Saint John's basketball hosts Macalester for its final home game of the regular season at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, in Collegeville. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (14-9, 11-7 MIAC) clinched its 29th appearance in the MIAC Playoffs (est. 1984-85) and 11th consecutive with a 90-58 win over Saint Mary's this past Saturday (Feb. 11) in Collegeville. The Johnnies shot 67.2 percent (39-for-58) in the victory, including a 32-for-39 performance (82.1 percent) inside the three-point arc. 

SJU honored its six seniors (four student-athletes and two managers) prior to Saturday's tip-off and the 2019-20 MIAC Player of the Year, Jubie Alade '20, at halftime.

SJU shot 66.7 percent (18-for-27) in the first half – 17-for-20 inside the arc – to take a 38-30 lead into halftime. The lead fluctuated for the second half's first seven minutes but was still eight (52-44) with 12:26 remaining. The Johnnies, however, erupted with a 28-2 run – including 17 straight points over a 4:02 span – to build a 30-point margin the rest of the way.

Junior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) led all scorers with 20 points – one of five Johnnies in double figures – on a perfect 10-for-10 showing from the field. Junior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) followed with 14 points, including eight of the team's first 12, and a career-high six assists. Sophomore guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) recorded 11 points and five rebounds and two Johnnies – senior post Carson Schoeller (Prior Lake, Minn.) and junior guard Brandon Adelman (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) – added 10 points apiece off the bench. Schoeller fell one rebound shy of a double-double.

Raheem Anthony led SMU, which finished at 35.2 percent (19-for-54) for the game, with 17 points on 4-for-10 shooting. He entered the game as the NCAA Division III leader in made field goals (204) and points (543), and was second in points per game (24.7).

SJU scored a season-high 21 points off 12 Cardinal turnovers and posted a 34-24 advantage on the glass. 

POINTS & PERCENTAGES: Saturday's 90 points scored were a season high and the most for SJU since Jan. 20, 2020 (a 90-60 home win over Macalester). The .672 shooting percentage was also the program's best since Nov. 28, 2018 (.694 in a 90-55 home victory over Bethel).

HOME STREAK CONTINUES: With Saturday's win, SJU improved to 95-22 against the Cardinals since the 1964-65 season, including a 58-1 record in Collegeville. SJU has now won 55 straight at home (51-0 in the Warner Palaestra) in the series. 

PERFECT DAY: Thissen's 10-for-10 performance was SJU's best since Lucas Walford '20 went 10-for-10 from the floor on Dec. 21, 2019, at Willamette (Ore.), though Chris Neumann '13 recorded one more shot (11-for-11) on Jan. 9, 2013, against Concordia-Moorhead.

STAT COMPARISONS: SJU currently leads the MIAC in scoring defense and shooting percentage, both offense and defense, in conference play.

Scoring Offense
5. SJU, 72.8 ppg. (71.9 overall)
9. MAC, 70.3 ppg. (70.9 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 63.8 ppg. (64.3 overall)
3. MAC, 69.5 ppg. (68.2 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Offense
1. SJU, .517 (.500 overall *No. 4 in Division III)
9. MAC, .433 (.426 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Defense
1. SJU, .409 (.412 overall)
2. MAC, .438 (.422 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
4. MAC, .367 (.346 overall)
5. SJU, .353 (.348 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
3. SJU, .772 (.765 overall *No. 14 in Division III)
9. MAC, .681 (.679 overall)

Rebounding
t3. SJU, 33.6 rpg. (34.2 overall)
t3. MAC, 33.6 (35.5 overall)

A LOOK AT THE SCOTS: Macalester (15-8, 11-7 MIAC) ended a three-game homestand with a 74-70 loss to first-place Carleton on Saturday (Feb. 11) in St. Paul. Carleton broke open a 54-54 tie with eight-straight points to gain a 62-54 lead with 5:47 remaining. The Scots pulled to within three points twice over the next five minutes before a pair of free throws from Carleton's Jeremy Beckler gave the visitors a 70-65 lead with 22 seconds left. On the next possession, Beckler fouled junior (6-foot-2) guard Caleb Williams as he was shooting a three-pointer, then received a technical foul, giving Macalester five free-throw attempts with 15 seconds to play. The Scots made four of the five, including three by Williams, to make it a one-point game, 70-69. Beckler was fouled and made two free throws, then Williams went to the line, making 1-of-2 to cut the deficit to 72-70. The Knights made two more free throws and a desperation three-pointer was off the mark to end the game.

Macalester shot 36.8 percent from field in the game and went only 64.1 percent (11-for-17) from the charity stripe in the second half. Williams tallied a team-leading 28 points to go with seven rebounds and three steals. He leads the team in scoring (21.3 ppg.) and takes the court Wednesday needing two points to reach 1,000 points for his career. Sophomore (6-foot-7) forward Badou Ba touts 8.6 points and 8.1 points per game, while leading the MIAC with 56 blocked shots.

BACK IN DECEMBER: SJU held Macalester to 14 points in the second half, including four over the game's final 12:34, in a 75-50 road win back on Dec. 7 in St. Paul. 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 senior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) 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.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 88-30 against Macalester since the 1964-65 season, including a 47-11 record in Collegeville. SJU has won 31 of the last 33 meetings in Sexton Arena and 33 of the last 35 overall.