No. 25 Saint John's opens its conference basketball schedule against St. Olaf at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, in Northfield. – Live Stats | Live Video *no radio broadcast due to SJU Football's NCAA Playoff game

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (2-1 overall) overcame a cold night from the floor to post a 67-57 non-conference win over Buena Vista (Iowa) on Wednesday, Nov. 16, in Sexton Arena.

The Johnnies shot just 37.5 percent (21-for-56) from the field, including an uncharacteristic 25 percent (5-for-20) from three-point range, but out-rebounded the Beavers 44-36 and racked up scoring advantages off turnovers (14-8) and second-chance points (14-6). 

SJU held BVU to 33.9 percent (19-for-56) overall, including 25.8 percent (8-for-31) in the second half, and 20.8 percent (5-for-24) from behind the arc (2-for-13 in the second half).

Sophomore guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) led all scorers with 18 points, while senior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) and junior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) added a double-double each. Plombon registered 16 points and 13 rebounds for his fourth collegiate double-double, while Thissen collected 15 points, 11 boards and four assists for his second. Both snagged three steals apiece.

The Beavers led by seven (26-19) with 3:22 left in the first half, but SJU made three of its next four shots and drained its final six free-throw attempts to take a 31-30 lead into the locker room. 

The home team built a seven-point lead of its own (43-36) with 12:42 remaining, though BVU chipped the deficit to one (48-47) with 7:39 left. SJU scored the next seven points and secured a five-point cushion or more the rest of the way. The Johnnies closed the contest with seven of the game's final 10 points.

Junior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) was the fourth Johnnie in double figures with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists off the bench.

Ryan Mendoza led BVU with 13 points off the bench. SJU held the Beavers' biggest offensive threat, Zane Neubaum (27 ppg. and a .536 shooting percentage through the season's first two games), to 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting (1-for-8 from three-point).

DOUBLE DOUBLE-DOUBLE: The last time two Johnnies recorded double-doubles in the same game occurred Dec. 11, 2019. Post Lucas Walford '20 totaled 14 points and 15 rebounds, while post Zach Hanson '21 added 14 points and 11 rebounds in a 66-52 road win at Gustavus Adolphus. Last season, Thissen fell one rebound shy of a double-double in back-to-back performances, including the Jan. 10 win over St. Olaf where he finished with 25 points and nine boards.

MIAC OPENERS: The Johnnies are 37-10 in the first MIAC game of the season since 1975-76, but just 11-7 away from Collegeville. SJU is 6-1 against St. Olaf in the first conference contest during that span with a 2-0 mark in Northfield.

A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf (2-0 overall) earned a 73-69 home win over Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Wednesday night (Nov. 16) in Northfield. Freshman Kobe Kirk led four Oles in double figures with 18 points off the bench, including 15 in the second half. UWEC shot only 17.4 percent (4-for-23) from three-point land, left 10 points at the free-throw line (9-for-19, 47.4 percent) and only scored six second-chance points off 15 offensive rebounds in the loss. Junior guard Connor Martin leads the Oles with 18 points and seven assists per game, while shooting 63.6 percent (14-for-22) from the field. Kirk is next in scoring at 16.5 points per game off the bench.

LAST SEASON: The Johnnies and Oles met three times last season, of which SJU picked up both wins in Stearns County.

at Saint John's 75, St. Olaf 72 (Jan. 10)
SJU extended its win streak to eight games with a 75-72 victory over St. Olaf the first time the two teams met on Jan. 10 in Collegeville. The Johnnies led by 10 (39-29) at the break, thanks to a hot start (56 percent overall and 58.3 percent from behind the arc), and by as much as 12 (43-31) in the second half. 

SJU, however, went nearly six minutes (5:57) between made field goals and made two buckets during an 8:10 span as St. Olaf cut its deficit to one (53-52) with 7:56 to play.

The home team's lead swung between six and four points for most of the game's final seven minutes and the Johnnies went 7-for-8 from the free-throw line in the last 32 seconds to seal the victory. The Oles' Dominic Bledsoe was fouled behind the three-point arc twice in the final 12 seconds and made all six free throws to make it a two-point game (74-72). Thissen made one of his two attempts from the charity stripe and Bledsoe's game-tying trey bounced off the rim as time expired.

Thissen led four Johnnies in double figures with a season-high 25 points. He just missed his first collegiate double-double with nine rebounds and added four assists.

