The Johnnie basketball team travels to face Augsburg for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, Jan. 21, at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (10-5, 7-3 MIAC) suffered its first home loss of the season, 78-71 to Carleton, Monday night (Jan. 16) in Sexton Arena. The Knights shot an even 50 percent (27-for-54) for the game, including 57.1 percent (12-for-21) in the second half, and went 9-for-14 (64.3 percent) – 26.7 percent higher than their season average (37.6 percent) – from three-point range.
 
Carleton senior (6-foot-8) forward Jeremy Beckler led the visitors with a career-high 36 points on 14 of 21 shooting (3-for-4 from behind the arc), while the rest of the team shot just 39.4 percent (13-for-33) from the field.
 
Beckler made his first six shots of the game, for the Knights' first 14 points, and the visitors led by as much as 13 (24-11) with 11:15 left in the first half. The Johnnies answered with a 19-6 run to tie the game at 30-30 but eventually trailed by one (38-37) at halftime.
 
Carleton started the second half with a 9-2 run as SJU made only one of its four shot attempts and committed three turnovers. The skid subsided as the Johnnies went on a 15-5 run to gain their first lead of the game – 58-57 – with 6:54 remaining. A pair of free throws from junior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) gave the home team its next and last lead of the game – 60-59 with 5:37 left – as Carleton responded with a 9-0 run. SJU cut the deficit to three (68-65) on a three-pointer from junior guard Brandon Adelman (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) with 2:03 on the clock, but Beckler knocked down a shot on the ensuing possession.
 
Thissen played all 40 minutes and finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Adelman matched him with a career-high 16 points off the bench and sophomore guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) was the other Johnnie in double digits with 10 points.
 
Carleton posted a 32-31 edge in rebounds, including 8-7 on the offensive glass, but outscored SJU 10-2 in second-chance points. Fouls were 6-3 in favor of the Knights in the first half, but the whistles flipped toward the Johnnies by a 15-9 count after halftime (7-2 with 10:19 left).

NEXT SATURDAY: The Johnnies' home game vs. St. Olaf scheduled for next Saturday, Jan. 28, has been moved from a 1 p.m. start to 3 p.m. in Sexton Arena due to STO's J-term finals that morning. 

STAT COMPARISONS: Saturday's game pits the conference's top-two rebounding teams (in MIAC play). SJU leads the Auggies in the other five major statistical categories.

Scoring Offense
5. SJU, 71.8 ppg. (70.8 overall)
10. AUG, 67.5 ppg. (65.8 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 60.6 ppg. (62.5 overall *No. 19 in Division III)
9. AUG, 74.1 ppg. (72.9 overall)

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .521 (.494 overall *No. 10 in Division III)
10. AUG, .426 (.409 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
4. SJU, .377 (.360 overall)
8. AUG, .328 (.304 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
4. SJU, .744 (.745 overall)
7. AUG, .675 (.668 overall)

Rebounding
1. AUG, 34.7 rpg. (35.5 overall)
2. SJU, 33.9 rpg. (34.7 overalll)

A LOOK AT THE AUGGIES: Augsburg (5-11, 3-8 MIAC) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 71-66 win over Concordia-Moorhead on Wednesday night (Jan. 18) in Moorhead. The Auggies held a one-point lead at half, 41-40, but saw Concordia jump to its largest lead of the game (52-45) at 13:41 of the second half. Augsburg responded with an 18-6 run and regained the lead for the final 6:28 of the game. Freshman (6-foot-6) guard Kayser Hasaan scored a career-high 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting with five rebounds. Sophomore (6-foot-4) guard Will Blascziek leads the Auggies in scoring (11.3 ppg.), while senior (6-foot-3) guard Conner Knoepfle is the other Auggie averaging in double digits at 10.3 ppg.

EARLIER THIS SEASON: The Johnnies collected 27 assists on 35 made field goals and shot 59.3 percent (35-for-59) from the floor in a 78-50 win over Augsburg earlier this season on Dec. 3 in Collegeville. The Johnnies broke open a one-point lead (11-10) with 12:31 left in the opening half with a 24-5 run and never looked back. SJU led 41-22 at the break and opened the second half with nine straight points. SJU scored 20 points off 13 Augsburg turnovers and led by as much as 34. The home team outrebounded the Auggies 31-25 and posted a 54-24 scoring advantage in the paint.
 
Thissen led all scorers with 24 points, on 11 of 18 shooting, and was in contention for a triple-double with a game-high eight rebounds and a career-best seven assists in 26:28 played.

Sophomore wing Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) followed with a career-high 13 points off the bench, including back-to-back three-pointers in the Johnnies' large, first-half run. Senior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) was the other Johnnie in double figures with 12 points. 
 
Bradley Winter led AUG, which shot 37.5 percent (18-for-48) from the field, with 11 points.
 
The 28-point victory was the largest winning differential for SJU over Augsburg since Jan. 27, 1969 (a 104-76 victory in Collegeville). The Johnnies defeated Augsburg by 30 points or more a week apart – Jan. 20 (54-20) in Minneapolis and Jan. 27 (58-23) in Collegeville – in 1945.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 67-59 against the Auggies since 1964-65, but just 27-37 in Minneapolis. SJU, however, has won 16 of the last 20 meetings overall and seven of the last eight in Si Melby Hall.