Top-seeded Saint John's basketball plays host to sixth-seeded Macalester for the MIAC Playoff championship, and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27, in Sexton Arena. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

SPECTATOR POLICY: Saint John's University updated the spectator policy for its home basketball games in Sexton Arena.

-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 Sexton Arena will open at 1 p.m. 
-Those with MIAC passes need to go to the ticket window to receive a ticket into the game.
-Those that have reserved seats can still sit in their spot, but will need to purchase a ticket.
-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.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: The sudden change of venue failed to rattle the top-seeded Saint John's (22-4, 17-2 MIAC), which fed off an electric crowd en route to a 76-57 win over fifth-seeded St. Olaf on Friday night (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. Freshman guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) 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, senior guard Colton Codute (Wayzata, Minn./Orono) and senior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.). Codute and Vaughn also added three steals apiece. Hanson just missed a double-double with nine boards, while adding four assists. 

Sophomore wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) matched Hanson's four assists and scored 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting, while junior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) added 10 points and two blocked shots.

Connor 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.

UP TO NO. 20: Hanson's 16 points Friday night enabled him to break his tie for 23rd on SJU's all-time scoring list and climb past John Eisenschenk '81 (1,129), Josh Cherry '96 (1,131) and Darrick Buettner '91 (1,136) into 20th (1,137). Next on the list is Aaron Burtzel '11, the last non-guard to lead the Johnnies in assists in 2010-11, in 19th (1,153). Hanson currently leads SJU with 74 assists, 14 ahead of Codute.

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 27-20 in MIAC Playoff games, including a 17-7 record in Collegeville (9-3 under the direction of head coach Pat McKenzie '04, 7-1 in Sexton Arena). The title-game appearance is the Johnnies' third consecutive and fourth in the past five tournaments. SJU is 7-7 in the championship game with a 4-3 record on the home court.

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

CONTROLLING THE MISCUES: SJU is currently second in NCAA Division III - third among all levels of NCAA basketball (through Feb. 25) - in fewest turnovers committed per game at 8.8.

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies ended the MIAC schedule as the conference's leader in scoring defense, as well as shooting percentage (both overall and from three-point). SJU was also second from the free-throw line.

Scoring Offense
3. SJU, 74.1 ppg. (73.2 overall)
10. MAC, 63.3 ppg. (66.9 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 59.3 ppg. (60.2 overall *No. 5 in Division III)
3. MAC, 67.5 ppg. (67.7 overall)

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .506 (.504 overall *No. 4 in Division III)
11. MAC, .400 (.421 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
1. SJU, .426 (.386 overall *No. 7 in Division III)
8. MAC, .330 (.346 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
2. SJU, .746 (.723 overall)
5. MAC, .726 (.732 overall)

Rebounding
6. MAC, 34.4 rpg. (32.8 overall)
9. SJU, 32.7 rpg. (34.4 overall)

A LOOK AT THE SCOTS: Macalester (15-12, 9-10 MIAC) ran its win streak to five games with a 74-72 upset at second-seeded Augsburg Friday night (Feb. 25) in Minneapolis. The Scots shot 51.9 percent in the second half to overcome a 13-point deficit. Mac put together a 22-10 run that included three-pointers from sophomore (6-foot-2) guard Caleb Williams and senior guards Lucas Leiter and (6-foot-3) Eric Sathy to make it a one-point game (58-57) with 10:05 remaining. Sathy answered a Rayquan Moore three-pointer with one of his own, then Williams hit back-to-back baskets and converted a conventional three-point play on the second to give the Scots a 65-61 lead with seven minutes left. Williams scored 22 points and had five assists and two steals. Freshman (6-foot-2) guard Coby Gold and senior (6-foot-3) guard Gabriel Ramos had 14 points each, while Gold added eight rebounds and seven assists. Senior (6-foot-1) guard Lucas Leiter came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points and Sathy went 3-for-4 from behind the arc to finish with nine points.

Williams leads the team in scoring (17.4 ppg.), while Gold is next at 12.1 points per game, while leading Mac in three-pointers (66) and assists (67). Ramos is the other Scot averaging in double digits at 11.9 with a team-leading 6.4 rebounds per contest.

BACK ON FEB. 5: On a day when the program honored its seniors, it made sense that it was Hanson who led SJU with 13 points and six rebounds as his team used a second-half surge to down Macalester 59-45 earlier this month (Feb. 5) in Sexton Arena.

Thissen was the only other Johnnie in double figures with 11 and also grabbed 11 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double. Williams led the Scots with 12.

SJU led by one point (25-24) at halftime and fell behind 27-25 when Williams drained a 3-pointer to start the second half. The Scots then extended that margin to four when Shane Anderson hit a layup with 16:54 remaining.

But Vaughn then hit a three-pointer, drew the foul and converted the free throw to put the Johnnies back on top, 31-29. Sophomore guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) followed with a three-pointer that just beat the shot clock, then added another trey two minutes later to help SJU pull away.

Vaughn and Codute finished with nine points each. The Johnnies owned a 40-31 edge in rebounds and finished 7-for-10 from the free-throw line.

The Johnnies entered Saturday's game No. 2 in NCAA Division III in three-point percentage (.406) and fifth in overall shooting percentage (.509), but finished at 39.0 percent (23-for-59) overall and 35.3 percent (6-for-17) from behind the arc. SJU, however, scored 13 points off nine Mac turnovers and 10 second-chance points, while holding the Scots to 33.3 percent (18-for-54) from the field and 25 percent (6-for-24) from long range.

The Scots are 6-1 since the Feb. 5 loss in Collegeville, including two wins over Augsburg.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 86-30 against Macalester since the 1964-65 season, including a 46-11 record in Collegeville. The Johnnies have won 30 of the last 32 meetings in Sexton Arena and 31 of the last 33 overall. The two teams have met once before in the MIAC Playoffs, an 83-82 quarterfinal win for the Scots on Feb. 19, 2002, in St. Paul.