Saint John's basketball begins a two-game homestand with a 7 p.m. tip-off against St. Scholastica on Wednesday, Nov. 30, in Sexton Arena. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (3-2, 1-1 MIAC) returned to the win column with a 66-50 victory at Gustavus Adolphus last Tuesday (Nov. 22) in St. Peter. SJU broke open a three-point game (19-16) by closing the first half with a 14-5 run for a 33-21 lead at the break. 

The Johnnies rode an 11-0 run during the midpoint of the second half to gain their largest lead of the game, 21 (59-38), with 9:11 remaining. The Gusties answered with an 11-1 run of their own, but junior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) scored SJU's final six points, including all four shots at the charity stripe. Thissen scored a game-high 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting (2-for-4 from three-point) and grabbed six rebounds. 

Sophomore guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) was the other Johnnie in double digits with 11 points thanks to a 3-for-6 showing from long range. 

Senior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) added nine points and classmate Carson Schoeller (Prior Lake, Minn.) scored seven with a career-high 16 rebounds.

GAC was in the bonus thanks to the seventh foul on SJU with 12:58 left in the game but missed the front end of a one-and-one on the next three opportunities. The Gusties finished at 40 percent (18-for-45) for the game, including 30.8 percent (4-for-13) behind the arc, and 55.6 percent (10-for-18) at the free-throw line.

SJU shot 50 percent (12-for-24) from the floor to finish at 47.2 percent (25-for-53) on the night, with a 41.2-percent showing (7-for-17) from three-point land. The Johnnies outrebounded the Gusties by a 35-22 margin.

20+ POINTS FOR THISSEN: Last Tuesday's performance was Thissen's second 20-point game of the season and ninth of his career. He is currently sixth in NCAA Division III in minutes per game (38.4) and 15th in free-throw percentage (.955, 21-for-22).

SERIES MOMENTUM: SJU is now 67-59 against Gustavus since 1964-65, despite a 25-35 record in St. Peter. Last Tuesday's win, however, was the Johnnies' 12th straight over the Gusties (sixth in a row in St. Peter). Head coach Pat McKenzie '04 is now 13-1 against the Gusties.

RECEIVING VOTES: The Johnnies fell out of the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll and received five votes in the first rankings of the 2022-23 regular season released last night (Nov. 28). Wisconsin-La Crosse, which SJU lost to on the road by four points (84-80) on Nov. 8, picked up three-first place votes and vaulted from No. 15 to No. 4 in the poll.

STAT COMPARISONS: SJU takes the court Wednesday night with the statistical edge in all one of the six major categories.

Scoring Offense
-SJU: 69.2 ppg.
-CSS: 63.5 ppg.

Scoring Defense
-SJU: 66.8 ppg.
-CSS: 68.5 ppg.

Shooting Percentage
-SJU: .433
-CSS: .402

Three-Point Percentage
-SJU: .355 (43-for-93)
-CSS: .286 (28-for-98)

Free-Throw Percentage
-CSS: .780 (46-for-59)
-SJU: .720 (59-for-82)

Rebounding
-SJU: 36.0 rpg.
-CSS: 34.5 rpg.

A LOOK AT THE SAINTS: St. Scholastica (2-2, 1-1 MIAC) committed 18 turnovers and shot 36 percent from the field, including 3-for-20 (15 percent) from behind the arc, in a 72-50 road loss at Hamline last Tuesday (Nov. 22) in St. Paul. Senior (6-foot-4) guard Nick Carlson led the Saints with 17 points and seven rebounds. He leads the team in scoring (17.5 ppg.), followed by junior (6-foot-1) guard Noah Winesett at 14.5 ppg. Junior (6-foot-4) forward Kevin Thomas nearly averages a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds per contest.

LAST SEASON: The Johnnies swept the two-game series, the first for St. Scholastica in the MIAC, last season.

Saint John's 74, at St. Scholastica 51 (Nov. 20, 2021)
SJU opened the 2021-22 conference schedule with a 74-51 win at St. Scholastica last Nov. 20 (2021) in Duluth. The Johnnies ended the first half with a 5-0 run to take a 37-31 lead into the break and opened the second half with a 12-0 run to break the game open for good. The Johnnies forced 16 turnovers and held St. Scholastica to 20.8 percent (5-for-24) in the second half of its first conference game as a member of the MIAC.

Thissen led five Johnnies in double figures with a game-high 17 points. Guard Colton Codute '22 finished with 11 points and a career-high six steals – the most for a Johnnie in a single game since Brady Brink's '08 six in a home win over Hamline on Jan. 19, 2008. Schoeller had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Vaughn chipped in 11 points and collected six boards. Junior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) finished with career highs in points (10) and assists (4) and four assists in 23 minutes off the bench.

at Saint John's 83, St. Scholastica 62 (Jan. 22, 2022)
The Johnnies broke a halftime stalemate by shooting 64.3 percent (18-for-28) from the field, including 7-for-11 (63.6 percent) from three-point range, in the second half en route to an 83-62 win over St. Scholastica on Jan. 22 in Collegeville.

Down one (44-43) 3:23 into the second half, SJU made its next six shots, including three behind the arc, to gain a 13-point lead (58-45) and led by double digits the rest of the way.

Thissen led all scorers - and four Johnnies in double figures - with 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting, while adding seven rebounds and four assists. Vaughn followed with 18 points on a 6-for-10 showing from downtown, while Codute added 11 points and two steals. Schoeller provided a spark for SJU off the bench with his first collegiate double-double, 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, in 21 minutes. He also blocked a career-high three shots and five of his 10 boards were on the offensive glass.

The Saints hung in with SJU by shooting 53.8 percent (14-for-26) and 60 percent (6-for-10) from three-point in the first half. CSS entered Saturday's matinee eighth in the MIAC in shooting percentage (.410) and last in three-point percentage (.283) in conference play. St. Scholastica cooled off in the second half, going 37.9 percent (11-for-29) overall and 0-for-5 from long range. Jack Silgen led the visitors with 18 points.

SJU out-rebounded CSS 37-24, though the Saints scored 19 points off 13 Johnnie turnovers.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 9-0 all-time against CSS, including a 3-0 record in Collegeville.