Saint John's basketball plays host to Saint Mary's for Alade/Alumni/Senior Day at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, in Sexton Arena. –
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A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: A late drought handed Saint John's (13-9, 10-7 MIAC) a 77-72 loss at first-place Carleton on Wednesday night (Feb. 8) in Northfield.
A traditional three-point play from senior post
Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) gave the Johnnies a 10-point lead (63-53) with 9:31 remaining, but the visitors proceeded to make only two of their final 12 shot attempts (with a 5-for-7 showing from the free-throw line) and committed three turnovers the rest of the way.
The Johnnies' two made field goals came in back-to-back possessions from junior wing
Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview), which made it 71-67 in favor of SJU with 3:35 left. Luke Harris made two free throws for Carleton and Jeremy Beckler took advantage of an SJU miscue to tie the game at 71-71 with 2:41 on the clock. Another bucket from Beckler gave the Knights their first lead of the game and two free throws from Beck Page made it 75-71 with 20 seconds left.
SJU was in the double-bonus with 5:55 remaining, but Carleton's lone defensive foul the rest of the game came with eight seconds left. Plombon made one of two, but Page missed both attempts from the charity stripe. Unfortunately for SJU, Alex Gibbens grabbed the Knights' 13th offensive rebound of the night and Beckler iced the game with two more free throws. Carleton scored 20 second-chance points off the 13 offensive boards in the game.
The Johnnies started the game hot, making 15 of their first 21 shots and their first seven from three point-range. SJU ended the first half by making just one of its last nine shots and took a 42-33 lead into halftime after holding a 16-point advantage (42-26) with 1:54 left. The end of the first half, however, did not come without controversy. SJU was whistled for a shooting foul with 0.4 left on the clock and Beckler made both free throws. On the in-bounds play, freshman guard
Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) took a smooth catch-and-shoot from three-quarters length of the court and made the shot, but the officials waved it off. The Johnnies finished at 55.2 percent (16-for-29) from the field in the first half, including 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) from long range.
The shooting percentage flipped, however, as the Knights shot exactly 16-for-29 in the second half to the Johnnies' 34.6 percent (9-for-26).
Thissen led SJU with 21 points, his seventh 20-point game of the season and 14th of his career, with a perfect 7-for-7 night from the free-throw line.
Plombon registered his third double-double of the season and sixth of his career – 14 points and 10 rebounds, while senior post
Carson Schoeller (Prior Lake, Minn.) was the other Johnnie in double digits with 10 points.
Johnson and junior guard
Brandon Adelman (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) both went 3-for-4 from behind the arc for nine points.
Beckler led all scorers with 31 points and Harris added 24. The rest of the Knights combined to shoot 32.1 percent (9-for-28) from the field.
HONORING JUBIE AT HALFTIME: SJU will honor its alumni and seniors prior to Saturday's tip-off, and Jubie Alade '20 at halftime. The 2019-20 MIAC Player of the Year, Alade led SJU in scoring (18.7 ppg.) and steals (37), while shooting 57 percent (167-for-293) from the field and 50 percent (39-for-78) from three-point range that season. His .892 free-throw percentage (132-for-148) was good for 11th in NCAA Division III, fourth among those with 125 attempts or more. He ended his career sixth in school history with 1,418 points and led SJU to a 27-2 record (19-1 MIAC), its ninth MIAC regular-season title, seventh MIAC Playoff championship and made its third-consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in 2019-20.
The Johnnies advanced to the third round (Sweet 16) of the NCAA Tournament, where they were scheduled to host St. Thomas, but the season abruptly ended with the NCAA's cancellation of all winter and spring championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. SJU ended the season ranked No. 2 nationally in the final D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
Alade was a member of five-man senior class that set program records for wins (92-20 record), winning percentage (.821), MIAC wins (68-12 record) and home wins (48-8 record) over their four seasons on the court.
WIN AND IN: The Johnnies are currently tied with Saint Mary's for third place in the MIAC standings and need one win over their final three regular-season games to clinch its 11th-straight trip (and 29th overall) to the MIAC Playoffs.
STAT COMPARISONS: SJU has the slight edge, leading in four of the six major statistical categories, over SMU.
Scoring Offense
4. SMU, 73.9 ppg. (75.8 overall)
5. SJU, 71.8 ppg. (71.1 overall)
Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 64.1 ppg. (64.6 overall)
3. SMU, 69.2 ppg. (70.1 overall)
Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .508 (.492 overall *No. 10 in Division III)
6. SMU, .458 (.462 overall)
Three-Point Percentage
1. SMU, .412 (.413 overall *No. 1 in Division III)
7. SJU, .352 (.347 overall)
Free-Throw Percentage
3. SJU, .777 (.768 overall *No. 13 in Division III)
4. SMU, .772 (.759 overall *No. 19 in Division III)
Rebounding
3. SJU, 33.5 rpg. (34.2 overall)
7. SMU, 32.5 rpg. (33.5 overall)
A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's (14-8, 10-7 MIAC) won its third-straight game, 75-67 over Augsburg, on Wednesday night (Feb. 8) in Winona. Neither team took control of the first half as the back-and-forth affair saw Augsburg take a 38-34 advantage into the break. The lead exchanged hands before the Cardinals took a 19-4 run over a seven-minute stretch to take a 14-point lead late en route to the eventual eight-point victory. Senior (6-foot-4) guard Raheem Anthony scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He leads all of NCAA Division III in field goals made (204) and points (543), and is second in points per game (24.7). Junior (6-foot-1) guard Owen Ziegler is fifth nationally in three-point percentage (.480) and three-pointers per game (3.32), and is sixth in total three-pointers made (73).
IN EARLY JANUARY: SJU saw its 29-game win streak over Saint Mary's end with a 69-57 loss last month (Jan. 7) in Winona. SMU shot 62.5 percent - both overall (15-for-24) and from three-point range (5-for-8) - to outscore the Johnnies by 21 (48-27) in the second half and held the visitors to two points over the final 4:16. SJU shot only 33.3 percent (8-for-24), including a 2-for-12 showing from behind the arc, after halftime and ended the game with what was a then-season-high 19 turnovers (the most since Nov. 16, 2018 at Wisconsin-Whitewater, 22). The Cardinals scored 20 points off the 19 SJU miscues, including 13 off the eight turnovers in the second half.
The Johnnies ended the first half with a 21-0 run over the final 9:43 to take a 30-21 lead into the break. The Cardinals started the second half with a 9-1 run but did not gain their first lead of the second half, 49-47, with 9:16 to play. SJU trailed by three (58-55) with 4:16 remaining, but the home team closed the game with an 11-2 run.
Schoeller led SJU with 16 points, thanks in large part to a 4-for-5 performance from behind the arc, and 11 rebounds for his second-consecutive double-double and fourth of his career. SJU was without Thissen due to illness.
Sophomore guard
Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) was the other Johnnie in double figures in scoring with 15 points. SJU entered the game 10th in NCAA Division III in shooting percentage (.501) and finished at 40.5 percent (17-for-42).
Anthony led the Cardinals with 32 points, including 23 in the second half, as well as 10 rebounds and five steals. SMU ended the game at 46.2 percent (24-for-52) overall and an even 50 percent (7-for-14) from long range.
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 94-22 against the Cardinals since the 1964-65 season, including a 57-1 record in Collegeville. SJU has won 54 straight at home (50-0 in the Warner Palaestra). The last time Saint Mary's defeated SJU in Collegeville occurred Jan. 31, 1968, when the Johnnies played in the Old Gym (Guild Hall).
