Saint John's basketball opens the 2020-21 season with a 7 p.m. non-conference game against Saint Mary's on Friday, Jan. 29, in Sexton Arena. – Live Audio (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

NEW TIME: The game was originally scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off, but was moved to 7 p.m. earlier this week to accommodate other SJU sports' practice schedules and their ability to safely meet the COVID-19 safety protocols.

SORRY, NO FANS: Spectators will not be allowed at contests during the winter season. The MIAC released a statement regarding this decision:

"We have a small window for success this winter season. Our COVID Working Group, made up of conference members and medical advisors, supported no spectators for indoor winter sports due to health and safety concerns. This decision, supported by our institutions' athletic directors and presidents, provides our best path forward to successfully and safely conduct winter sports. The decision was not made lightly.  It is critical that we see success in the first few weeks of competition."

NO MIAC PLAYOFFS: Although the MIAC winter sports are permitted to participate in regular-season competition, the league will not stage conference playoffs (basketball, hockey) or conference postseason championship meets (swimming and diving, indoor track and field) in 2021. Participation in NCAA championship competition (if held), however, will be permitted for qualifying teams and individuals.

THE REST OF THE SCHEDULE: The Johnnies currently have an 11-game schedule, which consists of four non-conference contests. The MIAC basketball schedules will follow a single, round-robin format, in which each participating school will play every team once. The team achieving the best winning percentage, while completing at least 51 percent of the schedule, will earn the MIAC regular-season championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

SJU continues non-conference play with a trip to Moorhead Feb. 3 to take on Concordia and opens the MIAC schedule Feb. 6 at Hamline. The Johnnies play host to the Cobbers Feb. 10, as well as Gustavus Adolphus Feb. 20 and Bethel Feb. 27 in league play. Augsburg (Feb. 17) and St. Thomas (March 3) are scheduled to visit Sexton Arena for non-conference tilts.

All games will feature live video, with links available on the SJU basketball schedule and throughout www.gojohnnies.com, so fans can watch. In addition, all SJU games will be broadcast on The Bear WBHR-660 AM.

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's finished fifth in the MIAC with a 10-10 record (14-13 overall) to earn its first MIAC Tournament appearance since 1985 in 2019-20. The 14 wins were also the program's most since that 1984-85 season. The Cardinals return their top three scorers, who were also their top three rebounders, from a year ago. Senior (6-foot-7) forward Eli Cave finished third in the MIAC in scoring (19.1 ppg.) and received a pair of accolades, All-MIAC first team and D3hoops.com All-West Region, last season. He begins the 2020-21 season with 1,130 career points. Sophomore (6-foot-4) guard Raheem Anthony earned MIAC All-First Year team honors after he led SMU in rebounding (6.3 rpg.) and finished second on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg.). Senior (6-foot-4) guard Kareem Anthony-Bello averaged 9.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES (Season Preview): The 2020-21 edition of the Saint John's basketball team hopes to continue their success from last season, which abruptly ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Johnnies advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament's Sweet 16, where they were scheduled to host rival St. Thomas, before all national championships were canceled. 

The 2019-20 team tied the program record for single-season wins (1978-79), won its ninth MIAC regular-season title and seventh MIAC Playoff championship. They made its third consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearance and ended the 2019-20 season ranked No. 2 nationally. The team also managed to record the second-longest win streak in program history at 22 games. 

The 2020 MIAC playoff appearance was the program's 27th since the postseason tournament began in 1984-85 and the Johnnies ninth consecutive playoff appearance. SJU ended the regular season as the NCAA Division III leader in fewest turnovers per game (9.5), as well as sixth in scoring defense (61.3 ppg.), seventh in shooting percentage (.502), eighth in both rebounding margin (+9.6 rpg.) and three-point percentage (.395), 11th in scoring margin (+14.9 ppg.) and 13th in assist-turnover ratio (+1.50). 

The Johnnies return three starters from the 2019-20 season, but will have to adjust to the loss of five experienced seniors who set program records for wins (92-20 record), winning percentage (.821), MIAC wins (68-12 record) and home wins (48-8 record) over their four seasons on the court.

Here's a look at the Johnnies:

Zach Attack
An All-MIAC first-team selection last season, senior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) started all 29 games and shot 56.7 percent (156-for-275) from the field, while finishing second on the team in scoring (13.3 ppg.), rebounding (6.0 rpg.) and blocked shots (13). He posted a .673 shooting percentage (68-for-101) with an average of 16.3 points and 7.7 rebounds over the Johnnies' final 10 games. 

