Saint John's basketball travels to face Saint Mary's for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday, Dec. 1, in Winona. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (4-2, 1-0 MIAC) ended its non-conference schedule with an 81-65 win at Buena Vista last Wednesday (Nov. 24) in Storm Lake, Iowa. 

The matinee start (2 p.m.) looked bleak for the Johnnies, who missed their first four shots and fell behind early, 8-0. SJU, however, responded with a 24-3 run and shot 70.8 percent (17-for-24) the rest of the first half to take a 43-28 lead into the break. The Johnnies finished at 58 percent (29-for-50) for the game and went 6-for-11 from three-point range in the second half. 

Sophomore wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) led all scorers with a season-high 22 points. He also recorded team highs in assists (6) and rebounds (6).

Senior guard Colton Codute (Wayzata, Minn./Orono) followed with 14 points, including 12 on 4-for-4 shooting from long range in the game's final eight minutes.

Senior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) was the third Johnnie in double figures with 13 points, on 5-for-7 shooting, in 20 minutes of play.

CONSISTENT LEADER: Thissen has led the team in scoring in all six games this season. He tied with Codute for the team lead, 19 points, in the season opener and has the title outright over the last five contests for an average of 18.2 per game. Thissen is averaging 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists, while shooting 57.4 percent (78-for-136) from the field over his last 10 games. 

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring
-SJU, 70.0 ppg.
-SMU, 66.7 ppg.

Shooting Percentage
-SJU, .481 (162-for-337)
-SMU, .383 (75-for-196)

Three-Point Percentage
-SJU, .292 (38-for-130)
-SMU, .233 (20-for-86)

Free-Throw Percentage
-SJU, .725 (58-for-80)
-SMU, .612 (30-for-49)

Rebounding
-SMU, 41.7 rpg. 
-SJU, 33.8 rpg.

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's (1-2, 1-1 MIAC) suffered a three-point loss (67-64) last Tuesday (Nov. 23) at Hamline. The Pipers closed the first half with a 10-4 run to take a 38-32 lead into the locker room and then scored 12 of the first 18 points to push their lead back to double digits, 50-39.

HU recorded its largest lead of the game, 59-46, halfway through the second half but SMU managed to cut the lead to one twice — the first on a 3-pointer by Owen Ziegler to make it 63-62 with 19 seconds to play — and the second on a driving layup by Raheem Anthony to pull SMU within 65-64 with seven second left. The Cardinals were forced to foul after both baskets and each time HU's Jack Larson knocked down both free throws to keep the Pipers in front.

Ziegler ended the game with a team- and career-high 15 points, while Anthony added 14, including 10 in the second half. Anthony leads the team in scoring (14.0 ppg.) and Ziegler touts a team-best .444 percentage (8-for-18) from three-point range. 

10 MONTHS AGO: Saint John's eagerly waited 328 days to play its first game since the NCAA second-round win over Wisconsin-Eau Claire (March 7, 2020) and it showed as the Johnnies shot 66.7 percent (20-for-30) from the field and drained eight of their nine attempts from three-point range in the first half en route to an 87-64 non-conference win over Saint Mary's the last time these two teams met on Jan. 29 in Sexton Arena.

The Johnnies broke open a 12-8 lead with an 18-4 run and led by as much as 25 (46-21) in the first half. The home team scored 16 points off 10 Cardinal turnovers in the opening stanza and led 50-29 at the break.

SMU cut its deficit to as little as 14 (66-52) with 8:47 to play, but the Johnnies answered with a 9-0 run and led by 18 points or more the rest of the way.

Codute and Hanson led SJU with 21 points apiece. Codute was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor (4-for-4 from three-point) in the first half and finished with six rebounds, in addition to his career-high 21 points. Hanson, meanwhile, led the Johnnies with seven boards in 26:25 of play. 

Junior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) chipped in a career-high 11 points and a team-high four assists.

Eli Cave led all scorers with 27 points, on 13 of 21 shooting, and Anthony added 20 points for the Cardinals. SMU finished at 49.1 percent shooting (27-for-55), but 6-for-23 (26.1 percent) from behind the arc.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 92-21 against the Cardinals since the 1964-65 season, including a 31-20 record in Winona. SJU has won each of the last 27 meetings overall (57 of the last 65) and 13 straight in the SMU Gym.