The Johnnie basketball team travels to face No. 11 St. Thomas in the regular-season finale at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Video
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS: With a win, SJU can lock up the third or fourth seed, and a first-round home game, in next week's six-team MIAC Playoffs. A loss would send the Johnnies to Gustavus Adolphus on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (14-10, 12-7 MIAC) made nine of its 11 free throws in the final 4:13 of the game to earn a 71-68 win over Concordia-Moorhead Wednesday night (Feb. 19) in Collegeville. SJU scored the final nine points of the first half to take a 31-24 lead into the break and led by as many as five, 68-63, with 22 seconds left, but Concordia's Jordan Bolger made a jumper on the other end to cut the deficit to three. Senior Seth Marx (Maple Grove, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) made one of his two free throws before Tom Fraase made it a one-point game for the Cobbers with an NBA-range three-pointer with four seconds on the clock. Sophomore Alex Schmitt (Chaska, Minn./Waconia) made both free throws for SJU and Fraase's three-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim. The Johnnies out-scored Concordia 40-24 in the paint and shot 48.2 percent (27-for-56) from the field, but missed 16 layups in the game. The Cobbers out-rebounded the home team 38-30, including a 12-6 edge on the offensive glass, of which Concordia turned into 16 second-chance points. Marx led SJU with a double-double, 18 points and 11 rebounds, his first since Feb. 6, 2013, at Concordia (26 points and 16 rebounds) and sixth of his collegiate career. Schmitt followed with 15 points off the bench.
RECORD-BOOK UPDATE: A pair of Johnnies inched closer to climbing, or joining, a pair of SJU top-10 lists in Wednesday's win against the Cobbers. Marx (161) needs a three-pointer to break his current tie with former teammate Chris Schwartz (161, 2007-11) for third on SJU's all-time list. Senior point guard Kevin McKenzie (De Pere, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) is six assists away from tying Corey Jackson (1992-96) for 10th on SJU's all-time list. He currently has 222 assists in 102 games, including a career-high 81 in 2013-14.
A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: League-leading St. Thomas (21-3 overall, 18-1 MIAC) pushed its win streak to nine with Wednesday night's 73-68 at Gustavus. The Tommies have won 31 consecutive games at home since SJU posted a 61-56 upset to sweep the season series on Feb. 1, 2011. UST is led by four players who average in double figures: senior Zach Riedeman (12.2 ppg.), junior Conner Nord (11.6 ppg.), junior Marcus Alipate (10.8 ppg.) and senior Erik Tengwall (10.1 ppg.).
NEARLY IDENTICAL: The Johnnies and Tommies are very similar statistically (all games) in the main categories: shooting percentage (49.4-49.0 in favor of SJU), three-point shooting percentage (39.9-39.8 in favor of UST), free-throw percentage (75.7-75.3 in favor of UST) and turnovers committed per game (10.3-11.1 in favor of UST).
THE REMATCH: Saint John's ended St. Thomas' 19-game conference win streak with a 77-69 victory earlier this season on Jan. 20 in Collegeville. The Johnnies shot 57.4 percent (27-for-47) from the field and out-rebounded the Tommies 36-26 in the game, which led to scoring advantages of 8-3 in second-chance points and 40-28 in the paint. UST meanwhile, shot 39.3 percent (24-for-61) from the floor, including 35 percent (7-for-20) from three-point range, for the game. The Tommies entered the night shooting 49.2 percent from the field and out-rebounding their opponents by a +7.5 margin (33.6-26.1). SJU led by as much as 12, 58-46, with 7:43 remaining and made 12 of its final 14 free throws to seal the upset. UST's last lead in the game was by three, 27-24, following a pair of free throws from Erik Tengwall with 5:14 left in the first half. Senior Patrick Butcher (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) made one of his first three shots of the game before going 6-for-7 to spark SJU with 18 points in the first half. The Johnnies shot 57.7 percent (15-for-26) to the Tommies' 40 percent (12-for-30) in the first half but led by only three, 37-34, at the break due to nine points off eight SJU turnovers. Butcher led four Johnnies in double figures with 20 points and added four assists, while Marx followed with 16 points and seven rebounds. Junior Blake Maslonkowski (St. Joseph, Minn./St. Cloud Apollo) and Schmitt chipped in 10 points apiece. SJU ended the night 4-for-7 from behind the arc and 19-for-23 from the free-throw line. Riedeman led UST, which moved up one spot from No. 11 in the latest D3hoops.com national poll released two hours before tip-off, with 20 points before fouling out with 22 seconds left. Alipate added 15 points and Nord collected a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
SERIES HISTORY: SJU head coach Jim Smith is 41-67 all-time against UST, including a 15-42 record in St. Paul. SJU is 2-8 in the last 10 games at St. Thomas, but has won three of the last five meetings overall.
