Box ScoreNORTHFIELD, Minn. – Saint John's basketball suffered its first loss of the season, 70-64 in the MIAC opener at Carleton on Wednesday, Dec. 2, in Northfield.
The Johnnies (4-1, 0-1 MIAC) made only three of their first 15 shots and trailed 16-4 8:35 into the game. SJU trailed by as much as 17 (29-12) in the first half, and by 16 (32-16) with 4:14 left, but ended the opening period with a 10-2 run to trail 34-26 at the break.
SJU never led but did claw back to tie the game twice, once at 52 with 8:04 remaining and again at 60 with 4:08 left. Senior guard
Mitchell Kuck (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) went to the line for three free throws, and the opportunity to tie the game at 66 apiece, with 46 seconds but missed the first two and made the third. Carleton (3-2, 1-0 MIAC) answered with a basket on the other end a pair of free throws to seal the win, its first in the series since Dec. 3, 2012 (66-65 in Northfield).
Senior guard
Alex Schmitt (Waconia, Minn.) led SJU with 19 points, including 17 in the second half alone.
Sophomore post
Tyler Weiss (Shakopee, Minn.) recorded his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass, before fouling out with 15 seconds left.
Kuck and senior wing
Joe Risinger (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) added 12 and 10 points respectively.
Aside from Weiss' 7-for-9 night from the floor, SJU's other four starters combined to shoot 34 percent (16-for-47). The four entered the game shooting 53.7 percent (88-164) from the field in the season's first four games.
Tianen Chen led all scorers with 26 points off the bench for the Knights.
SJU entered the game shooting 54.5 percent as a team but recorded a season-low 41.3 percent (26-for-63) Wednesday night. The Knights, meanwhile shot 55.3 percent (26-for-47), posted a 35-31 advantage on the glass and made 25 trips to the free-throw line (to the Johnnies' 11).
The Johnnies play host to St. Olaf (2-2, 1-0 MIAC) for their home opener at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, in Sexton Arena.