Guard Colton Codute '22 followed with 14 points, 12 of which came in the first half on a 4-for-4 performance from long range, and Plombon added 10 points.

Sophomore guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran), the MIAC's top three-point shooter (51.6 percent) at the time, recorded 11 points off the bench on a 3-for-4 night from downtown.

Bledsoe led STO, which finished at 48.1 percent (25-for-52) from the floor, with 25 points.

at St. Olaf 77, Saint John's 70 (Feb. 9)
The Johnnies saw their seven-game win streak end with a 77-70 loss at St. Olaf on Feb. 9 in Northfield. The teams' three-point shooting percentages flipped, which unfortunately for SJU, fell into St. Olaf's favor. The Johnnies entered the game third in NCAA Division III in three-point percentage (.400), but finished 5-for-20 (25 percent). The Oles (13-9, 9-8 MIAC), meanwhile, were the second-worst three-point shooting team in the MIAC (29.9 percent) and went 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from behind the arc.

SJU trailed by as much as 17, but brought the deficit to four (71-67) with 37.4 seconds remaining. The Oles, however, went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line the rest of the way and finished at 17-for-20 (85 percent) for the game. STO entered the night shooting 70 percent from the charity stripe in its previous 21 games.

Vaughn led all scorers with a career-high 27 points, including 20 in the second half. He went 5-for-11 from behind the arc to break SJU's single-season record for made three-pointers by a freshman (53 set by Chris Schwartz '11 in 2007-08). 

SJU trailed 38-26 at halftime, two nights after allowing a total of 35 points to Hamline. The visitors shot 40.7 percent (11-for-27) and 1-for-7 from three-point in the first half, to 50 percent (14-for-28) and 5-for-7 from three-point for the Oles.

Post Zach Hanson '21 was the other Johnnie in double figures with 14 points.

The Johnnies entered the game seventh nationally in overall shooting percentage (.500) and finished at 44.3 percent (27-for-61) on the night with 11 missed layups/shots in the paint. SJU was out-rebounded by a 39-28 margin, including 13-11 on the offensive glass, and was out-scored 21-9 in second-chance points.

Bledsoe and Martin led STO with 18 points apiece. Bledsoe started the night shooting 29.9 percent (26-for-87) from three-point range but went 4-for-6 from long range. A 17.9-percent shooter from three-point land (7-for-39), Michael Meriggioli chipped in 11 points on a 3-for-4 showing from behind the arc.

Saint John's 76, St. Olaf 57 (MIAC Semifinals, Feb. 25 at CSB)
The sudden change of venue failed to rattle top-seeded Saint John's, which fed off an electric crowd en route to a 76-57 win over fifth-seeded St. Olaf on Feb. 25 at Saint Benedict's Claire Lynch Hall in St. Joseph. The game was moved six hours prior to the 7 p.m. tip-off due to a broken water main and required power outage (for the repair) near the Warner Palaestra in Collegeville.

SJU shot 54.7 percent (29-for-53) for the game and out-scored the Oles by a 16-0 margin off turnovers.

St. Olaf built its largest lead of the game, seven (12-5), early and led 26-22 with 6:45 left in the first half. That is, until SJU scored 12 of the half's final 16 points. Vaughn buried a three-pointer in the closing seconds to give the Johnnies a 34-30 halftime lead.

Vaughn dropped in another trey on the opening possession of the second half, but STO chipped the deficit to three (37-34) with four straight points. SJU responded with a 6-0 run and started an 8-0 run not long after to make it 54-38 with 10:18 remaining. Another 6-0 run gave SJU a 19-point lead (60-41) with 6:56 left.

Despite a subpar showing at the free-throw line (57.1 percent, 12-for-21), SJU went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe and added two buckets over a three-minute span to thwart STO's hope for a comeback.

All five Johnnie starters finished in double figures for points, led by 16 each from Vaughn, Codute and Hanson. Codute and Vaughn also added three steals apiece. Hanson just missed a double-double with nine boards, while adding four assists. 

Thissen matched Hanson's four assists and scored 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting, while Plombon added 10 points and two blocked shots.

Martin led all scorers with 19 points for STO, which finished at 43.1 percent (22-for-51) from the floor and recorded a 12-4 advantage in second-chance points.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 73-35 against the Oles since the 1964-65 season, but just 27-26 on St. Olaf's home court. SJU has won seven of the last eight meetings overall (10 of the last 12).