Box Score COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's ended the first half with a 26-1 scoring run en route to a 72-41 win over Macalester on Wednesday, Jan. 21, in Collegeville.
With the win, SJU head coach
Jim Smith tied Lou Henson for 16th on college basketball's all-time wins list (with a 779-552 career record) and is now one win away from Augsburg graduate and former Iowa (1975-83) and Arizona (1984-2007) head coach Lute Olson in 15th.
SJU (9-6, 7-3 MIAC) started the game cold, making only four of its first 12 shots with six missed layups (shots in the paint) and trailed, 12-11. That is, until the 26-1 scoring run started. Macalester (4-11, 1-9 MIAC) did not make a field goal in the final 13:10 of the half (a streak that ran into the first 1:42 of the second half). Hans Erickson's free throw with 1:18 left ended the scoreless skid as SJU took a 33-13 lead into halftime.
The Johnnies gained their largest lead of the game, 58-23, with all five starters out of the game with 10:43 remaining.
Freshman guard
Patrick Strom (Fargo, N.D./Shanley) led all scorers with 15 points off the bench on a perfect 5-for-5 performance from outside the arc. Freshman post
Tyler Weiss (Shakopee, Minn.) tallied a career-high 13 points and junior guard
Alex Schmitt (Waconia, Minn.) added 11 points.
Kareem Ismail led the Scots, who shot 31.4 percent (16-for-51) for the game, with 12 points and seven rebounds.
SJU shot 50.9 percent for the game and out-scored the visitors 16-2 off turnovers and 12-6 in second-chance points.
The Johnnies travel to face No. 3 St. Thomas (14-1, 9-1 MIAC) for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday, Jan. 24, in St. Paul.
