Saint John's travels to face Gustavus Adolphus for a 7:30 p.m. game tonight at Gus Young Court in St. Peter. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (9-9, 7-6 MIAC) Saint John's shot 33.3 percent (8-for-24) in the second half and let a five-point halftime lead slip away in a 66-51 loss at Bethel, which snapped the Johnnies' four-game win streak, on Saturday (Feb. 1) in Arden Hills. SJU went 6:23 without a field goal late in the first half but still managed to take a 28-23 lead into halftime. The funk carried over into the second half, however, as Bethel burst out of the locker room with a 21-4 run and added another, 15-2, for good measure shortly thereafter. The Johnnies went 2-for-14 from the floor and committed eight turnovers in the first 13:14 of the second half. Sophomore Mitchell Kuck (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) was the lone Johnnie to reach double figures with 11 points. Senior Patrick Butcher (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) followed with eight points and junior Blake Maslonkowski (St. Joseph, Minn./St. Cloud Apollo) added six points and eight rebounds. Senior Seth Marx (Maple Grove, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) was held to three points on 1-for-9 shooting (1-for-8 from three-point range). He entered the game averaging 18.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and shooting 54.8 percent (23-for-42) from the field (12-for-24 from three-point range) in the previous four games. SJU was without its leading scorer (12.8 ppg.), sophomore Alex Schmitt (Chaska, Minn./Waconia), who suffered a head injury late in the game against Hamline Jan. 29.
BACK IN DOUBLE DIGITS: Kuck tallied 11 points and four rebounds in the loss at Bethel on Saturday, his first game with double digits in points since Nov. 17. He totaled 16 points and four rebounds in his previous four games since returning to action after breaking his foot during practice following the Nov. 17 win against St. Scholastica. Kuck averaged 15 points, four rebounds and four assists through the season's first two games before the injury.
RECENT ROUGH GAMES AT ROBERTSON: The Johnnies finished at 38 percent (19-for-50), including 27.8 percent (5-for-18) from behind the arc, and committed 18 turnovers on Saturday. The loss was eerily similar to last year's visit to Arden Hills in which SJU shot 32.8 percent (20-for-61), including 7.1 percent (1-for-14) from three-point range, in a 27-point loss (86-59).
INTO THE GAUNTLET: The Johnnies begin a treacherous week of three games against opponents of them in the current MIAC standings: Feb. 3 at third-place Gustavus (12-7, 9-5), Feb. 5 vs. fourth-place Augsburg (12-6, 8-5 MIAC) and Feb. 8 vs. second-place St. Olaf (15-4, 12-2 MIAC).
A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus is 5-6 since Christmas, including a current two-game skid against Augsburg (83-59) and St. Olaf (77-72). The Oles jumped out to an early 18-4 lead and shot 62.5 percent in the first half against GAC, which shot 57.7 percent for the game, Saturday afternoon in St. Peter. The Gusties are shooting 52.2 percent as a team this season, led by sophomore Brody Ziegler, with 11.6 points per game and a .608 shooting percentage. Senior Jordan Dick matches Ziegler at 11.6 points per contest and shoots 51.2 percent (44-for-86) from three-point range.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: GAC took advantage of an SJU drought late in the first half to build an 18-point lead and never looked back in a 71-47 win over the Johnnies earlier this season on Dec. 11 in Collegeville. SJU missed its last six shots of the first half after sophomore Alex Schmitt (Chaska, Minn./Waconia) made a jumper to cut the Johnnies' deficit to nine, 25-16, with 5:36 left. The home team shot only 30.4 percent (7-for-23) from the field and turned the ball over seven times, which led to nine GAC points, in the first half. The Johnnies scored 10 of the second half's first 16 points, but GAC answered with a 7-0 run to put the game away. Schmitt led SJU with 12 points off the bench, while Maslonkowski added 11 points and five rebounds. Aside from Maslonkowski, the other four starters combined for 4-for-15 shooting, 12 points and six turnovers. Jordan Dick led the Gusties with 17 points, thanks to a 4-for-5 showing from three-point range, and Brody Ziegler added 14 points with a team-high seven rebounds. GAC out-rebounded the Johnnies 37-23, including a 14-7 advantage on the offensive glass, which led to a 10-5 edge in second-chance points in the contest. The Gusties also turned 14 SJU turnovers into 17 points (17-6 advantage).
SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 52-55 all-time against Gustavus under the direction of head coach Jim Smith, including a 17-33 record in St. Peter. GAC has won 19 of the last 28 meetings overall and 10 of the last 13 on its home court.
32 POINTS: The last two SJU wins in St. Peter were sparked by outstanding, individual efforts. Marx led SJU with 32 points, including eight three-pointers, both of which were career highs, in a 69-65 win the last time the Johnnies visited GAC on Dec. 1, 2012. He finished 9-for-13 from the floor, eight of 11 from three-point range, and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line with nine rebounds and two blocks. Marx drained two free throws with nine seconds left to seal the win.
Aaron Burtzel '11 tallied a career-high 32 points, seven rebounds, six blocks and three assists in SJU's 96-88 overtime win on Feb. 14, 2011. He was nine of 12 from the floor and 14-for-18 from the charity stripe. Burtzel played all 45 minutes and scored 27 of his points after the intermission, 15 of which came via the traditional three-point play. Andy Burns '12 sent the game to overtime with an off-balance three-pointer as time expired and finished with 22 points, 20 of which came in the game's final 25 minutes.
