Saint John's basketball plays host to Macalester for the final home game of 2023 – 3 p.m. tip-off – on Saturday, Dec. 9, in Sexton Arena. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (6-2, 5-0 MIAC) handed Concordia its first loss of the season – 77-70 – on Wednesday night (Dec. 6) in Moorhead.
  
Concordia used a 6-0 run to tie the game at 65-65 with 3:33 remaining, but junior wing Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) drained a three-pointer on the ensuing possession and, after the Cobbers cut it to one with 2:09 left, junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) hit a trey to make it 71-67.
 
CC's Jacob Cook made one of his two free-throw attempts before senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) hammered home a dunk with 1:13 on the clock. Both teams exchanged misses, two for SJU, and Cook cut it to 73-70 on a basket with 15 seconds left. Vaughn sealed the win when he made a pair of free throws on the next possession and two more, after Cook committed a turnover, with five seconds remaining.
  
Berg and Rushin finished with eight points apiece. Berg went 4-for-6 from the floor and Rushin added a career-high 10 rebounds.
 
The teams entered halftime deadlocked at 33-33 thanks to a half-court heave from Matt Johnson at the horn. He entered the game averaging a team-best 17.4 points per game but was held to just those three Wednesday night.
 
WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) became the 40th Johnnie in program history to score 1,000 career points with a game-high 27, including 19 in the second half, in Wednesday's road win. He needed 21 points and reached the milestone with a pair of free throws to give SJU a 59-52 lead with 9:44 to play. The 20-point game was Thissen's first of the season and 18th of his career. He also added five rebounds and three assists with a perfect 7-for-7 showing from the charity stripe. Thissen needs 10 points to pass Corey Jackson '99 (1,015) in 39th on SJU's all-time scoring list and 13 to jump Nate Guetter '99 (1,018) for 38th. A 20-point game would lift Thissen past Kipp Christianson '97 (1,025) into 37th.

THISSEN FOR THREE: Thissen, who entered Wednesday's game as a 29.9-percent (32-for-107) three-point shooter in his career, including 0-for-7 this season, finished with a career-high four (4-for-4) treys against the Cobbers.

VAUGHN ALONE IN NINTH: Vaughn finished with 15 points and a trio of three-pointers (3-for-9), which broke his tie with Alex Schmitt '16 and lifted him into sole possession of ninth in program history with 153 in his career. He is now seven away from Andy Burns '12 in eighth (160).
 
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. 153 - Kooper Vaughn (61 games) - 2021-current
10. 150 - Alex Schmitt (97 games) - 2012-16

SIX GAME WIN STREAK: The Johnnies are shooting 53.6 percent from the field, including 44.2 percent (65-for-147) from three-point land, and 81.6 percent (71-for-87) from the free-throw line during their current six-game win streak. The opposition, meanwhile, is only at 37.6 percent overall and 29.0 percent (29-for-100) from three-point. Eight Johnnies are averaging five points or more per game over the last six, led by Vaughn's 13.8.

STAT COMPARISONS: SJU leads MAC in all six major statistical categories in MIAC play, though the two teams are second and third, respectively, in scoring offense. The Johnnies currently lead the conference in scoring defense (64.0 ppg.) and free-throw percentage (.795) in league play.

Scoring Offense
2. SJU, 86.6 ppg. (82.1 overall)
3. MAC, 80.2 ppg. (82.6 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 64.0 ppg. (68.2 overall)
9. MAC, 84.0 ppg. (82.8 overall)

Shooting Percentage
2. SJU, .542 (.502 overall)
5. MAC, .464 (.463 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
2. SJU, .440 (.408 overall/*No. 8 in Division III)
4. MAC, .401 (.397 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
1. SJU, .795 (.836 overall/*No. 3 in Division III)
6. MAC, .716 (.749 overall)

Rebounding
4. SJU, 35.0 rpg. (34.2 overall)
9. MAC, 31.0 rpg. (34.8 overall)

