Saint John's plays host to Minnesota-Morris for a 7:30 p.m. game Thursday, Dec. 13, at Sexton Arena in Collegeville. – Listen Live (WVAL-800 AM) | Live Stats
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (2-5, 2-2 MIAC) shot 36.4 percent (24-for-66) in a 76-63 non-conference loss at Martin Luther on Dec. 10 in New Ulm. The Johnnies missed 17 three-pointers (4-for-21) and shot 52.4 percent (11-for-21) at the free-throw line. Junior Seth Marx (Maple Grove, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) led SJU with 19 points and classmate Kevin McKenzie (De Pere, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) added 11. The rest of the Johnnies shot 13-for-42 (31.0 percent) from the field and 0-for-10 from beyond the arc. Galen Holzhueter led all scorers with 29 points and collected 11 rebounds for the Knights (1-6, 0-0 UMAC), who out-rebounded the visitors 47-37. SJU held a 34-33 lead at the half, but MLC shot 46.4 percent (13-for-28) in the second half and out-scored the Johnnies 27-16 in the final 11:37.
A LOOK AT THE COUGARS: Minnesota-Morris (3-4, 0-0 UMAC) ended a 0-3 start to the season with three wins in its last four games, including a pair of victories over Mayville State (N.D.). The Cougars dropped a 70-68 decision to Concordia-Moorhead in their season opener Nov. 15. Junior Brendan Foss leads the team in scoring (11.6 ppg.) and rebounding (6.6 rpg.), followed closely by senior Steve Birman (9.9 ppg.) and junior Evan Reller (9.6).UMM is shooting 47.0 percent from the floor so far this season but is averaging 16.3 turnovers per contest.
LAST YEAR: Saint John's 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 last Dec. 15. SJU 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. Andy Burns '12 led the Johnnies with a season-high 21 points. Junior Patrick Butcher (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) added a career-high 14 points off the bench, while senior Chris Neumann (Winsted, Minn./Holy Trinity) totaled 12 points on six of eight shooting. Derek Schmidt was the only player to reach double figures for the Cougars with 18 points. 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.
SERIES HISTORY: Saint John's is 26-11 all-time against current members of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, including a 16-9 record against Minnesota-Morris.
