Saint John's travels to face Bethel (11-9, 7-8 MIAC) for a valuable conference tilt this Wednesday, Feb. 8. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Robertson Center in Arden Hills. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Watch Live
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Senior point guard Andy Burns (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) drained a jumper at the buzzer to give Saint John's (13-7, 9-6 MIAC) a crucial 69-67 win over Hamline on Feb. 4 in Collegeville. SJU led by as much as six with 3:33 to play, but Hamline put together a 9-3 run in the final 3:31. A jumper in the paint from Al Tillman tied the game at 67-67 with 10 seconds left. Tillman rejected a layup from sophomore Kevin McKenzie (De Pere, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) out of bounds with two seconds remaining. Burns received the in-bounds pass from McKenzie, ball-faked his defender and connected from 15 feet for the win. Junior Chris Neumann (Winsted, Minn./Holy Trinity) led the Johnnies with a career-high 17 points, on 7-for-9 shooting, and nine rebounds. He also made a career-high three treys (3-for-3) to lead SJU, which finished 8-for-16 from behind the arc in the game. Burns added 15 points, while co-captain Aaron Barmore (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) added 10 points on a perfect 5-for-5 afternoon and five boards. The Johnnies committed a season-high 24 turnovers, including five in the first 4:30 of the game and 15 in the first half alone. SJU entered Saturday's contest leading NCAA Division III (405 schools) with an average of 10.1 turnovers per game. Six of the 24 SJU turnovers were charging calls. The win gives SJU the tie-breaker over Hamline and places the Johnnies in fifth place, half a game behind Augsburg, in the conference standings.
MIAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Barmore was named the MIAC Player of Week after averaging 16 points and six rebounds while shooting a perfect 100 percent (12-for-12) from the field as the Johnnies earned two hard-fought victories last week. He led all scorers with 22 points on a perfect 7-for-7 night from the floor and added seven rebounds in SJU's 61-56 win at St. Thomas Feb. 1. The win was the first for SJU on the UST campus since Dec. 3, 2003, and completed the Johnnies' first regular-season sweep of the Tommies since the 1993-94 season. Barmore followed that performance with a steady 10 points and five rebounds in the 69-67 win over Hamline Feb. 4. In eight games since the 63-49 loss at Gustavus, a game in which he was held scoreless for the first time in 76 straight contests, Barmore has averaged 17 points, 5.3 rebounds and 34.6 minutes per game with a .682 shooting percentage. He currently leads the conference (MIAC games only) in minutes played (34.4 mpg.), is second in shooting percentage (.603) and ninth in scoring (15.1 ppg.).
KNOCKING ON THE DOOR: Burns enters Wednesday's game with 980 career points, 20 shy of becoming the 33rd Johnnie to reach the 1,000-point mark. He is currently third in school history with 360 career assists and needs eight to pass assistant coach Matt Ohme (2003-07) for second. Burns is also fourth with 147 career three-pointers.
NATIONAL STAT RANKINGS: Thru games of Feb. 5, SJU is currently ninth out of NCAA Division III (405 schools) with an average of 10.7 turnovers per game. SJU entered the Feb. 4 game vs. Hamline leading the country at 10.1 turnovers per game, but the 24 miscues last Saturday slipped the Cardinal and Blue to ninth. The Johnnies are also 13th in assist/turnover ratio (1.31) and 20th in free-throw percentage (.746).
A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel fell on the road at St. Olaf, 74-57, last Saturday in Northfield. The Royals trailed by only three at the break, but mustered just nine field goals in the second half. BU finished with a .386 shooting percentage in the game, including a 3-for-22 (13.6 percent) showing from three-point range. St. Olaf ground out 19 offensive rebounds, which turned into 16 second-chance points. Taylor Hall led Bethel with a double-double, 20 points and 11 rebounds, to join the school's 1,000-point club. Hall leads the team with 16.4 points per game, followed by Daniel Baah at 12.5. Kyle Zimmerman, a sophomore transfer from SJU, averages 12.1 points and a team-leading 6.5 rebounds per game. Baah and Hall did not play in the Johnnies' 66-52 win over BU earlier this season.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: Saint John's defeated the Royals 66-52 earlier this season in Collegeville. Barmore led the Johnnies with 19 points and five rebounds, while Burns added 12 points. The two captains combined for a 13 of 14 showing at the free-throw line as the Johnnies ended the game 23-for-26. Zimmerman and Kellan Dahlquist led the Royals with 11 points apiece. The Johnnies out-rebounded the visitors 34-23 and posted a 15-6 advantage in second-chance points thanks to 13 offensive boards.
SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 50-22 all-time against Bethel under the direction of head coach Jim Smith, but just 19-14 against the Royals in Arden Hills. The Johnnies have won five straight games against the Royals and five of the last six at Robertson Center.