He recorded a season-high 11 rebounds Feb. 1 against Hamline and a week later, recorded a career-high 29 points at Augsburg. Hanson led all scorers with 21 points, on 10 of 11 shooting, in the Johnnies' second-round win over Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the NCAA Tournament. 

Senior Sharpshooter
Senior wing Oakley Baker (Geneva, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva) also started all 29 games and led SJU with 65 three-pointers, at a 40.9-percent clip, finished second in assists (72) and just missed double figures in scoring per game (9.8) in 2019-20. He is currently fourth in school history in three-point percentage (.425) and is tied for eighth with 150 career three-pointers. Baker set career highs for points (21) and made three-pointers (6) Jan. 4 against Augsburg.

Junior Playmaker
Junior guard Colton Codute (Wayzata, Minn./Orono) started all 29 games at point guard and led the Johnnies in assists (89) and minutes played (31.2 mpg.) a year ago. He also finished second in three-pointers (58) and steals (24), and averaged 10.3 points per contest. Codute scored a career-high 20 points on two occasions last season, with the most recent occurring March 6 in the first-round, NCAA victory over Ripon (Wis.).

A Full Season With Mitch
Sophomore post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) transferred to SJU from Division II Winona State over the holiday break last season and appeared in 19 games for the Johnnies. He averaged 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game, while going 24-for-46 from the floor to finish fifth on the team in shooting percentage (.522). Plombon recorded a season-high eight points Feb. 27 at St. Olaf and a season-high five rebounds two days later against St. Thomas. 

A Tough Place to Play
The 2020-21 season is the Johnnies' 48th in the Warner Palaestra (est. 1973-74). SJU boasts a 436-144 (.752) home record during that span, including a 39-4 mark over the last three seasons (67-13 since 2014-15). 

The Johnnies led the MIAC in per-game attendance (907 fans per game) for the third consecutive year and finished eighth in NCAA Division III in 2019-20. 

LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS: SJU swept Saint Mary's for the 13th consecutive season in 2019-20.

Saint John's 77, at Saint Mary's 63
Then-No. 14 Saint John's overcame a frigid shooting night with a 37-for-44 showing from the free-throw line in a 77-63 win at Saint Mary's back on Nov. 26 (2019) in Winona. The Johnnies shot 36.2 percent (17-for-47) from the field, but made up for it by shooting 84.1 percent from the charity stripe. SMU committed 31 fouls, including 22 in the second half as SJU went 30 of 35 from the free-throw line after intermission.

The Cardinals trailed SJU by three (27-24) and tied the game at 33-33 with 16:01 to play, but the Johnnies responded with an 18-4 run and led by nine points or more for the remainder of the game for their 25th consecutive win in the series.

Jubie Alade '20 led SJU with 21 points, thanks to an 11-for-13 showing at the line. Hanson followed with 19 points, 15 of which came in the second half. Lucas Walford '20 posted his fourth double-double in five games with 10 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.

Cave led all scorers with 23 points for SMU before he was ejected from the game following his second technical foul with 2:26 remaining.

at Saint John's 80, Saint Mary's 62
The Johnnies bounced back from early three-point woes to pull away in the second half for an 80-62 win over Saint Mary's on Jan. 15 (2020) in Collegeville. SJU, which entered the game at 38.9 percent from behind the arc, made only two of its first 12 long-range attempts before Codute drained a pair in the final 1:14 of the first half as the Johnnies took a 36-25 lead into the break. Codute started the game 0-for-4 from three-point range and made his final six, which tied a career high, to finish with 18 points. He also collected a career-high seven assists.

The Johnnies started the second half with an 8-0 run, but SMU chipped away with a 15-5 stretch of its own to cut the deficit to nine (49-40). The home team, however, made six of its next nine shots, including four treys from Codute to gain a 20-point lead (67-47). SJU shot 57.5 percent (15-for-26) from the field in the second half to finish at 51.9 percent (28-for-54) for the game. The Johnnies out-rebounded the Cardinals 36-28 and went 14-for-16 from the free-throw line.

Alade matched Codute's 18 points, while adding six rebounds and three steals. Hanson followed with 14 points and five rebounds, and Baker was the fourth Johnnie in double figures with 10 points.

Cave led four Cardinals in double digits with 17 points.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 91-21 against the Cardinals since the 1964-65 season, including a 55-1 record in Collegeville. SJU has won each of the last 26 meetings overall and 52 straight at home (48-0 in the Warner Palaestra). The last time Saint Mary's defeated SJU in Collegeville occurred Jan. 31, 1968, when the Johnnies played in the Old Gym (Guild Hall).