Saint John's basketball hits the road for a two-game tournament this Friday-Saturday, Nov. 12-13, at No. 4 Illinois Wesleyan's Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational in Bloomington, Ill.  SJU faces No. 17 Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the opener at 5 p.m. Friday and will play either Hope (Mich.) or the host Spartans at 4/6 p.m. Saturday. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (2-0 overall) opened the 2021-22 season with a tournament win last weekend (Nov. 5-6) at Wisconsin-Superior's Merrill Thompson Classic.

Saint John's 85, Wisconsin-River Falls 67
SJU topped Wisconsin-River Falls with an 85-67 win in Friday's opener. The Johnnies shot 59.6 percent (34-for-57) from the field, including 62.1 percent (18-for-29) in the second half, and 47.6 percent (10-for-21) from three-point range.

Senior guard Colton Codute (Wayzata, Minn./Orono) and sophomore wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) led all scorers with 19 points apiece. Codute scored 14 of the Johnnies' first 19 points and finished 5-for-8 from behind the arc with six rebounds and six assists. Senior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) was the other Johnnie in double figures with 14. Hanson was 7-for-10 from the floor and grabbed six rebounds. 

SJU controlled the paint against UWRF with statistical advantages in both scoring (38-16) and rebounds (40-21). Eleven Johnnies scored a point, including four new Johnnies: sophomore guard Jared Rainey (7 points; Maple Grove, Minn.), freshman guard Kooper Vaughn (6; St. Charles, Minn.), freshman guard Andrew Wagner (2; Prospect Heights, Ill./Hersey) and sophomore post Ethan Youso (2; Gilbert, Minn./Virginia).

Saint John's 67, at Wisconsin-Superior 45
Consistency was the name of the game in the title game for SJU, which shot 46.7 percent (14-for-30) in the first half and 46.4 percent (13-for-28) in the second Saturday afternoon. The Johnnies countered an off day from long range (17.6 percent, 3-for-17) by going 24-for-41 (58.5 percent) inside the arc. Defensively, the Johnnies held Superior to 29.6 percent (8-for-27) in the second half (33.3 percent for the game).  

Thissen led all scorers with 18 points on 7 of 13 shooting and collected eight rebounds. SJU's starting posts, senior Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) and junior Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral), scored 11 points apiece. Vaughn tallied a career-high seven points and Codute filled the scoresheet with five points, eight rebounds and seven assists.  

MIAC ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Thissen earned the first MIAC Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week award of the 2021-22 season Monday (Nov. 8) after he shot 56 percent (14-for-25) from the field and averaged 18.5 points, 5.5 rebounds 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals last weekend. He is shooting 58.5 percent (48-for-82) from the floor, including 47.1 percent (8-for-17) from behind the arc, with an average of 20 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists over his last six games going back to the 2020-21 season.

A LOOK AT THE TITANS: Wisconsin-Oshkosh (2-0 overall) opened its 2021-22 season with a 90-70 home win over Augustana (Ill.) last Saturday (No. 6) and topped Concordia (Wis.) 96-62 Monday night (Nov. 8) on the road. Senior (6-foot-5) guard Eddie Muench led the Titans in scoring in both games, posting 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting from the field (5-for-11 from three-point) against Augustana and 20 points against CUW. Junior (6-foot-5) forward Levi Borchert added 19 points against Augie and posted a double-double (13 points and 15 rebounds) Monday night. Senior (6-foot-0) guard Hunter Plamann added 16 points in both wins. Oshkosh ended the shortened 2020-21 season with a 5-2 record and was picked to finish second in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) preseason coaches' poll. The Titans won the WIAC Tournament championship and reached the NCAA's second round in 2019-20, and won the NCAA Division III title in 2018-19. The Johnnies are 1-2 all-time against Oshkosh thanks to a win in the last meeting on Nov. 28, 2009 (79-71 at then-No. 24 UWO). 

A LOOK AT THE FLYING DUTCHMEN: Hope (0-0 overall) finished the abbreviated 2020-21 season with a 7-5 record and was led by Preston Granger (17.2 ppg., .609 shooting percentage), who graduated in May. Junior (6-foot-4) forward Evan Thomas (14.8 ppg.) and senior (6-foot-1) guard Tyler George (13.2 ppg.) return from last season, while junior (5-foot-11) guard Clayton Dykhouse led the Flying Dutchmen with 33 assists a year ago. Hope was picked to finish fourth in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) preseason coaches' poll. SJU and Hope have never met on the hardwood.

A LOOK AT THE TITANS: Illinois Wesleyan (1-0 overall) picked up an 81-61 home win over Lake Forest (Ill.) in its season opener on Sunday (Nov. 7). Senior (6-foot-7) forward Matthew Leritz and senior (6-foot-2) guard Cory Noe scored 23 points apiece. A 2021-22 D3hoops.com preseason All-American, Leritz also recorded a double-double thanks to 16 rebounds. The duo combined to shoot 15-for-25 from the floor and 7-for-11 from behind the arc. Titans went 8-1 in the shortened 2020-21 campaign and 19-9 in 2019-20, and were picked to win the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) in the league's preseason coaches' poll. The lone meeting between the two programs was a 76-56 win for the Titans on Dec. 28, 2002, in Hawaii.