Saint John's basketball travels to face Hamline for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday, Dec. 8, in St. Paul. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (6-2, 3-0 MIAC) shot 57.6 percent (34-for-59) from the field, including 66.7 percent (16-for-24) in the second half in last Saturday's 87-76 home win over Concordia. 

The Cobbers led by as much as five (24-19) with nine minutes remaining in the first half and by three (31-28) with 4:07 before intermission. SJU, however, answered with a 12-2 run to take a 40-33 lead into the break and scored the first seven points of the second half. The Johnnies led by as much as 17 (83-66).

Sophomore wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) led four Johnnies in double figures with 23 points on 10 of 14 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.

Senior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) followed closely with 22 points, six rebounds and tied a career high with five assists. 

Sophomore guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) added 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting off the bench and freshman guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) tallied 11 points.

Rowan Nelson scored a game-high 25 points for CC, which finished at 54.4 percent (31-for-57) from the field and doubled its season average (21.4 percent) from three-point land (44.4 percent, 8-for-18). 

SOLID WEEK: The Johnnies shot 53.2 percent (58-for-109) from the floor in last week's pair of wins, including 65.7 percent (46-for-70) from inside the arc, and went 32 of 39 (82.1 percent) from the free-throw line. The opposition, meanwhile, shot 49.1 percent (55-for-112) from the field and 44.4 percent (20-for-45) from three-point range, but SJU averaged a 33-25 advantage on the glass fand forced 24 turnovers.

Individually, Hanson shot 65.4 percent (17-for-26) from the field and averaged 20 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the two games. He recorded the ninth double-double of his career, 18 points and 12 rebounds, in Wednesday's 73-63 road win at Saint Mary's. 

STREAK STATS: The Johnnies are shooting 52.5 percent (114-for-217) from the field and 78.9 percent (56-for-71) from the charity stripe during their four-game win streak. Thissen is averaging shooting 61.7 percent (29-for-47) and averaging 19.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while Hanson is also above 60 percent (.605) with 13.8 points and 6.0 boards per contest. Berg has 10 assists and an average of 10.5 points, while shooting 66.7 percent (18-for-27) overall.

STAT COMPARISONS
Shooting Percentage
-SJU, 49.3 percent (220-for-446)
-HU, 39.2 percent (145-for-370)

Three-Point Percentage
-HU, 38.2 percent (58-for-152)
-SJU, 29.6 percent (50-for-169)

Free-Throw Percentage
-SJU, 75.6 percent (90-for-119)
-HU, 59.0 percent (49-for-83)

Rebounding
-HU, 35.0 rpg.
-SJU, 33.6 rpg.

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (2-4, 1-2 MIAC) last played on Dec. 1 and suffered a 63-52 road loss at Bethel. Freshman (6-foot-3) guard Chasen Livingston was the lone Piper in double figures with 11 points and added five rebounds. The Royals held Hamline's leading scorer, freshman (5-foot-9) guard Tait Nelson, to nine points (two in the second half). HU shot 32.3 percent (20-for-62) overall and 29.6 percent (8-for-27) from behind the arc in the loss. Nelson leads four Pipers who average in double digits with 13.3 points per game, followed by senior (6-foot-8) forward - and former Johnnie - Cooper Berg (12.8 ppg.), junior (6-foot-0) guard Conner Krenos (10.8 ppg.) and senior (5-foot-10) guard Jake Larson (10.8 ppg.). 

The Pipers' previous three losses were all decided by three points or less, including a pair of one-point defeats to start the season Nov. 10 at Northwestern and Nov. 13 at Luther (Iowa). 

LAST WINTER: Then-No. 3 SJU ended the game with a 14-4 run to win its MIAC opener at Hamline 79-75 the last time these two teams met 10 months ago (Feb. 6) in Hutton Arena. Down six (71-65) with 5:31 remaining, SJU made three of its final four shot attempts - all three-pointers - and went 5-for-7 from the free-throw line. Defensively, however, is where the Johnnies earned the win in the closing minutes as Hamline made one of its final seven shots (0-for-4 from three-point range) and committed three turnovers.

Hanson played 39 minutes and led all scorers with 27 points, on 12 of 16 shooting, and grabbed 12 rebounds for his sixth career double-double. His first collegiate double-double was a 21-point, 12-rebound performance on Jan. 26, 2019, at Hamline.

Wing Oakley Baker '21 set career marks for points (24) and made three-pointers (7-for-11), while collecting five rebounds and five assists in the victory.

Baker brought SJU to within one (71-70) on his seventh trey of the afternoon with 4:26 left and senior guard Colton Codute (Wayzata, Minn./Orono), the reigning MIAC Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week, put the visitors ahead 73-71 with a three-pointer of his own from the top of the key at the 3-minute mark.

The Pipers, however, tied the game on a pair of free throws from Luke Siwek and took the lead, 75-73, on a jumper from Jake Larson with 1:25 remaining.

Junior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) put SJU back in front for good with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession. Siwek was then called for a charge on the other end of the court and Plombon made one of his two shots from the charity stripe with 35 seconds left. Plombon finished with a career-high 13 points.

Down two, Hamline snagged two offensive rebounds, but Jake Larson lost the ball out of bounds with three ticks left on the clock. Baker was fouled on the in-bounds play and made both of his free throws to end the game's scoring.

SJU finished at 58.3 percent (28-for-48) from the field, including 52.2 percent (12-for-23) from behind the arc. Both stats were far cries from the game's first 6.5 minutes, as the Johnnies started 0-for-7 from the floor (0-for-3 from three-point) with three turnovers. Despite the cold start, SJU only trailed 5-1. The lone point was a made free throw from Baker after HU was whistled for a technical foul - due to a scorebook error - following the opening tip-off.

The Johnnies bounced back from the frigid start to go 13-for-17 from the field (6-for-9 from three-point) and led 33-31 at halftime. 

Siwek led HU, which shot 42.2 percent overall (35.7 percent from long-range), with 18 points and Michael Dillon added 17. The Pipers seemingly erased the shooting-percentage differential by going 11-for-11 at the free-throw line, scoring 10 points off 13 SJU turnovers and posting 12 second-chance points.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 91-26 against the Pipers since 1964-65, including a 40-18 record in Hutton Arena. SJU has won each of the last 12 meetings overall.