Saint John's plays host to No. 5 St. Thomas for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday, March 3, in Sexton Arena. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video 

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (3-2, 2-2 MIAC) recorded its lowest home shooting percentage since 2015 in an 81-58 loss to Bethel on Saturday (Feb. 27) in Sexton Arena.

The Johnnies finished at 41.1 percent (23-for-56) from the field, including 17.6 percent (3-for-17) from three-point range, in the loss. The Royals, meanwhile, shot 54.4 percent (31-for-57) from the field – 71.4 percent (25-for-35) from inside the arc – in the win.

SJU made one of its first 11 shots and went on a 5-0 run to cut its deficit to three (10-7), but that was the closest the home team would get, as the Johnnies missed their next three attempts and committed two turnovers and the deficit ballooned to double digits. SJU shot 37.5 percent (9-for-24) and committed nine turnovers, which BU turned into 12 points, to trail 39-25 at halftime. 

The Johnnies missed 14 layups/shots in the paint, including eight in the first half. Bethel finished 21-for-26 in the paint. Three of the five misses were in the game's final five minutes. 

Freshman wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) led SJU with 15 points on 7 of 10 shooting. The rest of the team shot 34.8 percent from the floor. All 16 Johnnies played in the game, 14 of which scored a point or more.

BU's Isaiah Carver-Bagley led all scorers with 22 points, while adding seven assists and six rebounds, and Chandler Wellman collected 21 points and seven boards. The two combined to shoot 18 of 28 (64.3 percent).

UNCOMMON OCCURRENCES: As referenced above, Saturday's .411 shooting percentage was SJU's lowest at home since Feb. 25, 2015; a 65-54 loss to Gustavus Adolphus in the MIAC Playoffs. Saturday's margin of defeat was SJU's worst since Dec. 11, 2013; a 71-47 defeat at the hands of Gustavus Adolphus when the Johnnies shot 38.3 percent (18-for-47) overall.

STARK CONTRASTS: The win was the first for Bethel in Sexton Arena since 2009 (snapping a 12-game losing streak in Collegeville). SJU's dominance during that stretch is best showcased by the previous four games' stats. The Johnnies shot 59.4 percent (130-for-219) from the field, including 54.2 percent (39-for-72) from behind the arc, and posted an average winning differential of 28 points. The Royals, meanwhile, shot 35.1 percent (80-for-228) overall and 28.4 percent (27-for-95) from three-point range in those four games.

FINDING HIS STRIDE: Thissen is currently leads all MIAC freshmen in scoring with an average of 8.8 points per contest. He averaged 15.5 points and 3.0 rebounds, while shooting 54.2 percent (13-for-24) over his last two games.
    
3 BEHIND MARX: Senior wing Oakley Baker (Geneva, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva) broke his tie with Chris Schwartz '11 for sixth in SJU history with a trey in Saturday's loss to Bethel. He now has 162 career three-pointers, which is three behind Seth Marx '14 in fifth. 

LATEST POLL: SJU fell out of the D3hoops.com Top 15 poll in the most recent edition released Monday evening (March 1). The Johnnies received 17 points, one shy of Heidelberg (Ohio) at No. 15. St. Thomas climbed two spots from No. 7 to No. 5.
 
A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: St. Thomas (4-0, 3-0 MIAC) is currently riding a six-game win streak, going back to the 2019-20 season, since SJU's win over the Tommies in the MIAC Playoff Championship game. UST traveled to Augsburg last Saturday (Feb. 27) and earned an 81-70 victory. The Tommies led 40-28 at halftime, and by as much as 23 in the second half, shot 54 percent from the field and went 15-for-32 from behind the arc. Junior guards Riley Miller and Anders Nelson led UST with 20 and 18 points, respectively.

UST was scheduled to host Saint Mary's Monday night (March 1), but the game was postponed. The Tommies tout a scoring differential of +20.3 and average over 13 made three's per game (at a 41.7-percent clip). Miller has 21 treys in four games and averages a team-best 21.3 points per contest. Nelson is close behind in scoring at 19.3.

A WEEK AGO: SJU suffered its first loss of the abbreviated 2020-21 season, 76-64 at then-No. 7 St. Thomas last Wednesday (Feb. 24) in St. Paul. The Tommies shot 58.3 percent (14-for-24) - to the Johnnies' 43.3 percent (13-for-30) - and went 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) from three-point range in the second half.  

SJU cut its deficit to four (49-45) with 10:28 remaining and to six (56-50) with 7:14 left, but the Tommies answered with 5-0 runs on both occasions. A layup from Thissen made it 62-56 in favor of UST with 3:44 left, but the Tommies drained back-to-back treys and made all four free-throw attempts in the final two minutes. Thissen scored a career-high 16 points in the loss.

The Johnnies out-shot the Tommies 48 percent-46.9 percent in the first half, but the home team scored 11 points off seven SJU turnovers to take a 35-30 lead into the break. UST finished with 14 points off 11 Johnnie turnovers, while SJU tallied three points off eight Tommie miscues.

Seniors Zach Hanson (20.0 ppg.; New Prague, Minn.) and Oakley Baker (17.3 ppg.; Geneva, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva) entered the contest with a combined average of 37 points per game but were held to three in the first half. Hanson was called for his third foul 12 seconds into the second half and his fourth with 8:21 remaining. He finished with seven points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes of play.

Sophomore post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) led SJU with 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting. Junior guard Colton Codute (Wayzata, Minn./Orono) was the other Johnnie in double figures with 12.

Nelson led all scorers with 23 points for UST, which finished at 51.8 percent (29-for-56) from the field and posted a 35-32 edge on the glass.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies have won six of the last nine meetings in the series, including a 3-1 record in the last four matchups in Sexton Are