Saint John's basketball travels to Bethel for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 18, in Arden Hills. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (15-9, 12-7 MIAC) inched closer to the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in next week's six-team MIAC Playoffs with a 69-67 win over Macalester on Wednesday night (Feb. 15) in Sexton Arena.
  
The Johnnies trailed Mac by one (66-65) with 1:37 remaining, but sophomore guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) 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).
 
Macalester's Caleb 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). Junior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) 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. He entered the game as a career 87.2-percent free-throw shooter (90.9 percent this season).

Williams' potential game-tying shot from roughly eight feet was blocked by Berg and senior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) grabbed the board to seal the win.
 
Junior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) 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. SJU entered the night fourth in NCAA Division III in shooting percentage (.500). 
 
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.

HAVING THE SCOTS' NUMBER: SJU has now won 32 of the last 34 meetings against the Scots in Sexton Arena and holds an 89-30 record in the series since the 1964-65 season (48-11 record in Collegeville).

PLAYOFF PICTURE: SJU can clinch the No. 2 seed three different ways this Saturday, Feb. 18: a win in the regular-season finale at Bethel (9-15, 7-12 MIAC), a Macalester (15-9, 11-8 MIAC) win at Augsburg, or a Saint Mary's (15-9, 11-8 MIAC) home loss to Gustavus Adolphus. The Johnnies own the head-to-head tie-breaker over Macalester and in the event of a three-way tie with Mac and SMU, but not in a direct tie with the Cardinals due to their win over Carleton on Dec. 3.

STAT COMPARISONS: SJU leads BU in six of the seven main statistical categories. The Johnnies lead the conference in scoring defense, shooting percentage and shooting percentage defense. 

Scoring Offense
2. BU, 76.1 ppg. (74.5 overall)
5. SJU, 72.6 ppg. (71.8 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 63.9 ppg. (64.4 overall)
11. BU, 78.7 ppg. (79.1 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Offense
1. SJU, .512 (.497 overall *No. 5 in Division III)
4. BU, .472 (.455 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Defense
1. SJU, .411 (.414 overall)
11. BU, .486 (.486 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
6. SJU, .348 (.344 overall)
7. BU, .344 (.337 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
3. SJU, .780 (.771 overall *No. 12 in Division III)
6. BU, .713 (.719 overall)

Rebounding
3. SJU, 33.7 rpg. (34.2 overall)
7. BU, 32.3 rpg. (32.1 overall)

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel's (9-15, 7-12 MIAC) third-straight loss – 83-67 at home to Saint Mary's on Wednesday (Feb. 15) – official eliminated the Royals from the MIAC Playoffs. SMU got out to a quick 7-0 run and held the lead for the entire first half, going into the half up 40-37. The Cardinals would grow the lead in the second half as they shot 54.8 percent from the field compared to the Royals 32.4 percent. Senior (6 foot 0) guard Tommy Jensen led the Royals with 14 points. Senior (6-foot-0) guard Tommy Jensen led five Royals in double figures with 14 points off the bench. BU shot 40 percent (26-for-65) from the field and 28.1 percent (9-for-32) from three-point range in the defeat. The Cardinals, meanwhile, poured it in at a 54.2-percent (32-for-59) clip and 48 percent (12-from-25) from long range. Junior (6-foot-7) forward Zach Doely leads the team in scoring (18.7 ppg.), rebounding (9.2 rpg.) and shooting percentage (.634).

LAST MONTH: SJU shot 62.7 percent (37-for-59) from the field, including a blistering 67.7 percent (21-for-31) in the second half, in an 83-69 victory over Bethel a month ago (Jan. 14) in Collegeville. SJU scored 64 of its 83 points in the paint – a 64-34 margin - and 11 Johnnies registered a point in the win.
 
The Royals made their first four shots of the game to gain a quick 10-5 lead, but made 38.5 percent (10-for-26) the rest of the period. BU kept it close, however, despite SJU's .571 shooting percentage (16-for-28) in the first half. The visitors held slim scoring margins off turnovers (5-2) and second-chance points (3-0), and Joey Kidder drained a three-pointer just before the shot clock expired to cut the deficit to 34-33 at the break. Kidder ended the first half with 15 points and led BU with 21 for the game.
 
The Johnnies opened the second half with a 7-1 run and built a double-digit lead for good with a 9-0 advantage halfway through the frame.
 
Plombon led all scorers with 22 points and fell one rebound shy of his third-straight double-double. Fourteen of his 22 points came in the second half. The 20-point game was his second-consecutive, third of the season and fourth of his career.
 
Berg added 14 points, including 11 after halftime, and five assists, while Thissen returned to the lineup after missing the first two games of 2023 due to illness and tallied 14 points and five boards.
 
Senior post Carson Schoeller (Prior Lake, Minn.) also returned to the court after sitting out the previous game (the overtime win over Concordia) and posted eight points in 13 minutes off the bench. 
 
The Johnnies totaled 20 assists on the 37 made field goals, led by sophomore guard Zach Longueville's (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) six. 

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 64-30 against BU since the 1964-65 season, but just 22-21 in Arden Hills (3-7 in the last 10 trips). The Johnnies have won 12 of the last 17 meetings overall. Saturday's game is the first for the Johnnies in the Robertson Center since 2020.