A LOOK AT THE SCOTS: Macalester (5-4, 2-3 MIAC) dropped their second consecutive game on Wednesday night (Dec. 6), a 96-86 loss to Gustavus Adolphus, in St. Paul. The Scots held a 54-39 lead early in the second half before the Gusties went on a 25-10 run to tie the score. The game went back and forth throughout the second half but saw Gustavus finish on an 11-3 run to earn the 10-point victory. Sophomore (6-foot-5) forward Noah Shannon led Macalester with 22 points on 9 of 13 shooting. Junior (6-foot-2) guard Caleb Williams collected 17 points and six rebounds, while junior (6-foot-2) guard Coby Gold added 14. Williams leads the team with an average of 20.3 points per game, followed by freshman (6-foot-1) guard Kaden Holdbrook at 14.0 as a 42.6-percent (23-54) shooter from three-point. Shannon (11.4 ppg.) and Gold (10.9 ppg.) are the other two Scots who average double digits. 

LAST SEASON: Saint John's swept the 2022-23 series for the fifth-straight season. 

Saint John's 75, at Macalester 50 – Dec. 7, 2022
SJU held Macalester to 14 points in the second half, including four over the game's final 12:34, in the dominating road win. The Johnnies held the Scots scoreless for a 10:08 span (12:34-2:26) in the second half and broke a six-point lead (46-40) open with a 23-6 run.
 
Macalester won the opening tip but committed turnovers on its first four possessions, which SJU turned into eight points for an early 8-0 lead. The Johnnies built a 22-7 lead and led by 29-15 with 10:27 left in the first half, but the Scots responded with a 12-0 run to cut their deficit to two (29-27). SJU scored 11 of the game's next 15 points and Mitchell Plombon '23 scored two buckets in the final 46 seconds before halftime as the visitors took a 44-36 lead into the break.
 
Plombon led all scorers with a career-high 27 points – a near-even split with 14 in the first half and 13 in the second – on 13 of 17 shooting (including three dunks) and fell one rebound shy of a double-double.
 
Berg and Thissen were the other Johnnies in double figures with 10 points apiece. Thissen collected seven assists and four rebounds, while Berg totaled four boards and three assists off the bench. Ten Johnnies scored a field goal or more in the victory.
 
SJU finished with a pair of season highs at the time – overall shooting percentage (.604, 32-for-53) and from three-point range (.600, 6-for-10) – and outrebounded the Scots by a 36-24 margin.
 
Eric Wentz led MAC, which shot 38.5 percent (20-for-52) overall and 29.4 percent (5-for-17) from behind the arc, with 17 points off the bench on 7 of 11 shooting. The home team made six of its 25 shot attempts (24 percent), just 1-for-8 from long range and 1-for-7 from the free-throw line, in the second half.

at Saint John's 69, Macalester 67 – Feb. 15, 2023
The Johnnies trailed Mac by one (66-65) with 1:37 remaining, but Vaughn was fouled on the ensuing possession and made both free throws. The home team was in the double bonus with 4:48 remaining as the Scots were whistled for 15 fouls in the second half (just three in the first half).
 
Williams missed a three-pointer and Vaughn was fouled after grabbing the defensive rebound. He made one of two from the foul line and Williams matched him to keep the Johnnies' lead at one (68-67). Berg grabbed a crucial offensive rebound on the other end and Vaughn was fouled, but again made just one of two to give SJU a 69-67 advantage with 12 seconds left. 

Williams' potential game-tying shot from roughly eight feet was blocked by Berg and Plombon grabbed the board to seal the win. Thissen led SJU with 19 points and Vaughn added 16.
 
The Johnnies shot just 40.7 percent (22-for-54) from the field, including 27.3 percent (6-for-22) from three-point range. The home team went 17-for-20 (85 percent) at the charity stripe in the second half and finished at 19-for-22 (86.4 percent) for the game. 
 
Williams led all scorers with 29 points, 18 of which came in the second half, for Macalester. The Scots shot 57.5 percent (15-for-26) in the first half for a 38-34 lead at the break, but made only 33.3 percent (9-for-27) of their shots after intermission.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 89-29 against Macalester since the 1964-65 season, including a 48-11 record in Collegeville. SJU has won 32 of the last 34 meetings in Sexton Arena and 34 of the last 36 overall.