Saint John's basketball plays host to Carleton for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday, Jan. 24, in Collegeville. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (13-4, 11-1 MIAC) suffered its first conference loss of the season in the closing seconds, 74-73, at Hamline on Saturday (Jan. 20) in St. Paul.
 
Ahead by one (73-72) with 8.9 seconds remaining, SJU senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) was at the free-throw line in a one-and-one situation. The 81.6-percent (40-for-49) shooter at the charity stripe, however, missed the free throw - the Johnnies' first of the day (12-for-13) - and the Pipers grabbed the defensive rebound. HU's Bradley Cimperman then drew a foul against Berg, his fifth of the game, with two seconds left. Cimperman made both free throws – due to the double-bonus – for the go-ahead points and SJU's last-chance heave from the opposite baseline was deflected in the air near mid-court and the clock ran out.
 
A deep three-pointer from junior guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) gave the Johnnies a two-point lead (71-69) with 2:41 left. HU's Austin Holt made one of his two free-throw attempts on the ensuing possession and both teams were scoreless for over a minute before Berg made a shot in the paint to increase the visitors' lead to 73-70 at the 1:02 mark. Cimperman cut the Pipers' deficit to one with a basket on the next possession and SJU escaped a shot-clock violation when HU was whistled for a defensive foul with 10 seconds remaining (three seconds left on the shot clock). The foul, however, was just the Pipers' sixth of the half (to SJU's 10). Another whistle on the in-bounds pass sent Berg to the line.
 
SJU started the game with a 12-2 run, but HU answered with an 11-2 run of its own and the teams exchanged the lead seven times in the first half. The Pipers took a 41-37 lead into halftime thanks to a 59.3-percent (16-for-27) showing from the field – to the Johnnies' 48 percent (12-for-25) – and a 24-10 scoring advantage in the paint.
 
Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) led four Johnnies in double figures with 19 points on just 7-for-21 shooting. 
 
Berg followed with 15 points and junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) totaled 11. Senior post Connor Schwob (Waconia, Minn.) filled the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Longueville added eight points, six boards and four assists.
 
Holt scored a game-high 24 points and completed the double-double with 13 rebounds. He more than doubled his season average of 23.3 percent (7-for-30) from behind the arc by going 2-for-4 on the afternoon.
 
HU edged SJU on the glass, 26-25, though the Johnnies scored 17 points off 12 turnovers. SJU's 13 free-throw attempts were seven below its season average.

THISSEN CONTINUES TO CLIMB: Thissen's 19 points enabled him to pass Josh Cherry '96 (1,131) and Darrick Buettner '91 (1,136) into 21st on SJU's all-time scoring list with 1,149 career points. Aaron Burtzel '11 is 20th (1,153). A 20-point game would also vault Thissen past Bill Christopherson '53 (1,164), Tom Melancon '68 (1,166) and former teammate Zach Hanson '21 (1,168) into 17th.

TWO AWAY FROM THIRD: Vaughn's trio of three-pointers on Saturday inched him closer to third place on SJU's all-time list with 178, two behind Larry Bassett '92 (180) in third. 

HOME COOKING: SJU is 5-0 at home so far this season with a .570 shooting percentage, including 44.7 percent (51-for-114) from three-point land. The Johnnies have outscored the opposition by nearly 26 points (91.2-65.4) and 10 student-athletes have made 57 percent of their shots on the home court (eight average seven points or more). 

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

Scoring Offense
1. SJU, 85.0 ppg. (82.4 overall)
3. CAR, 77.5 ppg. (75.9 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 65.9 ppg. (69.4 overall)
5. CAR, 72.1 ppg. (72.1 overall)

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .531 (.502 overall *No. 3 in Division III)
6. CAR, .458 (.435 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
1. SJU, .432 (.392 overall *No. 10 in Division III)
6. CAR, .352 (.328 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
1. SJU, .786 (.802 overall *No. 6 in Division III)
4. CAR, .730 (.747 overall)

Rebounding
2. CAR, 36.3 rpg. (36.1 overall)
5. SJU, 33.2 rpg. (33.3 overall)

NATIONAL STATS: As noted above, SJU is currently third in NCAA Division III in shooting percentage, sixth in free-throw percentage, ninth in fewest turnovers per game (10.2) and 10th in three-point percentage. Individually, Vaughn is third in three-point percentage at .496 (49-for-99).

A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Carleton (10-6, 7-4 MIAC) won its third-straight game with a 78-66 victory at home over Gustavus Adolphus last Wednesday (Jan. 17). The Knights shot 49.1 percent from the field, despite a 3-for-16 showing from three-point range, thanks to 48 points in the paint. Four Knights scored in double digits, led by junior (6-foot-1) guard Luke Harris with 19 points. Freshman (6-foot-5) forward Sam Koelling scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while senior (6-foot-7) forward Matt Banovetz added 16 points and seven boards. Junior (6-foot-3) forward Spencer Goetz just missed a double-double with 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Harris leads the Knights in scoring (21.4 ppg.), assists (52) and steals (32), while Banovetz is averaging 15.4 points and a team-best 7.1 rebounds per contest. Harris is is fourth in Division III in free-throw attempts (148) and fifth in made free throws (112, .757).

TWO MONTHS AGO: Junior guard Luke Healy (Hudson, Wis.) scored what proved to be the game-winning basket with 4.4 seconds remaining to give Saint John's a 74-72 win at Carleton to open the MIAC schedule earlier this season (Nov. 21) in Northfield.
 
Healy caught the inbounds pass under the hoop and dribbled the length of the court for a left-handed layup with 4.4 seconds to play. Miles Frisch's three-point attempt for Carleton, from the top of the arc at the horn, hit off the right iron for the win.
 
Down 37-29 at halftime, SJU opened the second half with a 17-4 run and built a 10-point lead – 69-59 – with 2:57 to play. The Knights, however, answered with a 13-3 run before Healy's go-ahead basket.
 
A trio of missed free throws and a pair of big shots from Carleton tied the game late. Ahead 71-67 with 42 seconds, Healy made one of his two free throws before Banovetz nailed a three-pointer to cut the home team's deficit to 72-70 with 23 ticks on the clock. Thissen missed both of his free throws with 22.2 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, Luke Harris spun in the paint and tied the game with 10.8 seconds left.
 
Berg led five Johnnies in double digits for points with 16. He also added three rebounds, three assists and two blocks before he fouled out with 44 seconds remaining.
 
Thissen followed with 13 points, all of which came in the second half, and five rebounds. Healy finished with 11 points off the bench, while senior guard Brandon Adelman (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) and Vaughn added two treys and 10 points apiece. A three-pointer from Adelman gave SJU its first lead of the game – 42-41 – 5:18 into the second half.
 
Harris led all scorers with 31 points for Carleton. He went 17-for-20 at the free-throw line – the rest of the team was 4-for-4 – and added six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
 
The Knights out-rebounded SJU by a 39-30 margin, including 12-6 on the offensive glass, though second-chance points were even at 9-9.
 
SJU shot 48.5 percent (16-for-33) from the field in the second half – to the Knights' 31-percent (9-for-29) output – to finish at 45.6 percent (26-for-57).

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 50-36 against Carleton since the 1964-65 season, including a 30-12 record in Collegeville. The Johnnies have won nine of the last 11 meetings in Sexton Arena.