Saint John's basketball travels to Aberdeen, S.D., for the Small College Basketball Champions Classic this Friday-Saturday (Nov. 17-18) at Division II Northern State's Wachs Arena. The Johnnies face Wisconsin-Platteville at 2:30 p.m. Friday, followed by Stockton (N.J.) at noon Saturday.

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A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (0-1 overall) opened the 2023-24 season with an 82-69 loss on Tuesday night (Nov. 14) at Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

A layup from senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) cut the deficit to three (67-64) with 6:21 to play for SJU, but the made field goal was the visitors' last as UWEC ended the game with a 15-5 run to seal the victory. 

The Blugolds shot 60 percent (18-for-30) in the second half to finish at 49.2 percent (30-for-61) for the game and totaled 20 points off 16 SJU turnovers in the contest. SJU stayed in the game thanks to a 27-for-31 performance (87.1 percent) from the free-throw line.

Junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) led all scorers with 23 points – the sixth 20-point game of his career – on 6-for-10 shooting. The rest of the team shot 32.6 percent from the floor and 0-for-13 from three-point land.

The Johnnies made only two of their first 11 shots in the game and trailed by nine (29-20) with 5:30 left in the first half. SJU, however, closed on a 14-5 run to enter the locker room tied at 34-34. 

UWEC started the second half with eight-straight points from Michael Casper, but the Johnnies clawed back to within one (43-42) with 15:56 left. The Blugolds answered with seven-consecutive baskets to build a 10-point lead (58-48). Traditional three-point plays from Vaughn and senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview), followed by three free throws from Vaughn and two points in the paint by junior wing Luke Budzyn (St. Paul, Minn./East Ridge) made it 65-62 with 7:33 remaining.

Berg finished with 11 points and five rebounds, while Thissen added 10 points.

Casper led UWEC with 2- points and six boards. Carter Huschka collected 16 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.

A COLD NIGHT: The Johnnies shot 37.7 percent (20-for-53) from the field in Wednesday's season opener and just 2-for-18 from behind the three-point arc. The 11.1-percent showing from long range was the program's worst since Nov. 25, 2016 (1-for-9/9.1 percent vs. Willamette in Colorado Springs, Colo.).

A LOOK AT THE PIONEERS: Wisconsin-Platteville (2-0 overall) opened the 2023-24 season with a pair of home wins over MIAC opponents last weekend: 91-71 vs. Saint Mary's (Nov. 10) and 79-67 vs. Gustavus Adolphus (Nov. 11). The Pioneers shot 57.6 percent (38-66) from the floor, including 44.4 percent (12-for-27) from three-point land, against the Cardinals. The coin flipped, however, in the win against the Gusties. UWP shot 45.2 percent (28-for-62) to the Gusties' 56.3 percent (27-for-48), but scored 28 points off 19 GAC turnovers. An All-WIAC first-team and All-WIAC Defensive team honoree last season, senior (6-foot-4) forward Logan Pearson leads the team in scoring (22.0 ppg.) and is shooting 61.5 percent (16-for-26) from the field, including 5-for-10 from three-point range. Senior (6-foot-1) guard Ben Probst is next at 20.0 points per game and is 8-for-17 from behind the arc. Platteville received votes in the D3hoops.com preseason poll and finished 14-12 last season and fell to Eau Claire by two points in the quarterfinal round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament.

THE LAST MEETING: Then-No. 25 SJU earned a 71-55 win at then-No. 10 Wisconsin-Platteville the last time these two teams met on Nov. 17, 2018. The Johnnies shot 61.9 percent (13-for-21) from the field, including 50 percent (5-for-10) from behind the arc, in the second half to break open a five-point (27-22) halftime lead and seal the win.

Guard David Stokman '19 led four Johnnies in double figures with 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Wing Jubie Alade '20 followed with 14 points and wing Oakley Baker '21 added 11. Alade and Stokman combined for 22 points and a 9-for-9 showing at the free-throw line in the second half. Post Lucas Walford '20 collected 10 points and eight boards.

Robert Duax led Platteville, which shot 27.9 percent (17-for-61) from the floor, with 21 points. The loss was the Pioneers' first at home in the regular season since Feb. 18, 2017.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 1-3 all-time against Platteville, including a 1-2 record on the Pioneers' home court. The last meeting in 2018 was the first between the two teams since 2001.

-March 2, 1995: at UWP 99, SJU 67 (NCAA Tournament)
-Nov. 19, 2000: at UWP 70, SJU 63
-Nov 18, 2001: UWP 79, at SJU 71 (OT)
-Nov. 17, 2018: SJU 71, at UWP 55

A LOOK AT THE OSPREYS: Stockton (1-1 overall) started the season with a split at Widener's Tip-Off for Autism Awareness last weekend (Nov. 10-11) in Pennsylvania. The Ospreys fell to Roanoke (Va.) 85-74 in the opener but bounced back with a 91-75 win over King's (Pa.). Senior (6-foot-7) forward Jalen Collins leads the team in scoring (17.5 ppg.) and shooting percentage (.667/16-for-24), and senior (6-foot-3) guard D.J. Campbell is next at 14.0 points per contest. Campbell (5-for-17) and sophomore (6-foot-2) guard Diante Miles (4-for-14) account for nine of the team's 12 made three-pointers through the first two games (22.6 percent/12-for-53). Campbell was the New Jersey Athletic Conference's (NJAC) Player of the Year and an NABC first-team All-American in 2021-22 after Stockton went 26-5 and reached the NCAA's Sweet 16. The Ospreys advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second-straight season in 2022-23 and finished with a 24-6 record. Stockton, like Platteville, received votes in the D3hoops.com preseason poll and plays No. 4 Keene State (N.H.) at noon Friday before facing SJU Saturday afternoon. Saturday's meeting is the first between SJU and Stockton.