Saint John's returns to the basketball court with a 1 p.m. tip-off at Saint Mary's on Saturday, Jan. 7, in Winona. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (8-3, 5-1 MIAC) saw its five-game win streak end with a 65-56 loss at Whitworth (Wash.) back on Dec. 20, but bounced back with a commanding 70-55, neutral-site win over Linfield (Ore.) the following afternoon (Dec. 21). The Johnnies were without their second-leading scorer (13.4 ppg.) and top three-point shooter (50.0 percent/26-for-52) - sophomore guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) - both games due to illness.

at Whitworth (Wash.) 65, Saint John's 56 (Dec. 20)
The Johnnies led by as much as 14 (38-24) with 17:46 to play and by nine (50-41) with 8:37 left, but the Pirates went on a 15-0 run to gain a 56-50 lead until junior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) finally ended the drought with 3:12 remaining. Thissen cut the Johnnies' deficit to three (59-56) with 48 ticks on the clock, but the home team scored the game's final six points.

SJU was in the bonus with 10:27 left in regulation, but only attempted five shots (3-for-5) at the free-throw line the rest of the way. Whitworth went to the line 17 times (15-for-17) in the second half to the Johnnies' seven (4-for-7) overall. The Johnnies entered the game at 71.4 percent from the charity stripe so far this season and finished at 5-for-11 (45.5 percent). The Pirates, meanwhile, shot 16 percent (19-for-22, 86.4 percent) above its season average (70.0 percent) at the line.

Thissen led SJU with 19 points, while junior guard Brandon Adelman (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) added 11 points – all in the first half – off the bench.

SJU held Whitworth to just six points in the first 11:46 of the game and shot 51.9 percent (14-for-27) in the first 20 minutes to take a 32-23 lead into the break. The Johnnies went just 1-for-4 at the free-throw line in the first half, in which all four attempts were on the backend of a traditional three-point play opportunity. 

JT McDermott led all scorers with 24 points for Whitworth, which shot 54.5 percent (12-for-22) in the second half to finish at 43.8 percent (21-for-48) for the game. SJU dropped to 40 percent (10-for-25), including 0-for-8 from three-point range, in the second half to end at 46.2 percent (24-for-52) overall.

Saint John's 70, Linfield (Ore.) 55 (Dec. 21)
SJU got back on track with a 70-55 win over Linfield (Ore.) the next afternoon at Whitworth. The Johnnies returned to their statistical selves by shooting 51.1 percent (24-for-47) from the field and 84.2 percent (16-for-19) from the free-throw line, and outrebounding the Wildcats by a 38-28 margin.

SJU shot 50 percent (14-for-28) in the first half and led 35-26 at the break. The Johnnies started the second half with an 8-0 run, including the first three buckets from Plombon, to build a 17-point lead.

Linfield, however, chipped its deficit down to seven (50-43) with 7:31 remaining. SJU responded with a 13-2 run – eight points from senior post Carson Schoeller (Prior Lake, Minn.) and five from Thissen – to give the Cardinal and Blue its largest lead of the game (63-45).

Thissen led all scorers with 19 points and a career-high seven assists. Schoeller finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and third of his career, and added a career-high five blocked shots. He had eight points, eight boards and four blocks in the second half. 

Plombon added 12 points and Adelman was the fourth Johnnie in double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Trey Bryant led Linfield, which shot 33.9 percent (19-for-56) overall, with 16 points.

STAT COMPARISONS: Saint Mary's currently leads NCAA Division III in three-point percentage (.433), while the Johnnies are No. 10 nationally in overall shooting percentage (.501) and No. 13 in scoring defense (59.8 ppg.). 

Scoring Offense
-SMU, 79.2 ppg.
-SJU, 71.0 ppg.

Scoring Defense
-SJU, 59.8 ppg. *No. 13 in Division III
-SMU, 73.8 ppg.

