*UPDATED FRIDAY AFTERNOON*

Top-seeded Saint John's basketball hosts fifth-seeded St. Olaf in the MIAC semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, at Saint Benedict's Claire Lynch Hall in St. Joseph. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

SPECTATOR POLICY
-Masks are required at all times (this has been the policy all season long).

-Social distancing is strongly encouraged.

TICKET INFO: Admission is $10 for adult and $2 for any student (5 years old and younger are free). There is no senior discount. MIAC passes will be honored, though no other passes will be accepted.

-The ticket booth and entrance to Claire Lynch Hall will open at 6 p.m. 
-Those with MIAC passes need to go to the ticket window to receive a ticket into the game.
-CSB/SJU students need to download their tickets from www.gojohnnies.com/tickets with their Banner ID. 
-General admission tickets can be purchased in advance at www.gojohnnies.com/tickets.
-CASH ONLY at the door. An ATM is available nearby.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (21-4, 17-2 MIAC) advanced to the MIAC semifinals with a 74-53 win over Hamline Wednesday night (Feb. 23) in Sexton Arena.

SJU 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.

Sophomore wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) led four Johnnies in double figures with a game-high 24 points, on 11-for-15 shooting, and grabbed seven rebounds.

Freshman guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) chipped in 15 points, including a perfect 7-for-7 night from the free-throw line.

Junior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) followed with his second double-double of the season and third of his career, 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Senior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) totaled 10 points, five assists and a career-high four blocked shots. The 10 points enabled him to pass Joe Deignan '95 into a tie with Matt Ohme '07 for 23rd in program history with 1,121 career points.

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.

SJU'S MIAC PLAYOFF HISTORY: The 2022 MIAC playoff appearance is the program's 28th since the postseason tournament began in 1984-85 and the 10th consecutive. The Johnnies are 26-20 in MIAC Playoff games, including a 17-7 record in Collegeville.

RECEIVING VOTES: The Johnnies gained 17 votes from last week's D3hoops.com Top 25 to a total of 26, two behind No. 25 Stockton (N.J.) in the latest rankings released Monday night (Feb. 21).

REGIONAL RANKINGS: SJU stayed at No. 4 in the latest NCAA Region 9 rankings released today (Feb. 22).

1. Wisconsin-Oshkosh
2. Wisconsin-Platteville
3. Wisconsin-La Crosse
4. SJU
5. Wisconsin-River Falls
6. Wisconsin-Whitewater
7. Dubuque, Iowa
8. Buena Vista, Iowa
9. Wisconsin-Stout

STAT COMPARISONS: For the fifth consecutive (full) season, SJU led the MIAC in shooting percentage in conference play and in three-point percentage for the fourth time in the previous five seasons. The Johnnies also led the MIAC with the fewest turnovers committed for the second straight year (2019-20, 2021-22).

Individually, Vaughn led the MIAC in three-pointers (55), while junior post Carson Schoeller (Prior Lake, Minn.) met the league's stat requirement (played in 60 percent of the team's games and averaged one made three-pointer per game) to lead the conference in three-point percentage (50.0 percent, 19-for-38). Vaughn was second, among those with 90 attempts or more, at 43.3 percent (55-for-127).

Scoring Offense
3. SJU, 74.1 ppg. (73.1 overall)
4. STO, 71.3 ppg. (71.3 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 59.3 ppg. (60.3 overall *No. 5 in Division III)
7. STO, 68.5 ppg. (67.5 overall)

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .506 (.502 overall *No. 4 in Division III)
4. STO, .462 (.463 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
1. SJU, .426 (.385 overall *No. 8 in Division III)
9. STO, .319 (.319 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
2. SJU, .746 (.732 overall)
8. STO, .706 (.716 overall)

Rebounding
4. STO, 34.7 rpg. (33.0 overall) 
9. SJU, 32.7 rpg. (35.1 overall)

A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf (16-10, 11-9 MIAC) won its quarterfinal game in thrilling fashion, 76-73, Wednesday night (Feb. 23) at fourth-seeded Gustavus Adolphus. After Gustavus turned the ball over on an inbounds pass to give STO the ball near midcourt, senior (6-foot-0) guard Dominic Bledsoe drilled a contested three-pointer from the right wing at the horn. Sophomore (6-foot-2) guard Connor Martin scored a career-high 28 points in the win. He scored 19 of the 28 points in the first half and made a career-high four three-pointers in five attempts, while also grabbing four rebounds and handing out six assists. The Oles led by as much as 12 (67-55) with 9:35 remaining and by 10 (69-59) with 7:08 on the clock, but the Gusties went on a 14-4 run to tie the game at 73. Four Oles average in double digits for points, led by Bledsoe's 14.8 ppg.: Martin (12.7 ppg.), senior (6-foot-4) forward Nathan Hendler (12.7 ppg.) and junior (6-foot-6) forward Charlie Haff (10.0 ppg.).

15 DAYS AGO: SJU saw its seven-game win streak end with a 77-70 loss at St. Olaf back 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, 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. Hanson was the other Johnnie in double figures with 14 points.

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.

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.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 71-35 against St. Olaf since the 1964-65 season, including a 45-9 record in Collegeville. The Johnnies have won each of the last seven meetings in Sexton Arena and 11 of the last 14 overall.

SJU is 2-1 all-time against St. Olaf in the MIAC Playoffs - all in the semifinal round - including a 2-0 record in Sexton Arena.

-Feb. 25, 1993: W, 65-53 (MIAC Semifinals, Collegeville)
-Feb. 26, 2016: L, 80-91 (MIAC Semifinals, Northfield)
-Feb. 27, 2020: W, 71-43 (MIAC Semifinals, Collegeville)