Saint John's completes its three-game homestand with a 7 p.m. tip-off tonight (Monday, Feb. 7) against Hamline 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.

Tickets
-Advanced ticket sales encouraged on www.gojohnnies.com/tickets for all fans. General tickets will also be for sale at the ticket booth.

-CSB/SJU students need to download their free ticket to each home game from www.gojohnnies.com/tickets with their Banner ID.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (17-3, 14-1 MIAC) overcame abnormal shooting percentages to extend its win streak to six games with a 59-45 victory over Macalester on Saturday (Feb. 5) in Collegeville. 

The Johnnies entered Saturday's game second 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.

Fitting for Senior Day, senior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) led all scorers with 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. 

Sophomore wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) was the only other Johnnie in double figures with 11. He also grabbed 11 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double. Caleb 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 freshman guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) then hit a three-pointer, drew the foul and converted the free throw to put the Johnnies back on top, 31-29. Sophomore 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 senior guard Colton Codute (Wayzata, Minn./Orono) finished with nine points each. The Johnnies owned a 40-31 edge in rebounds and finished 7-for-10 from the free-throw line.

BACK IN FIRST PLACE, FIRST-ROUND BYE CLINCHED: Saturday's win, coupled with Augsburg's 77-73 loss at home to St. Olaf, gave the Johnnies back sole possession of first place in the MIAC standings (which are determined by winning percentage this season) and clinched a first-round bye (Feb. 19) in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs.

UP TO 33rd: The 13 points moved Hanson past Ryan Lieser '08 into 33rd place in school history with a career total of 1,062 points. He is now within striking distance of Kevin Coleman '72 (32nd, 1,065); Andy Burns '12 (31st, 1,068); and Larry Bassett '92 (30th, 1,072). Nineteen points would vault Hanson past all three, as well as Tim Muller '71 (29th, 1,079) and Eric Kohorst '93 (28th, 1,080) into 28th on the list.

STAT COMPARISONS: SJU continues to lead the MIAC in shooting percentage, overall and three-point, as well as scoring defense, in conference games.

Scoring Offense
3. SJU, 74.5 ppg. (73.2 overall)
t9. HU, 63.4 ppg. (65.8 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 58.9 ppg. (60.6 overall)
3. HU, 67.5 ppg. (69.0 overall)

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, 50.9 percent (.502 overall)
9. HU, 41.3 percent (.413 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
1. SJU, 44.8 percent (.403 overall)
5. HU, 35.0 percent (.342 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
4. SJU, 74.6 percent (.735 overall)
7. HU, 70.0 percent (.678 overall)

Rebounding
9. SJU, 32.8 rpg. (33.0 overall)
10. HU, 31.3 rpg. (32.7 overall)

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (8-12, 6-9 MIAC) snapped a four-game losing skid with a pair of road wins last week, Wednesday at St. Scholastica (72-61) and Saturday at Concordia (79-67). Freshman (6-foot-4) forward Brad Cimperman, a member of SJU's basketball program during fall semester, led the Pipers with 29 points against CSS and 21 points in the win over the Cobbers. Another former Johnnie, senior (6-foot-8) forward Cooper Berg, poured in 19 points in each victory. Berg leads the team in scoring (14.3 ppg.), rebounding (7.0 rpg.) and made three-pointers (43).

IN EARLY DECEMBER: SJU made 11 three-pointers - a season high at the time - in a 69-61 road win at Hamline earlier this season on Dec. 8 in St. Paul. 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.

Senior guard Jake Binley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) 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.

Vaughn added 12 points, six rebounds and three steals. Sophomore guard Jared Rainey (Maple Grove, Minn.) 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. 

The MIAC's top free-throw shooting team at the time, 75.6 percent (90-for-119), SJU made only 59.3 percent (16-for-27) of its attempts in Hutton Arena. 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. 

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.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 92-26 all-time against Hamline since the 1964-65 season, including a 51-8 record in Collegeville. SJU has won each of the last 13 meetings overall (head coach Pat McKenzie's tenure) and the last 15 in Sexton Arena.