Saint John's travels to face Concordia this Saturday, Jan. 21. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. at Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video
Preview Video:
-Head coach Jim Smith (1:23)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: SJU (9-6, 5-5 MIAC) looks to rebound Saturday, no pun intended, from a 16-point loss to Augsburg Wednesday in Collegeville. The Johnnies have now lost three of their last four, including two losses at home. Augsburg out-rebounded the Johnnies 47-14, 18 of which were on the offensive glass, and tallied a 20-5 advantage in second-chance points in the game. Augsburg made six of its first 10 shots, while SJU missed 10 of its first 11 before junior Chris Orgas (Lakeville, Minn./North) cut the deficit to 18-4 with 11:08 left in the first half. Orgas created a 4-0 run with a layup 37 seconds later, but the Johnnies went ice cold for the next 5:27 as the visitors built a commanding 26-6 lead en route to a 32-13 advantage at the half. The Auggies outscored their hosts by a combined 20-3 off turnovers and second-chance points. The 13 points in the first half was the least for SJU since Jan. 29, 2005, at Carleton. The Johnnies forced two turnovers and made their first three shots of the second half to cut it the 13, 32-19. The deficit shrunk to 10 (40-30) with 9:47 left, but Augsburg responded with a 14-1 run, thanks to three's from Tyler Schmidt on three consecutive possessions, in the next 3:13 to put the game away. SJU scored 18 points off 13 second-half turnovers by the Auggies, who finished with 22 on the night. Senior Aaron Barmore (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) led SJU with 10 points, while Orgas and junior Chris Neumann (Winsted, Minn./Holy Trinity) followed with eight apiece. Schmidt led Augsburg with 24 points and five three-pointers. Andy Grzesiak-Grimm totaled 19 points, 15 rebounds and six turnovers. The Auggies entered the game shooting .696 from the free-throw line but made 12 of their first 13 from the charity stripe in the game (14 of 18 total). The Johnnies warmed 20 percentage points to 48.3 percent (14-for-29) in the second half and finished with an even .400 shooting percentage for the game. SJU, however, was just 4-for-18 from three-point range and missed nine layups in the contest, including three straight to start the game.
A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (6-10, 4-7 MIAC) is coming off an 81-59 victory against Macalester Wednesday, its first win in four games. Junior Brandon Fisher had a game-high 21 points (9-14 shooting) while Dewon McKenzie finished with 19 points (7-12 shooting). The Cobbers shot 70 percent (21-for-30) from the field and scored 51 points in the opening half. McKenzie leads the team with 12.5 points per game, while Ebo Nana-Kweson and Fisher followed with 11.6 and 10.3 points per game, respectively. Jason Huus, a six-foot-10 junior post, averages 9.3 points and 7.3 points per game, including an MIAC-best three offensive boards per game.
SECOND-HALF ADVANTAGE: The Cobbers enter Saturday's game having been outscored by 86 points in the second half (596-510) this season. The Johnnies, meanwhile, have outscored their opponents by 76 points (541-465) in the game's final 20 minutes.
SERIES HISTORY: SJU head coach Jim Smith is 68-29 all-time against Concordia, but just one game above .500 at 25-24 against the Cobbers in Moorhead.
AUDITORIUM AGONY: The Johnnies are winless in each of their last four trips to Memorial Auditorium. SJU combined for a .373 shooting percentage (84-for-225) in the four losses, including 29.2 percent (21-for-72) from three-point range. The visitors, however, knocked down 81.8 percent of their free throws.
LAST SEASON: SJU followed a 14-point loss to Concordia in Moorhead with a 26-point drubbing of the Cobbers later in the season. Concordia made seven of its first 10 shots of the second half and then proceeded to go on an 8-1 run to bust open a four-point halftime lead and handed SJU its third straight loss, 77-63, Jan. 8 (2011) in Moorhead. The Cobbers followed a 10-for-25 (40.0 percent) showing in the first half by shooting 68.2 percent (15-22) in the game's final 20 minutes. Sophomore Patrick Butcher (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) scored a career-high 10 points off the bench on 4-for-4 shooting (2-for-2 from three-point range). Concordia entered the contest with the MIAC's (conference games only) third-worst free-throw shooting percentage (.658, 77-117), but shot at a 95.0 percent (19-20) clip on the afternoon. The Johnnies' tandem of senior Andy Burns (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) and Sam Blank '11, which entered the game averaging a collective 26 points per game, was held to just nine.
The Johnnies bounced back to shoot 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 Feb. 12 in Collegeville. The Cobbers shot 23.3 percent (7-30), including two of 12 from the arc, in the first half as SJU built a 28-18 lead at intermission. The first-half statistics could have been even worse, as Andrew Martinson hit a long three at the buzzer. Concordia ended the game 15-for-55 (27.3 percent) overall and two of 18 from three-point range (11.1 percent). 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.
LOGGING THE MILES: Smith and Co. is scheduled to travel well over 700 miles round-trip for its next two road games, at Concordia (Saturday) and at Saint Mary's (Wednesday, Jan. 25).