Shooting Percentage
-SJU, .501 (303-605) *No. 10 in Division III
-SMU, .478 (330-690)

Three-Point Percentage
-SMU, .433 (106-245) *No. 1 in Division III
-SJU, .369 (69-187)

Free-Throw Percentage
-SMU, .739 (105-142)
-SJU, .711 (106-149)

Rebounding
-SJU, 35.0 rpg.
-SMU, 33.8 rpg.

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's (6-5, 2-4 MIAC) ran its win streak to four games with an 81-72 victory over Hamline Wednesday night (Jan. 4) in Winona. The Cardinals trailed by one (41-40) at halftime and by eight (57-49) with 13 minutes left in regulation, but the home team went on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes and did not look back. Sophomore (6-foot-4) guard Breyton Buysman led SMU with 25 points, thanks to a 4-for-8 showing from long range, and senior (6-foot-4) guard Raheem Anthony had 23 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Anthony leads the MIAC in scoring (23.3 ppg.) and assists (64, 5.8 apg.), and is third in rebounding (9.5 rpg.). Junior (6-foot-1) guard Owen Ziegler leads the conference in both three-point percentage (.531) and three-pointers made (43-for-81, 3.9 tpg.).

LAST SEASON: SJU swept the regular-season series with SMU for the 14th-straight time in 2021-22.

Saint John's 73, at Saint Mary's 63 (Dec. 1, 2021)
The Johnnies shot 59.1 percent (13-for-22) in the second half to pull away from Saint Mary's for a 73-63 road win in the season's first meeting on Dec. 1 (2021) in Winona. SJU held a slim, 30-29 halftime lead thanks to a 39.3-percent (11-for-28) shooting performance, including 1-for-9 from three-point range, in the game's first 20 minutes. 

SJU led by as much as 11 (51-40) with 10:45 remaining, but Saint Mary's chipped away at the deficit to make it a two-point game (60-58) with 7:15 left. The Cardinals, however, proceeded to make just two of their final 11 shot attempts and went 0-for-2 from the free-throw line.

Post Zach Hanson '21 recorded the ninth double-double of his career, a season-high 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Vaughn matched him with a then-career-high 18 points. Fifteen of Vaughn's points came in the second half. Thissen followed with 14 points and junior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) added 11 points off the bench.

Anthony led all scorers with 23 points for SMU, which entered the night shooting 38.3 percent (75-196) and 23.3 percent (20-86) from three-point through the first three games. The home team finished 12-for-27 (44.4 percent) from behind the arc and 43.6 percent (24-for-55) overall.

SJU out-rebounded Saint Mary's 38-25 and went 21-for-26 from the free-throw line. The Johnnies were in the bonus for the game's final 9:27.

at Saint John's 80, Saint Mary's 53 (Jan. 19)
The Johnnies completed the sweep with an 80-53 home win over Saint Mary's last Jan. 19 in Sexton Arena. SJU led by 18 (41-23) early in the second half, but made only one of its next 10 shot attempts (and committed two turnovers) as Saint Mary's cut its deficit to three (45-42) with 12:13 remaining. The home team, however, answered with a 17-0 run over the next six minutes to put the game away. The Johnnies made 13 of their final 18 shots, including 8-for-10 from behind the arc.

Plombon led the Johnnies with 17 points and eight rebounds. Hanson became the 39th Johnnie in program history to reach 1,000 career points on a patented hook shot with 11:01 left in the first half. He finished with six points, four rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes.

The home team doubled up SMU in shooting percentage, 48 percent (12-for-25) to 24.1 percent (7-for-29), for a 37-21 halftime lead. The Johnnies finished at 50.9 percent (28-for-55) and made a season-high 14 three-pointers (46.7 percent, 14-for-30) thanks to a hot second half. The 14 treys were the team's most in four years (17 vs. Bethany Lutheran on March 2, 2018, in Collegeville).

Anthony led all scorers with 19 points, 14 of which came in the second half, for the Cardinals.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 94-21 against the Cardinals since the 1964-65 season, including a 32-20 record in Winona. SJU has won each of the last 29 meetings overall (59 of the last 67) and 14 straight in the SMU Gym.