No. 4 Saint John's basketball ends its regular-season schedule with a 1 p.m. tip-off at Bethel this Saturday, Feb. 22, in Arden Hills. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (22-2, 18-1 MIAC) saw its 22-game win streak end with a 71-66 loss to No. 4 St. Thomas last Saturday (Feb. 15) in front of a capacity crowd (2,560) in Sexton Arena.

The Tommies made six of their first seven three-point attempts and erased an 8-7 SJU lead with a 19-2 run. The Johnnies answered with a 15-2 run of their own to cut the deficit to 28-25 with 2:59 left in the first half. SJU, however, did not score for the remainder of the half and UST hit a trey with three seconds left to take a 32-25 lead into the break (and finish 7-for-12 from long range).

Senior post Kyle Sorenson (Caledonia, Minn.) had a made three-pointer negated, which would have tied the game at 45-45, on a rare three-second violation with 10:14 to play. SJU continued to claw back, tying the game at 47-47 and 49-49, but UST ended the game 6-for-7 from the field to the Johnnies' 6-for-14. The Tommies shot 70 percent (14-for-20) in the second half to finish at 55.3 percent (26-for-47) for the game.

SJU entered the bonus down 47-45 with 8:35 remaining and went to the line once, on a non-shooting foul, the rest of the way. The Johnnies finished 14-for-15 from the charity stripe in the loss.

Junior wing Oakley Baker (Geneva, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva) led SJU, which shot 53.6 percent (15-for-28) in the second half and 45.3 percent (24-for-53) overall, with 19 points. He cut the Johnnies' deficit to 65-61 on a four-point play with 1:07 remaining. 

Senior wing Jubie Alade (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) followed with 14 points and senior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) added 12 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

SJU posted a 28-25 edge in rebounds (7-2 offensive) and out-scored UST 10-0 in second-chance points. The Tommies, meanwhile, scored 15 points off seven Johnnie turnovers (SJU scored 10 points off 10 UST miscues).

18-PERCENT DIFFERENCES: The story of the last Saturday's game, statistically, came from the three-point arc as St. Thomas shot 57.9 percent (11-for-19) from downtown - 18.4 percent above its season average - while the Johnnies finished 4-for-19 (21.1 percent). SJU entered the game ninth in NCAA Division III from three-point range at 39.9 percent.

NEW NATIONAL POLL: The Johnnies slipped two spots to No. 4 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll released Monday (Feb. 17). St. Thomas received one first-place vote and moved up one spot to No. 3.

NEW REGIONAL POLL: SJU stayed at No. 3 in the second NCAA West Region rankings released prior to Wednesday's games (Feb. 19).

1. St. Thomas (22-2)
2. Nebraska Wesleyan (21-3)
3. Saint John's (22-2)
4. Whitworth, Wash. (20-4)
5. Loras, Iowa (17-7)
6. Buena Vista, Iowa (18-6)
7. Augsburg (17-7)
8. Pomona-Pitzer, Calif. (19-5)

A WIN FOR THE TITLE: With a win, the Johnnies clinch at least a share of the MIAC regular-season title, which would be the ninth in school history and second in the last three seasons (2018). SJU can claim the title outright, and earn the No. 1 seed in next week's MIAC Playoffs, with a win over Bethel and a St. Thomas home loss to Saint Mary's. 

PLAYOFF SCENARIOS: The Johnnies have clinched either the No. 1 or 2 seed, and with it a home playoff game in the MIAC semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27. Saturday's games could go a long way in deciding the seeding, but a scenario exists in which the results on the court are not enough to separate the two teams. The Bethel and St. Thomas campuses are separated by less than 10 miles, and many fans will have their eyes on both games Saturday: SJU at Bethel, Saint Mary's at St. Thomas. 

SJU Win/UST Win
Both teams are 19-1 with a win and the top seed will be determined by a coin flip made in the conference office. 

SJU Win/UST Loss
SJU earns the No. 1 seed with a 19-1 record.

SJU Loss/UST Loss
St. Thomas earns the No. 1 seed due to the fourth tie-breaker (record against teams below tied teams in descending order). 

SJU Loss/UST Win
St. Thomas earns the No. 1 seed with a 19-1 record. 

ALADE ON FRANCIS WATCH LIST: Alade was named to the 2020 Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List, maintained by Small College Basketball (smallcollegebasketball.com), Feb. 15. The list consists of 50 student-athletes across all non-Division I levels of college basketball. The Bevo Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within small College basketball. The Watch List is expected to be trimmed to 25 and announced March 15, with finalists and the winner announced in early April. Alade is one of 14 student-athletes from Division III on the list.

IN THE MIAC: SJU holds statistical advantages over the Royals in all six major statistical categories in conference play, especially rebounding, where the teams are first and last. 

Scoring Offense    
3. SJU, 77.8 ppg.
5. BU, 72.4 ppg.

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 59.7 ppg. 
3. BU, 66.4 ppg.

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .511
5. BU, .472

Three-Point Percentage
2. SJU, .386
3. BU, .377

Free-Throw Percentage
2. SJU, .747
5. BU, .726

Rebounding
1. SJU, 37.5 rpg.
11. BU, 29.7 rpg.

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (16-8, 13-6 MIAC) defeated Augsburg 83-66 Wednesday night (Feb. 19) in Minneapolis. Down two at halftime, the Royals out-scored the Auggies 48-29 in the second half, including a 35-13 flurry to end the game. Senior (6-foot-4) forward Granger Kingland, who made his first appearance since Jan. 11 due to injury, played 31 minutes off the bench and finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Bethel shot 49.1 percent (27-for-55) from the field and knocked down 20 of 25 free throws. Augsburg shot 41.4 percent (24-for-58) and 14.3 percent from three-point range (2-for-14). Junior (6-foot-4) forward Isaiah Carver-Bagley leads the team in scoring (14.2 ppg.) and is second, behind Kingland (7.3 rpg.), in rebounding (5.4 rpg.).

LAST MONTH: SJU led wire-to-wire in an 88-60 win over Bethel last month (Jan. 18) in Collegeville. The Johnnies shot 64.7 percent (33-for-51) overall and a season-high 61.1 percent from three-point range (11-for-18). SJU held a 35-14 advantage on the glass, including 10 offensive rebounds that led to 21 second-chance points. Alade led the way with 24 points (9-for-13) and knocked down both of his three-point tries. Baker finished with 15 points, including 13 in the first half, and connected on three of four treys. Hanson was the third Johnnie in double-figures, converting all four of his field goals and going 3-for-3 at the free throw line.  

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 61-29 against Bethel since the 1977-78 season, including an 21-21 record in Arden Hills. SJU has won five of the last six meetings overall but is 2-7 in its last nine trips to the Robertson Center.