The Johnnie basketball team returns to St. Paul for a 1 p.m. tip-off at Hamline on Saturday, Dec. 10, in Hutton Arena. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (6-2, 4-1 MIAC) held Macalester to 14 points in the second half, including four over the game's final 12:34, in a 75-50 road win Wednesday night (Dec. 7) at the Leonard Center. The Johnnies held the Scots scoreless for a 10:08 span (12:34-2:26) in the second half and broke a six-point lead (46-40) open with a 23-6 run.

Macalester won the opening tip but committed turnovers on its first four possessions, which SJU turned into eight points for an early 8-0 lead. The Johnnies built a 22-7 lead and led by 29-15 with 10:27 left in the first half, but the Scots responded with a 12-0 run to cut their deficit to two (29-27). SJU scored 11 of the game's next 15 points and senior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) scored two buckets in the final 46 seconds before halftime as the visitors took a 44-36 lead into the break.

Plombon led all scorers with a career-high 27 points – a near-even split with 14 in the first half and 13 in the second – on 13 of 17 shooting (including three dunks) and fell one rebound shy of a double-double.

Juniors Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) and Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) were the other Johnnies in double figures with 10 points apiece. Thissen collected seven assists and four rebounds, while Berg totaled four boards and three assists off the bench. Ten Johnnies scored a field goal or more in the victory.

SJU finished with a pair of season highs – overall shooting percentage (.604, 32-for-53) and from three-point range (.600, 6-for-10) – and outrebounded the Scots by a 36-24 margin.

Eric Wentz led MAC, which shot 38.5 percent (20-for-52) overall and 29.4 percent (5-for-17) from behind the arc, with 17 points off the bench on 7 of 11 shooting. The home team made six of its 25 shot attempts (24 percent), just 1-for-8 from long range and 1-for-7 from the free-throw line, in the second half.

CAREER NIGHT FOR MITCH: Wednesday night's performance was the second 20-point game for Plombon, who just missed his second double-double of the season and fifth of his career. The 13 made field goals were the most by a Johnnie since Ethan Novacinski '20 drained 13 en route to 29 points in SJU's 87-70 win at Saint Mary's on Dec. 12, 2018.

IN THE GROOVE: The Johnnies improved to 88-30 against Macalester since the 1964-65 season, including a 41-18 record in St. Paul. SJU has now won 33 of the last 35 meetings overall.

50 POINTS OR LESS: SJU has held the opposition to exactly 50 points in three of the last four games: Nov. 22 at Gustavus Adolphus (W, 66-50); Dec. 3 vs. Augsburg (W, 78-50); and Dec. 7 at Macalester (W, 75-50). The last time the Johnnies held opponents to 50 points or less three times during a four-game stretch occurred prior to the three-point line's installation, near the end of the 1981-82 season (albeit consecutively): Feb. 17 at St. Olaf (W, 60-48); Feb. 20 vs. Hamline (W, 51-50); and Feb. 23 vs. Macalester (W, 54-47). SJU nearly accomplished the feat last season when it held Bethel to 51 points on Feb. 2 (a 72-51 home win), followed by victories over Macalester on Feb. 5 (59-45) and Hamline on Feb. 7 (65-35) in Collegeville.

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies lead the Pipers in all six major, statistical categories.

Scoring Offense
-SJU: 72.5 ppg.
-HU: 72.4 ppg.

Scoring Defense
-SJU: 61.5 ppg.
-HU: 66.0 ppg. 

Shooting Percentage
-SJU: 49.2 percent (224-455)
-HU: 44.3 percent (187-422)

Three-Point Percentage
-SJU: 38.1 percent (53-139)
-HU: 33.1 percent (54-163)

Free-Throw Percentage
-SJU: 71.2 percent (79-111)
-HU: 64.2 percent (79-123)

Rebounding
-SJU: 35.2 rpg.
-HU: 33.4 rpg.

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (5-2, 3-1 MIAC) saw its five-game win streak end on a three-pointer at the buzzer, 79-78, Wednesday night (Dec. 7) at Carleton. The Pipers held a 78-76 lead and had possession with 3.1 seconds left in regulation, but a turnover on the inbounds pass gave Carleton the ball back with 1.7 on the clock and the Knights' Matt Wyffels hit an off-balance trey at the horn for the victory. The Pipers start three former Johnnies – sophomore (6-foot-4) wing Bradley Cimperman, sophomore (6-foot-3) guard Daniel McCarrell and sophomore (6-foot-6) forward Mick Wherley – all of which transferred to HU after Fall 2021. McCarrell led HU with a game-high 28 points on 11-for-20 shooting (5-for-10 from three-point) at Carleton, while Cimperman followed with 24 points on an 8-for-15 night. Wherley added 13 points, while sophomore (6-foot-6) forward Austin Holt, a transfer from Division II Northern State (S.D.), recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Cimperman leads the team in scoring (20.0 ppg.), followed by McCarrell (16.9 ppg.) and Holt (14.6 ppg., 10.3 rpg.).

