the Tommies were six of eight in the second half alone (9-for-21 in the game).

FREE-THROW LINE DEFENSE: The Johnnies enter tonight's game 37 of 67 (55.2 percent) from the free-throw line in the last four meetings with St. Thomas. The four losses were decided by a combined 20 points, including the 11-point defeat in the most recent meeting.

HOME RECORD: SJU is 3-0 at Sexton Arena so far this season and 342-115 (.748) all-time in the Warner Palaestra (since the 1973-74 season). Last year's 6-5 home record was the worst since the Johnnies posted back-to-back losing records at home during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.