Saint John's basketball travels to St. Petersburg, Fla., for a pair of neutral-site games on Tuesday and Wednesday (Dec. 19-20) against Nazareth (N.Y.) and No. 13 Mount Union (Ohio). Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET each game on the campus of Division II Eckerd College. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video (PPV)

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (7-2, 6-0 MIAC) cruised to its seventh-straight victory, 101-79 over Macalester back on Dec. 9 in Sexton Arena.

The Johnnies broke open a 12-9 game with a 28-8 run over a span of 7:40 in the first half and took a 62-35 lead into the break. The home team made 10-consecutive field goals (4-for-4 from three-point range) during the final 4:30 of the scoring run. SJU shot 66.7 percent, both from the field (24-for-36) and three-point (10-for-15), in the first half.

SJU led by as much as 42 (98-56) with 7:20 to play and 13 different Johnnies scored a point or more.

Sophomore guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) led six Johnnies in double figures with a career-high 15 points in a team-leading 18:24 played. He also added four assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) followed with 13 points and junior wing Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) added 12 points off the bench. The Johnnies' bench out-scored Macalester by a 62-23 margin.

Senior guard Brandon Adelman (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) was the sixth Johnnie in double digits with 10 points.

SJU finished at 58.5 percent (38-for-65) from the field and 48.1 percent (13-for-27) from behind the arch. The Johnnies out-rebounded the Scots 33-24 and produced 17 points off 11 turnovers.

Coby Gold led all scorers with 22 points for Mac, which shot 53.6 percent (30-for-56) from the floor. Gold also registered six rebounds and five assists in 34:50 played. The Scots' leading scorer, Caleb Williams (20.3 ppg.), finished with 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting and three first-half turnovers.

Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) totaled 11 points, four assists and three rebounds in 15:46, while junior guard Luke Healy (Hudson, Wis.) matched him with 11 points and collected a career-high five assists.

MAC SMAC: The Dec. 9 win over Macalester was SJU's 90th (to 29 losses) against the Scots since the 1964-65 season, including a 49-11 record in Collegeville. SJU has now won 33 of the last 35 meetings in Sexton Arena (35 of the last 37 overall).

100-POINT GAMES: Three of the Johnnies' last four 100-point games were against Macalester. The last time SJU scored more than 100 points in two games - in the same season - occurred in 2017-18, when it happened three times: Nov. 29 at Minnesota Morris (W, 110-79); Dec. 6 at Macalester (W, 114-96); and Jan. 17 vs. Macalester (W, 133-80).

STREAK STATS: The Johnnies are shooting 54.3 percent from the field, including 44.8 percent (78-for-174) from three-point range, and 80.6 percent (83-for-103) from the free-throw line during their current seven-game win streak. The opposition, meanwhile, is only at 39.8 percent overall and 31.2 percent (39-for-125) from behind the arc. Eight Johnnies are averaging five points or more per game over the last seven, led by Vaughn's 13.7.

SCORING LIST: Thissen passed Corey Jackson '99 (1,015) for 39th on SJU's all-time scoring list with 1,017 career points and is now one behind Nate Guetter '99 in 38th (1,018) and eight from Kipp Christianson '97 in 37th (1,025).

FIVE BEHIND BURNS: Vaughn is seven three-pointers away from Andy Burns '12 in eighth (160) on SJU's all-time list.
 
Most Three-Pointers in SJU History
1. 266 - David Stokman (109 games) - 2015-19
2. 232 - Patrick Strom (108 games) - 2014-18
3. 180 - Larry Bassett (80 games) - 1988-92
4. 172 - Joe Deignan (105 games) - 1991-95
5. 168 - Oakley Baker (91 games) - 2017-21
6. 165 - Seth Marx (81 games) - 2010-14
7. 161 - Chris Schwartz (99 games) - 2007-11
8. 160 - Andy Burns (104 games) - 2008-12
9. 155 - Kooper Vaughn (62 games) - 2021-current
10. 150 - Alex Schmitt (97 games) - 2012-16

STAT COMPARISONS: SJU is currently in the top six in NCAA Division III in three statistical categories: second in free-throw percentage (.827), fourth in shooting percentage (.512) and sixth in three-point percentage (.417). Nazareth is third in fewest turnovers per game (9.1) and Mount Union is 11th in fewest fouls committed per game (12.9). Individually, Vaughn is seventh in free-throw percentage (.950, 38-for-40) and Nazareth junior (5-foot-10 guard Luke Insley is fourth in assist/turnover ratio (+5.25) and sxith in assists per game (6.0).

Scoring Offense
-SJU, 84.2 ppg.
-UMU, 84.0 ppg.
-NAZ, 76.3 ppg.

Scoring Defense
-UMU, 68.4 ppg.
-SJU, 69.4 ppg.
-NAZ, 71.9 ppg.

Shooting Percentage
-SJU, .512 (265-523) *No. 4 in Division III
-UMU, .471 (284-603)
-NAZ, .452 (205-454)

Three-Point Percentage
-SJU, .417 (88-211) *No. 6 in Division III
-NAZ, .345 (51-148)
-UMU, .333 (78-234)

Free-Throw Percentage
-SJU, .827 (134-162) *No. 2 in Division III
-NAZ, .745 (73-98)
-UMU, .643 (110-171)

Rebounding
-UMU, 43.2 rpg.
-NAZ, 37.1 rpg.
-SJU, 34.1 rpg.

A LOOK AT THE GOLDEN FLYERS: Nazareth (4-3, 2-0 Empire 8) picked up a pair of road wins in Empire 8 play at Russell Sage (73-69 in overtime on Dec. 1) and Hartwick (82-65 on Dec. 2). Nazareth scored just 22 points in the first half but overcame an 11-point deficit in the overtime win. Graduate student (6-foot-4) Jordan Haggard posted a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. The Golden Flyers followed that by shooting 50 percent (11-for-22) from three-point range and had five in double figures in the victory at Hartwick. Graduate student (6-foot-4) guard Logan Blankenberg leads the team in scoring (16.0 ppg.) and rebounding (8.6 rpg.), as well as three-point shooting (46.9 percent, 15-for-32). Sophomore (6-foot-2) guard Jaylen Savage is next at 12.4 points per contest, followed by Haggard at 12.3.

A LOOK AT THE PURPLE RAIDERS: Mount Union (8-1, 3-1 OAC) won its third game in a row with a 79-68 home decision over Capital (Ohio) on Saturday (Dec. 16). The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Player of the Year and a D3hoops.com first-team All-American last season, senior (6-foot-6) forward Christian Parker recorded his third double-double of the season – 22 points and 12 rebounds – in the victory. He leads the team in scoring (18.2 ppg.) and shooting percentage (.567/68-for-120) this season, and second in rebounding (8.0 rpg.), after leading the Purple Raiders in all three categories (19.2 ppg., 8.6 rpg., .524/250-for-477) as Mount Union finished 30-3 and fell in the national championship game on a last-second shot in 2022-23. Graduate student (6-foot-3) guard Collen Gurley leads the team with 22 three-pointers (.349, 22-for-63) and is second in scoring (14.4 ppg.), while sophomore (6-foot-7) forward Caleb Laurich boasts a team-leading 8.4 rebounds per game and 13 blocks. UMU fell two spots to No. 13 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll released Dec. 11 and plays Berea (Ky.) Tuesday night before facing the Johnnies on Wednesday.

A PAIR OF FIRSTS: This week's games against Nazareth and Mount Union are the first for Saint John's on the basketball court.