LAST SEASON: The Johnnies won all three meetings against Hamline last season.

Saint John's 69, at Hamline 61 (Dec. 8, 2021)
SJU made a season-high 11 three-pointers in a 69-61 road win last Dec. 8 (2021) in Hutton Arena. HU led by as much as eight (25-17) with 7:01 left in the first half, but the Johnnies closed it with 19-4 run to take a five-point lead (34-29) into the locker room.

The Pipers saw their deficit increase slightly to six points 3.5 minutes into the second half and clawed back to tie it at 43-43 with 11:40 remaining. SJU, however, put together another scoring run - 17-5 - to gain a 12-point lead and led by as little as seven the rest of the way.

Guard Jake Binley '22 led four Johnnies in double digits with a career-high 17 points in 23 minutes off the bench. He went 4-for-6 from behind the arc, matching his career total for made three-pointers.

Sophomore guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) added 12 points, six rebounds and three steals. Guard Jared Rainey and Thissen chipped in 11 points and four assists apiece. Thissen grabbed seven rebounds, while Rainey snagged six in his second start as a Johnnie. 

SJU was without point guard Colton Codute '22 and Plombon, for the seventh straight game, due to injury.

The MIAC's top free-throw shooting team at 75.6 percent (90-for-119), SJU made only 59.3 percent (16-for-27) of its attempts. The Johnnies shot 54.5 percent (12-for-22) overall and 53.8 percent (7-for-13) from three-point range in the first half but cooled off after halftime and finished at 43.8 percent (21-for-48) from the floor. The 44-percent (11-for-25) night from long range was the team's best since the season opener (47.6 percent, 10-for-21).

Jake Larson led all scorers with 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting for Hamline. The rest of the team combined to shoot 36.2 percent (17-for-47) from the field. HU stayed in the game thanks to 14 second-chance points and 11 points off 10 SJU turnovers.

at Saint John's 65, Hamline 35 (Feb. 7)
The 35 points allowed by the Johnnies were the fewest since SJU earned a low-scoring 33-32 win at Carleton on Jan. 11, 1984. SJU held Hamline to 29.2 percent (14-for-48) overall and 2-for-17 from three-point range. Twelve different Johnnies scored a point, including a team-high 18 from Vaughn.

Senior post Carson Schoeller (Prior Lake, Minn.) totaled nine points and seven rebounds, while tying a career high with three blocks off the bench. Berg followed with eight points in 17 minutes off the bench, while Codute added five points, five steals and four rebounds.

SJU closed the first half with a 12-6 run to take a 27-15 lead into the break. The home team opened the second half with an 8-0 run and never looked back, leading by as much as 30. Larson led HU with nine points. The Johnnies outrebounded the Pipers by a 37-27 margin and outscored them 34-12 in the paint.

at Saint John's 74, Hamline 53 (Feb. 23, MIAC Quarterfinals)
SJU advanced to the MIAC semifinals with a 74-53 win over Hamline the last time these two teams met on Feb. 23 in Sexton Arena.

The Johnnies overcame an uncharacteristic night from three-point range – 19 percent (4-for-21) – to finish at 51.9 percent (28-for-54) overall thanks to a 72.7-percent showing (24-for-33) inside the arc. The Johnnies entered the night fourth in NCAA Division III in three-point percentage (.393) and fifth in overall shooting percentage (.502).

Hamline cut an 11-point deficit (16-5) to five (22-17) with 6:44 left in the first half, but the Johnnies went on a 10-0 run and eventually took a 38-25 lead into halftime.

SJU started the second half with an 8-2 scoring advantage, but the Pipers responded with a 21-8 run to cut the Johnnies' lead to six (54-48). Both teams exchanged three points to make it 57-51 with 6:19 remaining. The home team, however, scored 17 of the game's final 19 points to seal the victory.

Thissen led four Johnnies in double figures with a game-high 24 points, on 11-for-15 shooting, and grabbed seven rebounds. Vaughn chipped in 15 points, including a perfect 7-for-7 night from the free-throw line. Plombon followed with his second double-double of the season and third of his career, 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Post Zach Hanson '21 totaled 10 points, five assists and a career-high four blocked shots. 

Cooper Berg led HU, which shot 37.3 percent (19-for-51) overall and 25 percent from behind the arc (3-for-12), with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 94-26 against the Pipers since 1964-65, including a 41-18 record in Hutton Arena. SJU has won each of the last 15 meetings overall.