Saint John's basketball visits Carleton for a 3 p.m. game Saturday, Feb. 15, at the West Gymnasium in Northfield. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (12-10, 10-7 MIAC) shot 66.7 percent (14-for-21) from the field, including a perfect 5-for-5 showing from three-point range, in the second half of a 77-53 win at Macalester Wednesday night (Feb. 12) in St. Paul. The Johnnies raced out to a 13-4 lead to start the game but went cold, which allowed Mac to go on a 18-7 run to gain a 22-20 lead with 5:13 left in the first half. Sparked by three three-pointers from senior Seth Marx (Maple Grove, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's), SJU closed the half with a 10-3 to take a 30-25 lead into halftime. SJU opened the second half with 12-4 run and started a 15-5 stretch a minute later to break the game wide open. The visitors led by as much as 26 (67-41) with 6:18 left. Marx led SJU with 18 points, on a 6-for-7 performance from downtown, and seven rebounds. He is fifth in SJU history with 157 three-pointers in 77 career games, three behind former teammate Andy Burns '12 for fourth. Junior Blake Maslonkowski (St. Joseph, Minn./St. Cloud Apollo) and sophomore Mitchell Kuck (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) followed with 13 points apiece. The three scoring leaders combined to shoot 69.6 percent (16-for-23) from the floor. As a team, SJU made nine of its 11 three-point attempts and went 16-for-19 from the free-throw line.
MIAC RACE: The Johnnies can clinch a berth to the six-team MIAC Playoffs with a win Saturday (or in any of their remaining three games).
BUSTING OUT: Marx seems to be getting back to his old, hot-handed ways. Prior to Wednesday night's game, he shot an uncharacteristically cold 4 of 24 from behind the arc and 25.7 percent (9-for-35) from the field with an average of 6.5 points per game in his previous four contests.
MIAC LEADER: Maslonkowski is currently leading the MIAC (all games) in shooting percentage at 68.2 percent and in offensive rebounds with 48 in 17 league games He is also fifth in the MIAC (conference games only) in steals (24) and is sixth in total rebounds (113).
A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Carleton (9-13, 7-10 MIAC) dropped into a tie with Concordia-Moorhead in the MIAC standings with a 67-60 loss to the Cobbers Monday night (Feb. 10). The Knights led 28-25 at the break, but Concordia outscored its guests by 10 points during the second half as the Cobbers shot 61 percent for the period and possessed a 26-12 advantage after halftime in points in the paint. Senior Taylor Hanson leads the team, which is 4-8 in its last 12 games, in both scoring (15.0 ppg.) and rebounding (9.2 rpg.). Seventy-three of the Knights' 82 three-pointers (82-for-242) made this season were by two freshmen: Peter Bakker-Arkema (35-for-84) and Mitchell Biewen (38-for-113).
EARLIER THIS SEASON IN COLLEGEVILLE: Saint John's started the second half with an 18-4 run and held on for a 64-56 win over Carleton earlier this season on Jan. 18 in Collegeville. SJU led by as much as eight with 4:54 left in the first half, but Carleton answered with an 11-2 run to take a one-point lead, 32-31, into halftime. The 18-4 run gave the Johnnies a comfortable 13-point lead to start the second half, but the Knights scored 11 consecutive points to cut the home team's lead to two with 8:51 remaining. SJU responded with nine straight points and led by as much as 12, 60-48, with 4:37 left before Carleton made one last charge to cut its deficit to four (60-56). The Knights committed a pair of turnovers and the Johnnies made all four their free throws to clinch the win. Marx was the lone Johnnie to reach double figures with 21 points, the eighth 20-point game of his collegiate career, in his first start of the season. Sophomores Joe Risinger (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) and Alex Schmitt (Chaska, Minn./Waconia) added nine points apiece, while Maslonkowski collected six points, seven rebounds and four steals. SJU tallied 21 points off 15 Carleton turnovers, while committing only six miscues of its own, in the game. The home team also went 13-for-15 from the free-throw line, all in the second half, and forced 11 of the 15 turnovers in the game's final 18:31. Taylor Hanson led the Knights, who finished the afternoon 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) from three-point range, with 17 points and nine rebounds. Tianen Chen added 15 points and six boards off the bench.
SERIES HISTORY: Under the direction of head coach Jim Smith, the Johnnies are 38-29 all-time against Carleton (3-1 MIAC playoffs), but just 14-19 at West Gymnasium. SJU is 3-8 in its last 11 trips to the Carleton campus, including losses in the last four.
