No. 14 Saint John's basketball travels to face Saint Mary's for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off tonight in Winona. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

EARLIER TIP-OFF: Tonight's game was originally scheduled for 7 p.m. but the tip-off was moved up due to the impending snowfall expected this evening.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (3-1, 1-0 MIAC) opened its conference and home schedule with a 79-60 win over Carleton last Wednesday (Nov. 20) in Collegeville. The Johnnies shot 60 percent (18-for-30) and turned five offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points to build a 40-32 halftime lead. SJU opened the second with an 18-3 run (26-6 including the final 2:38 of the first half) and led by as much as 15 the rest of the way.

Senior wing Jubie Alade (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong), the reigning MIAC Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week at the time, continued his impressive play with 26 points, four rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots in 26 minutes. He finished 11 of 15 from the floor, 2-for-3 from three-point range.

Junior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) followed with 11 points and four assists in 18 minutes. Junior wing Oakley Baker (Geneva, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva) was the other Johnnie in double figures with 10 points, all of which came in the first half, and chipped in four assists.

29 FROM 1,000: Alade takes the court tonight 29 points shy of becoming the 38th Johnnie to reach 1,000 for a career. He is averaging 29 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game, while shooting 66.7 percent (18-for-27) from the field, in his two games played so far this season.

NEW RANKINGS: SJU dropped two spots to No. 14 in the first D3hoops.com Top 25 poll of the regular season released Monday night (Nov. 25). The Johnnies received 273 points in the poll, down 22 from the preseason rankings released Oct. 29. St. Thomas (4-1 overall) climbed eight spots to No. 7 and Augsburg (2-0 overall) jumped three spots to No. 20.

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's moved to 2-0 (1-0 MIAC) with an 80-74 home win over St. Olaf last Saturday (Nov. 23). All five SMU starters scored in double figures, led by junior Eli Cave's 21 points. SMU broke a 72-72 tie with eight of the game's final 10 points in the last 2:40 of regulation. The Cardinals shot 51.7 percent (30-for-58) from the field. Cave leads the team in scoring (22.5 ppg.), rebounding (6.5 rpg.), assists (9), blocks (6) and steals (6).

LAST SEASON: SJU swept SMU for the 12th consecutive season in 2018-19. 

Saint John's 87, at Saint Mary's 70
SJU extended its win streak to six games with an 87-70 victory at Saint Mary's last Dec. 12 (2018) in Winona. The Johnnies shot 59 percent (36-for-61) from the field and out-rebounded SMU 49-21. SJU entered the game leading NCAA Division III in three-point percentage (.478) but made only two of their 15 long-range attempts Wednesday night (to finish 34-for-45 inside the arc).

Senior post Ethan Novacinski (St. Joseph, Minn./St. Cloud Apollo) led SJU with a career-high 29 points, on 13 of 15 shooting, off the bench. He also recorded seven rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes. 

The Johnnies started slow, trailing the Cardinals 12-8 in the game's first 5:25 until Novacinski sparked a 10-0 run with three consecutive baskets. SJU broke open a two-point lead (18-16) with a 28-14 run over the final 8:33 to take a 46-30 lead into the break. 

Alade totaled 18 points and three assists, while guard David Stokman '19 added 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Senior post Lucas Walford (Elko, Minn./New Prague) just missed his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and nine boards. 

Cave led the Cardinals with 16 points on 6-for-16 shooting. SMU finished at 40.6 percent (26-for-64) from the floor.

at Saint John's 89, Saint Mary's 58
The Johnnies out-rebounded the Cardinals 50-20, including a dominant 17-6 advantage on the offensive glass, in the win Jan. 23. The home team converted the 17 offensive boards to 23 second-chance points in the win, SJU's 51st consecutive victory at home (47-0 in the Warner Palaestra) over Saint Mary's. 

Walford led SJU with 15 points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes of play, while Alade added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.

SMU cut the Johnnies' 13-point lead to three (29-26) with 7:58 left in the first half, but SJU answered with a 21-7 run to take a 50-33 lead into the break. The Johnnies shot 63 percent (17-for-27) in the first half, including an 8-for-13 showing (61.5 percent) from behind the arc.

Stokman filled the stat sheet with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists in only 25 minutes of action. He played the first 5:20 of the second half before exiting with a 64-41 lead and did not return. 

Cave led all scorers with 17 points for SMU, which shot 35.1 percent (20-for-57) from the field.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies lead the series with an 89-21 record since the 1964-65 season, including wins in each of the last 24 meetings.