No. 2 Saint John's basketball hosts Hamline for a 1 p.m. game Saturday, Feb. 1, in Sexton Arena. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (18-1, 14-0 MIAC) shot 65 percent (13-for-20) in the second half to pull away from Gustavus Adolphus, 68-59, for its 18th consecutive win Wednesday night (Jan. 29) in Collegeville. Although the Gusties edged the Johnnies on the glass 28-27 (18-9 in the first half), SJU dominated the paint 46-24 and scored 17 points off 13 GAC turnovers. Gustavus scored 12 second-chance points and its bench was responsible for 36 of the team's total of 59 points.

The game was within five points for the first 14 minutes until SJU built a 10-point lead (33-23). That is, until GAC answered with a 9-0 run before sophomore guard Colton Codute (Wayzata, Minn./Orono) ended the first half with a layup to give the Johnnies a 35-32 lead at the break.

SJU broke the game open with a 10-2 run over a six-minute span - to gain a 10-point lead (49-39) with 11:30 left - and led by double digits for the majority of the time remaining. The Johnnies led by as many as 15 points before the Gusties made a pair of three-pointers in the game's final 40 seconds.

Senior wing Jubie Alade (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) led four Johnnies in double digits with 19 points. He also grabbed five rebounds and went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. 

Codute and senior post Lucas Walford (Elko, Minn./New Prague) combined to shoot 73.7 percent (14-for-19) from the floor and poured in 14 points apiece. Walford added six rebounds and Codute chipped in three assists.

Junior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) was the other Johnnie in double figures with 10 points and a game-high seven boards.

Peter Lundquist went 8-for-11 from the field to lead the Gusties with 16 points off the bench. GAC attempt 15 three-pointers in the second half, going 5-for-15 (33.3 percent), while the Johnnies missed their only attempt of the second half. 

POSTSEASON BID: Wednesday's victory clinched the program's ninth consecutive MIAC Playoff appearance (established in 1984-85) and 27th overall. Saint John's is the defending champions of the MIAC Playoffs, defeating Augsburg 82-79 last Feb. 23 (2019). 

CONTINUING THE CLIMB: Alade's 19 points moved him into a tie with Paul Henrichs '06 for 14th on SJU's all-time scoring list with 1,238 career points. Mitchell Kuck '16 is next in 13th (1,274 career points) and Alex Schmitt '16 is 12th (1,302).

NATIONAL STAT RANKINGS: SJU currently (through Jan. 29) leads NCAA Division III in fewest turnovers per game (9.6), is fifth in shooting percentage (.504), sixth in both scoring defense (61.2 ppg.) and three-point percentage (.407), and is 10th in rebound margin (+9.6 rpg.), scoring margin (+16.2 ppg.) and assist-turnover ratio (+1.53).

Individually, Alade is 11th in free-throw percentage (.899), thanks in large part to his 23-for-24 performance at the charity stripe in his last four games. Walford is 21st in total rebounds (190) and 24th in offensive rebounds per game (3.7). Walford would be seventh nationally in shooting percentage (.676), but he currently falls short of the requirement of five made field goals per game (he averages 4.94 field goals per game). Among active players, across all divisions of the NCAA, Walford is second nationally in career shooting percentage at .703. 

WIN STREAK: The Johnnies' 18-game win streak is the second longest in program history, surpassing a pair of 16-game streaks set in the 2000-01 and 2017-18 seasons. SJU's longest win streak dates back to the 1978-79 campaign, where the team posted 27 consecutive victories after starting the season 0-2. 

The current 18-game win streak is tied for third across all NCAA divisions.

1. Division I San Diego State, 22
2. Division II Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.), 20
t3. Saint John's, 18 
t3. Swarthmore (Pa.), 18

IN THE MIAC: The Johnnies are currently top-three in each of the six main statistical categories in conference play. 

Scoring Offense
3. SJU, 79.1 ppg.
9. HU, 65.6 ppg.

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 59.4 ppg.
11. HU, 78.6 ppg.

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .513
10. HU, .401

Three-Point Percentage
1. SJU, .408
9. HU, .337

Free-Throw Percentage
2. SJU, .758
10. HU, .668

Rebounding
1. SJU, 38.0 rpg.
9. HU, 32.0 rpg. 

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (4-14, 2-11 MIAC) snapped a three-game skid with an 88-84 overtime win over St. Olaf Wednesday night (Jan. 29) in St. Paul. Sophomore (6-foot-0) guard Luke Siwek scored a career-high 28 points, making five of seven three pointers, to lead the Pipers. Junior (6-foot-6) forward Michael Dillon put up 21 points, while leading the team with eight boards. The Pipers shot 62.5 percent from the floor in the first half to gain a 13-point halftime lead. St. Olaf closed the gap with a big second half (49-36), but the Pipers closed out the game in overtime. HU recorded season highs in both shooting percentage (.558, 29-for-52) and three-point percentage (.583, 7-for-12).

BACK IN DECEMBER: SJU made a season-high 12 three-pointers en route to an 82-57 win at Hamline on Dec. 7 (2019) in St. Paul. The Johnnies shot 54.7 percent (29-for-53) from the field and made half (12-for-24) of their three-point attempts in the win. SJU also hit 12 of its 13 free throws. 

SJU led 38-32 at the break after 10 first-half lead changes, but pulled away in the second half with a 15-0 run after halftime and never looked back. The SJU lead remained at least 20 points for the remainder of the game.

Codute led all scorers with a career-high 20 points, thanks to a 5-for-6 showing from behind the arc. Alade added 14 points and knocked down both of his three-point attempts. 

Junior wing Oakley Baker (Geneva, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva) and Hanson scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, to round out four Johnnies in double figures. SJU's starters combined to shoot 61.1 percent (22-for-36) from the floor. 

Defensively, the Johnnies held the Pipers to 36.5 percent (19-for-52), including 26.9 percent (7-for-26) from beyond the arc. SJU scored 23 points off 10 HU turnovers.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 88-27 against Hamline since the 1964-65 season, including a 49-9 record in Collegeville. SJU has won each of the last 14 meetings at Sexton Arena and the last 10 overall.