The Johnnie basketball team travels to face Concordia for a 7:45 p.m. game on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (5-2, 4-0 MIAC) had everything go right in a 112-54 rout of Augsburg on Monday night (Dec. 4) in Sexton Arena.

The Johnnies shot 67.2 percent (41-for-61) from the field, including 53.8 percent (14-for-26) from three-point range, to Augsburg's 24.1 percent (14-for-58) in the win. SJU's bench accounted for 78 points and the home team scored 20 points off 18 Auggie turnovers.

Eight Johnnies scored the team's first eight field goals and 17 scored two points or more.

Senior guard Brandon Adelman (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) led all scorers with a career-high 19 points off the bench, thanks to a perfect 7-for-7 night from the field (3-for-3 from three-point) in 12:24 played.

Junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) followed with 14 points – on a 4-for-6 performance from behind the arc – and three assists in 13 minutes. The four treys moved him into a tie with Alex Schmitt '16 for ninth in program history with 150 in his career.

Junior wing Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) totaled 12 points, on 4-for-4 shooting (3-for-3 from three-point), with four rebounds and a career-high four blocks.

Sophomore guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) was the fourth Johnnie in double figures with 10 points and three assists.

SJU opened a nine-point game (24-15) with a 15-5 run, on 7-for-8 shooting, and led 51-26 at halftime. The Johnnies missed their first two shot attempts of the second half but responded by making each of their next 14 – 6-for-6 from three-point – and went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line over span of 8:16 to build an 89-40 lead with 10:26 to play.

Will Blascziek and Isaac Rabaey led Augsburg with eight points apiece but combined to go 1-for-8 from the floor (13-for-18 from the free-throw line). Twenty-four (24-for-35) of the Auggies' 54 points came at the charity stripe.

SJU has now won 17 of the last 21 meetings with Augsburg and 10 of the last 12 in Sexton Arena.

STAT SUPERLATIVES: The Johnnies recorded a number of rare statistics Wednesday night against Augsburg:

-The 58-point differential was SJU's largest since Dec. 15, 1978 – a 121-62 home win over George Williams (Wis.).
-The 41 made field goals and 112 points were both the third-most in an SJU game and the most since Jan. 17, 2018 (a 133-80 win with 47 made field goals at Macalester).
-The .672 (41-for-61) shooting percentage is tied for the fourth-best in the Johnnies' recorded history and their best since earlier this year on Feb. 11, 2023 (a 90-58 win over Saint Mary's), when they also shot .672 (39-for-58) from the field.

TIED FOR NINTH: Vaughn made four of his six three-point attempts Monday night to tie Alex Schmitt '16 for ninth in program history with 150 career treys, despite playing 37 fewer games. He is now 10 behind Andy Burns '12 in eighth. 

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
t9. 150 - Kooper Vaughn (60 games) - 2021-current
t9. 150 - Alex Schmitt (97 games) - 2012-16

NOW 21 POINTS FROM 1,000: Thissen made four of his seven shots from the field for eight points in just 15 minutes bumping his career point total to 979. Thissen now needs 21 points to become the 40th Johnnie in program history to reach 1,000 for a career.

STAT COMPARISONS: SJU takes the court Wednesday night leading the MIAC (conference games only) in shooting percentage and three-point percentage, while Concordia leads in scoring defense. The Johnnies lead the Cobbers in five of the six major statistical categories. 

Scoring Offense
2. SJU, 89.0 ppg. (82.9 overall)
7. CON, 69.7 ppg. (68.9 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. CON, 59.7 ppg. (59.0 overall)
2. SJU, 62.5 ppg. (68.0 overall)

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .575 (.516 overall)
3. CON, .475 (.425 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
1. SJU, .453 (.409 overall)
5. CON, .366 (.339 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
2. SJU, .745 (.820 overall)
4. CON, .705 (.715 overall)

Rebounding
3. SJU, 36.8 rpg. (35.1 overall)
t5. CON, 35.7 rpg. (37.7 overall)

A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (7-0, 3-0 MIAC) remained undefeated with a 71-57 road win on Monday night (Dec. 4) at Saint Mary's. The Cobbers shot 44.8 percent (26-for-58) from the field, including 40.7 percent (11-for-27) from three-point land. Junior (6-foot-6) forward Rowan Nelson led Concordia with 21 points, going 8 of 12 from the field and 4 of 6 from three-point. Senior (6-foot-1) guard Matt Johnson was the other Cobber in double digits with 13 points. Johnson leads the team with an average of 17.4 points per game, while Nelson averages 13.1 and 5.1 boards. Both are threats from deep as they shoot 51.2 (21-for-41) and 44.8 percent (13-for-29) from three-point, respectively. The Cobbers received votes in Monday's D3hoops.com top 25 poll for the second-straight week.

LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS: The two teams split the 2022-23 season series with home wins. 

at Saint John's 70, Concordia 63 (OT) – Jan. 11
Down two starters, SJU needed a boost against Concordia. Luckily for the Johnnies, Mitchell Plombon '23 and senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) rose to the occasion and lifted SJU to a 70-63 win in overtime.

Plombon and Berg combined for 49 of the team's 70 points as SJU outscored the Cobbers by an 11-4 margin in the overtime period. Plombon played a career-high 41 minutes and totaled 25 points, on 10-for-14 shooting, and 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and fifth of his career. Berg, meanwhile, scored a career-high 24 points, including 19 after halftime.

SJU was without Thissen, who was the Johnnies leading scorer (17.8 ppg.) and top playmaker (42 assists), due to illness, as well as post Carson Schoeller '23 because of injury.

Tied at 59 at the end of regulation, Berg drained a three-pointer and answered CC's score on the other end with a layup to give SJU a 64-61 lead with 1:53 remaining. The Cobbers' Jackson Jangula made one of two free throws to make it a two-point game (64-62) with 40 seconds on the clock, but SJU drained all six attempts at the charity stripe to seal the victory.

The home team led by as much as nine (22-13) with 4:23 left before intermission, but the Cobbers cut the deficit to one with a 10-2 run before Berg hit a trey for a 27-23 lead at the break. The Johnnies led by as much as eight in the second half and by seven (46-39) with 7:18 left, but again CC responded with an 8-3 run to gain its first and only lead of the frame. SJU went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line on its last two trips, the last by junior guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) with 13 ticks remaining, and CC's Rowan Nelson tied the game on a layup with five seconds left in regulation. 

SJU shot 39.7 percent (23-for-58) for the game, but just 23.8 percent (5-for-21) from three-point range. The Johnnies did not attempt a free throw in the first half and bounced back from a 13-for-19 performance (68.4 percent) in the second with a perfect 6-for-6 showing in overtime.

Vaughn was the third Johnnie in double figures with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Johnson led Concordia with 21 points, including makes on all 11 of his shots from the charity stripe. The Cobbers shot 30.9 percent (17-for-55) for the game, but stayed in the game thanks to an 85.2-percent clip (23-for-27) at the free-throw line. The visitors went 6-for-26 (23.1 percent) from the floor in the first half and made only one of their seven shots in overtime.

at Concordia 81, Saint John's 76 – Jan. 30
Concordia went 25-for-25 at the free-throw line to top Saint John's 81-76 back on Jan. 30 in Moorhead.

The Cobbers shot 21 percent above its season average from three-point range (33.3) and entered the game as the MIAC's second-best free-throw shooting team at 78.4 percent in league play. The Johnnies were not far behind CC at the line - going 18-for-20 at the charity stripe - all in the second half.

In a game between the MIAC's top rebounding team (SJU, 34.6 rpg.) against the league's worst in conference play (CC, 28.8 rpg.), the Cobbers ended the night with a 27-25 edge on the glass.

SJU made nine of its first 15 shots (3-for-7 from long range) to gain a 21-14 lead halfway through the first half, but proceeded to make just one of its next eight attempts as the Cobbers rattled off an 18-2 run en route to a 38-31 halftime lead.

CC led by as much as 12 (51-39) with 13:25 to play, but SJU responded with a 12-0 run to tie the game less than three minutes later. The Cobbers' Jacob Cook gave the lead back to the home team with back-to-back buckets and, after Adelman drained a three to cut the Johnnies' deficit to one (57-56), Johnson was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three free throws.

The Johnnies continued to fight and eventually cut the deficit to one on three more occasions inside of the final 3:12. The whistle worked against SJU and Johnson made both free throws to bring the Cobbers' lead back to three on the first two instances, and Zach Jackson – a 25-percent (3-for-12) three-point shooter – made a trey on the last (his lone shot attempt of the game). SJU missed shots in the paint on the next two possessions and the home team's perfect shooting from the charity stripe extended the lead for good. 

Thissen led SJU with 23 points, his second-consecutive 20-point game, and had four assists.

Adelman finished with a then-career-high 17 points off the bench and Vaughn added 12. 

Cook more than quadrupled his season average (6.4 ppg.) with a game-high 27 points off the bench, including 17 points in the first half, on 10-for-13 shooting. The rest of the Cobbers shot 34.9 percent (15-for-43) from the field.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 83-36 against Concordia since the 1964-65 season, but just 31-29 in Moorhead during that span. Last season's loss in Moorhead snapped SJU's 10-game win streak in the series.