2021-22 SJU Basketball Schedule
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Saint John's University basketball team announced its 2021-22 schedule on Thursday, Sept. 16.
SJU opens the season with its first seven games on the road (nine of the first 10), including all five non-conference tilts. The season starts Nov. 5 against Wisconsin-River Falls at Wisconsin-Superior's tournament. The Johnnies will play either the host Yellowjackets or Finlandia (Mich.) the following day.
Non-conference play continues the following weekend (Nov. 12-13) with a trip to Bloomington, Ill., for Illinois Wesleyan's tournament. SJU faces Wisconsin-Oshkosh, which was ranked No. 12 in the final D3hoops.com poll of the 2020-21 season, in the opener and will play either Hope (Mich.) or the host Spartans the following day. IWU was ranked No. 4 in the final D3hoops.com poll last spring.
The Johnnies open conference play Nov. 20 against MIAC newcomer St. Scholastica in Duluth and travel south Nov. 24 to take on Buena Vista (Iowa) in the final non-conference game. SJU's home opener is set for Dec. 4 against Concordia-Moorhead, the first of 10 games in Sexton Arena.
SJU welcomes Carleton to Collegeville Dec. 14 and St. Olaf Jan. 10, the first day of spring semester. The remaining seven home games unfold as a three-game homestand and a pair of back-to-back contests. The Johnnies play host to Augsburg (Jan. 15), Saint Mary's (Jan. 19) and St. Scholastica (Jan. 22) during the three-game set, and then Bethel (Feb. 2) and Macalester (Feb. 5) for Alumni and Senior Day. SJU finishes the regular season with home games against Hamline (Feb. 14) and Gustavus Adolphus (Feb. 16).
The MIAC quarterfinals are set for Feb. 22 at the high seed, followed by the MIAC semifinals Feb. 24. The MIAC championship game, and the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament, is scheduled for Feb. 26.
SJU played a seven-game schedule in empty arenas and posted a 3-4 record during the abbreviated 2020-21 season that took place last January-March.
The Johnnies tied the program record for single-season wins (1978-79) with a 27-2 record (19-1 MIAC), won their ninth MIAC regular-season title and seventh MIAC Playoff championship, and made their third consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in 2019-20.
SJU advanced to the third round (Sweet 16) of the NCAA Tournament, but the season abruptly ended with the NCAA's cancellation of all winter and spring championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
