Saint John's basketball opens a three-game homestand with a 7 p.m. tip-off against Concordia on Wednesday, Jan. 11, in Sexton Arena. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (8-4, 5-2 MIAC) saw its 29-game win streak over Saint Mary's end with a 69-57 loss to the Cardinals on last Saturday (Jan. 7) in Winona.

SMU shot 62.5 percent - both overall (15-for-24) and from three-point range (5-for-8) - to outscore the Johnnies by 21 (48-27) in the second half and held the visitors to two points over the final 4:16. SJU shot only 33.3 percent (8-for-24), including a 2-for-12 showing from behind the arc, after halftime and ended the game with a season-high 19 turnovers (the most since Nov. 16, 2018 at Wisconsin-Whitewater, 22). The Cardinals scored 20 points off the 19 SJU miscues, including 13 off the eight turnovers in the second half.

SJU was without its leading scorer (17.8 ppg.) and top playmaker (42 assists) - junior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) - due to illness.

The Johnnies ended the first half with a 21-0 run over the final 9:43 to take a 30-21 lead into the break. The Cardinals started the second half with a 9-1 run but did not gain their first lead of the second half, 49-47, with 9:16 to play. SJU trailed by three (58-55) with 4:16 remaining, but the home team closed the game with an 11-2 run.

Senior post Carson Schoeller (Prior Lake, Minn.) led SJU with 16 points, thanks in large part to a 4-for-5 performance from behind the arc, and 11 rebounds for his second-consecutive double-double and fourth of his career.

Sophomore guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) was the other Johnnie in double figures in scoring with 15 points. SJU entered the game 10th in NCAA Division III in shooting percentage (.501) and finished at 40.5 percent (17-for-42). 

Raheem Anthony led the Cardinals with 32 points, including 23 in the second half, as well as 10 rebounds and five steals. The top three-point shooting team in Division III at 43.3 percent (106-for-245), Saint Mary's ended at 46.2 percent (24-for-52) overall and an even 50 percent (7-for-14) from long range.

BACK-TO-BACK: Schoeller's double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds last Saturday was nearly a carbon copy of the Johnnies' previous game – a 70-55 win over Linfield (Ore.) on Dec. 21 in Spokane, Wash. – which consisted of 15 points and 11 boards. He is shooting 68.8 percent (11-for-16) from the field, including 66.7 percent (6-for-9) from three-point range, with an average of 3.5 blocks over his last two games.

STAT COMPARISONS: SJU touts the league's top scoring defense and shooting percentage in conference play, and is second in rebounding.

Scoring Offense
5. CC, 74.3 ppg. (76.0 overall)
7. SJU, 70.6 ppg. (69.8 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 56.6 ppg. (60.6 overall *No. 14 in Division III)
9. CC, 74.7 ppg. (75.8 overall)

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .535 (.495 overall *No. 9 in Division III)
5. CC, .474 (.468 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
3. SJU, .400 (.369 overall)
5. CC, .362 (.352 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
2. CC, .765 (.783 overall *No. 6 in Division III)
5. SJU, .720 (.735 overall)

Rebounding
2. SJU, 33.7 rpg. (34.8 overall)
11. CC, 26.7 rpg. (29.4 overall)

A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (5-7, 3-4 MIAC) fell at Carleton by a score of 70-63 last Wednesday (Jan. 4) in Northfield. The Cobbers took a 29-26 lead into halftime and continued to stay in front for the first 10 minutes of the second period, but Carleton took its final lead of the game at the 8:18 mark and ended the contest with a 10-3 run. Sophomore (6-foot-7) forward Dylan Inniger and junior (6-foot-1) guard Matthew Johnson led four Cobbers in double figures with 13 poins apiece. Inniger scored eight of his 13 points in the second half and led the team with six rebounds. A transfer from Division II Mary (N.D.), Johnson leads the team in scoring (19.2 ppg.), while sophomore (6-foot-6) forward Rowan Nelson is next at 15.0 ppg. and a team-best 5.9 rebounds per contest.

BACK IN 2021-22: The Johnnies swept the Cobbers for the fourth-straight season in 2021-22.

at Saint John's 87, Concordia 76 (Dec. 4, 2021)
Saint John's scored 22 points off 13 Concordia turnovers in an 87-76 home win back on Dec. 3 (2021) in Sexton Arena. The Johnnies shot 57.6 percent (34-for-59) from the field, including 66.7 percent (16-for-24) in the second half. The home game was a long time coming for the Johnnie basketball program, as SJU opened the 2021-22 season with its first seven games on the road (nine of the first 10). The game was the first for fans in Sexton Arena since SJU defeated Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs on March 7, 2020; a span of 637 days.

The Cobbers led by as much as five (24-19) with nine minutes remaining in the first half and by three (31-28) with 4:07 before intermission. SJU, however, answered with a 12-2 run to take a 40-33 lead into the break and scored the first seven points of the second half. The Johnnies led by as much as 17 (83-66).

Thissen led four Johnnies in double figures with 23 points on 10 of 14 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. Post Zach Hanson '21 followed closely with 22 points, six rebounds and tied a career high with five assists. Junior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) added 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting off the bench and Vaughn tallied 11 points.

Nelson scored a game-high 25 points for CC, which finished at 54.4 percent (31-for-57) from the field and doubled its season average (21.4 percent) from three-point land (44.4 percent, 8-for-18).

Saint John's 80, at Concordia 65 (Jan. 29, 2022)
SJU broke open a one-point lead with a 19-2 run over a 5:05 span late in the second half to pick up an 80-65 road win at Concordia last Jan. 29 (2022) in Moorhead. The Johnnies held a slim 56-55 lead with 8:12 to play, but proceeded to make five of its next seven shots and went 7-for-8 from the free-throw line to build a 75-57 lead with 3:07 remaining. The Cobbers, meanwhile, missed all four shots from the floor, committed two turnovers and made two of their six attempts from the charity stripe during that span.

Hanson tied a season high with 22 points to lead all scorers. Schoeller, meanwhile, posted career highs for points (20) and made three-pointers (4-for-7) in 21 minutes off the bench. Senior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) recorded his first double-double of the season and second of this career with an even 10 points and 10 rebounds.

SJU led by as much as eight (17-9) halfway through the first half, but CC ended the first stanza with a 12-5 run to take a 35-33 lead into the break. The Johnnies shot 51.7 percent (15-for-29) in the second half, including a 4-for-8 showing from behind the arc, and went 13-for-16 from the free-throw line.

SJU scored 20 points off 10 Cobber turnovers and 14 second-chance points on 13 offensive rebounds as the visitors posted a 41-23 advantage on the glass.

Concordia matched SJU's overall shooting percentage at .460 (23-for-50), but the league's top free-throw-shooting team (77.5 percent in conference play) went 6-for-13 from the line in the second half (12-for-20 for the game). Jackson Jangula led four Cobbers in double figures with 17 points. Nelson (17.6 ppg.), the team's scoring leader, played only 14 minutes due to foul trouble and scored four points.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 82-35 against Concordia since the 1964-65 season, including a 51-7 record in Collegeville. SJU has won each of the last nine meetings overall and 13 of the last 15 matchups in Sexton Arena. Both losses were decided by three points or less.