Saint John's travels to face Hamline for a 3 p.m. tip-off this Saturday, Jan. 20, at Hutton Arena in St. Paul. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (13-3, 11-0 MIAC) extended its win streak to five games with an 84-59 victory at Saint Mary's on Wednesday night (Jan. 17) in Winona.
 
SJU led 25-21 with 6:18 left in the first half and proceeded to make five of its final eight shots, including an alley-oop dunk by junior post Luke Budzyn (St. Paul, Minn./East Ridge) with two seconds left, to close on a 15-5 run for a 40-26 halftime lead. The Johnnies shot 60 percent (15-for-25) from the field, including 50 percent (6-for-12) from three-point, in the game's first 20 minutes.
 
The shooting percentages cooled for both teams, but SJU made six more treys and went 12-for-13 at the free-throw line in the second half.
 
Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Thissen) led four Johnnies in double figures with 18 points. Junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) followed with 14 points, 12 of which came on a 4-for-5 performance from long range in the second half. 
 
Sophomore guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) totaled 12 points, all in the first half on a 4-for-6 showing from behind the arc, and senior post Connor Schwob (Waconia, Minn.) recorded his first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 17 minutes of play.
 
The Johnnies finished at 52.8 percent (28-for-53) for the game, including 48 percent (12-for-25) from three-point, and 16-for-19 from the charity stripe.
 
Cameron Mallory led all scorers with 19 points (8-for-16 shooting) for Saint Mary's (3-13, 2-9 MIAC) and Bruce Lockwood posted a double-double of 14 points (6-for-12) and 12 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. The rest of the team shot 29.3 percent (12-for-41) from the floor. The home team scored 13 second-chance points on 10 offensive boards.

THISSEN UP TO 23RD: The 18 points for Thissen enabled him to pass Joe Deignan '95 (1,113), Matt Ohme '07 (1,121) and John Eisenschenk '81 (1,129) into 23rd on SJU's all-time scoring list with 1,130 in his career. Josh Cherry '96 is just one point ahead of Thissen in 22nd (1,131) and Darrick Buettner '91 is 21st (1,136).

VAUGHN INTO FOURTH: The four treys pushed Vaughn past Deignan (172) into fourth in SJU history with 175 in his career. Larry Bassett '92 is third with 180.

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies lead the league in five of the six major statistical categories in conference play.

Scoring Offense
1. SJU, 86.0 ppg. (83.1 overall)
6. HAM, 73.2 ppg (72.9 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 65.3 ppg. (68.5 overall)
3. HAM, 68.7 ppg. (68.1 overall)

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .536 (.506 overall *No. 3 in Division III)
4. HAM, .468 (.458 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
1. SJU, .433 (.397 overall)
7. HAM, .345 (.330 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
1. SJU, .777 (.800 overall *No. 5 in Division III)
7. HAM, .691 (.712 overall)

Rebounding
4. SJU, 33.9 rpg. (34.1 overall)
8. HAM, 31.5 rpg. (32.4 overall)

NATIONAL STATS: As noted above, SJU is third in NCAA Division III in shooting percentage and fifth in free-throw percentage. The Johnnies are also ninth in fewest turnovers per game (10.3) and 10th in three-point percentage. Individually, Vaughn is fourth in three-point percentage at .500 (46-for-92). 

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (10-6, 8-3 MIAC) extended its win streak to five games with a 74-61 victory at Bethel on Wednesday (Jan. 17). Bethel got out to a hot start and took a 41-34 lead at halftime, but the Pipers responded by doubling the Royals' point total in the second half - 40-20 - for the 13-point victory. Junior (6-foot-3) guard Daniel McCarrell led the way with 17 points, while junior (6-foot-4) wing Bradley Cimperman scored 13. Junior (6-foot-6) forward Austin Holt finished with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Cimperman leads the Pipers with an average of 16.3 points per game this season, while Holt is nearly averaging a double-double with 13.8 points and 9.7 boards. 

BACK IN DECEMBER: SJU won its fourth-straight game in convincing fashion with an 80-60 victory over Hamline earlier this season (Dec. 2) in Sexton Arena. The Johnnies scored the game's first eight points and rode a 19-2 run to take a 44-20 lead at halftime. The home team shot 55.9 percent (19-for-34) from the field in the first 20 minutes and held Hamline to 26.7 percent (8-for-30), including 0-for-4 from behind the arc.
 
SJU opened the second half with a 10-2 run and never looked back as the Johnnies led by as much as 36 (67-31) with 10:03 remaining. Vaughn led all scorers with 17 points in 16 minutes of play.
 
Senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) followed with 13 points, four assists and four rebounds, while sophomore guard Chris Mitchell (Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) added a career-high 11 points off the bench. Thissen was the fourth Johnnie in double digits with 10 points. He also totaled five rebounds and three assists.
 
Twelve Johnnies scored a basket in the victory. SJU out-rebounded HU 42-29 and scored 16 fast-break points.
 
Sam Hoffman led the Pipers, who finished at 40 percent (24-for-60) from the floor thanks to a 53.3-percent showing (16-for-30) in the second half. Holt collected 13 points and 11 rebounds – eight points and nine boards in the second half – and Raoul Vaidya added 13 points off the bench. Cimperman, who entered the game averaging 27.5 points per game, finished with a career-low four on 1-for-8 shooting in 19 minutes.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 96-27 against the Pipers since 1964-65, including a 42-18 record in Hutton Arena. SJU has won 17 of the last 18 meetings overall and each of the last eight in St. Paul.