Saint John's basketball hits the road to face Macalester for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Jan. 27, in St. Paul. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (14-4, 12-1 MIAC) shot 62.7 percent (37-for-59) from the field and returned to the win column with a 102-90 victory over Carleton on Wednesday night (Jan. 24) in Sexton Arena.

The Johnnies made 66.7 percent (24-for-36) of their shots, including a 9-for-14 performance from three-point range, to build a 60-39 halftime lead. The Knights made each of their first six shots and led for the game's first 9:48 until SJU went on a 13-2 run – fueled by eight points from junior wing Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) off the bench – to gain a 35-25 lead with 7:09 left in the first half. The home team then proceeded to make nine of its final 13 shot attempts for the 21-point cushion at intermission.

Carleton scored the first six points of the second half and cut its deficit to as little as five (76-71) with 11:09 remaining thanks to a 15-5 run. A trio of free throws from junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) on the next possession put him on the scoreboard and extended the lead back to eight. Miles Frisch made it a six-point game for the Knights on the other end, but back-to-back buckets from senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) and junior guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) pushed the lead back to double digits and the Johnnies led by at least seven the rest of the way. SJU went a perfect 13-for-13 from the free-throw line in the second half and finished at 50 percent (12-for-24) from long range in the victory.

Longueville led five Johnnies in double figures with a career-high 19 points on an 8-for-10 night from the floor. He scored 12 points in the second half, eight of which came in the game's final 8:52. He also added four assists and three rebounds.

Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) added 17 points, six rebounds and four assists. Sophomore guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) and Rushin followed with 16 and 15 points, respectively, off the bench. The duo combined to go 7-for-10 from behind the arc. Berg was the other Johnnie in double digits with 11 points. SJU outrebounded Carleton 31-23 in the contest and scored 10 points off six turnovers, all in the first half.

Luke Harris led the Knights with a game-high 30 points with a 7-for-14 showing from the field and a 14-16 performance at the charity stripe. He also led the visitors with seven rebounds. Matt Banovetz followed with a career-high 25 points, thanks to a 6-for-10 night from three-point.

PLENTY OF POINTS: The 102 points were a series high for SJU against Carleton, which surpassed the previous high of 89 scored in an 89-76 win on Feb. 1, 1964, in the Old Gym. The 100-point game was the Johnnies' third this season, which are the most since the 2017-18 campaign when they also recorded three.

TIED FOR 18TH: Thissen's 17 points Wednesday night lifted him past Aaron Burtzel '11 (1,153) and Bill Christopherson '53 (1,164), and into a tie with Tom Melancon '68 for 18th on SJU's all-time scoring list with 1,166 for his career. Former teammate Zach Hanson '21 is 17th with 1,168 points.

ONE AWAY FROM THIRD: Vaughn is now one three-pointer from Larry Bassett '92 (180) in third on SJU's all-time list. After Bassett, Patrick Strom '18 is next in second with 232.

74 PERCENT: A pair of Johnnies, Longueville and senior post Connor Schwob (Waconia, Minn.), are having quite a start to 2024. Longueville is shooting 74.2 percent (23-for-31) from the field, including a sizzling 61.5 percent (8-for-13) from three-point range, with an average of 8.7 points per game through the first seven games (6-1 record) of the new year. He also leads the team with 23 assists and nine steals during the stretch. Schwob, meanwhile, is shooting 74.1 percent (20-for-27) with 6.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest, as well as eight steals and five blocks. 

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies lead the league in five of the six major statistical categories in conference play. Saturday's game pits not only the MIAC's top-two teams from the free-throw line, but also the league's top scoring offense and defense – SJU – against the worst scoring defense (MAC).

Scoring Offense
1. SJU, 86.2 ppg. (83.5 overall)
4. MAC, 77.5 ppg. (80.0 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 67.6 ppg. (70.5 overall)
11. MAC, 82.8 ppg. (81.9 overall)

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .538 (.509 overall *No. 1 in Division III)
6. MAC, .462 (.464 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
1. SJU, .438 (.398 overall *No. 7 in Division III)
4. MAC, .378 (.390 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
1. SJU, .793 (.807 overall *No. 4 in Division III)
2. MAC, .750 (.752 overall)

Rebounding
5. SJU, 33.1 rpg. (33.2 overall)
10. MAC, 30.5 rpg. (32.5 overall)

NATIONAL STATS: As noted above, SJU leads all of NCAA Division III shooting percentage (.509), is fourth in free-throw percentage (.807), seventh in three-point percentage (.398) and ninth in fewest turnovers per game (10.1). Individually, Vaughn is seventh in three-point percentage at .476 (50-for-106). Macalester enters Saturday's contest ranked fifth in three-pointers per game (11.3) and 12th in three-point percentage (.390).

A LOOK AT THE SCOTS: Macalester (9-9, 5-8 MIAC) won its second-straight game with a 92-88 victory at Concordia-Moorhead on Wednesday night (Jan. 24). Junior (6-foot-2) guard Caleb Williams led the Scots with a school-record 51 points behind a 20-for-28 showing from the field. Sophomore (6-foot-4) guard Eric Wentz added 16 points, while junior (6-foot-2) guard Coby Gold was the third Scot in double figures with 10 points. Williams leads the Scots on the season with an average of 20.6 points per game, while Gold is next at 15.2 with a team-leading 67 assists and 25 steals. 

EARLIER THIS SEASON: SJU cruised to its seventh-straight victory, 101-79 over Macalester earlier this season (Dec. 9) in Sexton Arena. The Johnnies broke open a 12-9 game with a 28-8 run over a span of 7:40 in the first half and took a 62-35 lead into the break. The home team made 10-consecutive field goals (4-for-4 from three-point range) during the final 4:30 of the scoring run. SJU shot 66.7 percent, both from the field (24-for-36) and three-point (10-for-15), in the first half.

SJU led by as much as 42 (98-56) with 7:20 to play and 13 different Johnnies scored a point or more. Johnson led six Johnnies in double figures with 15 points in a team-leading 18:24 played. He also added four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
 
Vaughn followed with 13 points and Rushin added 12 points off the bench. The Johnnies' bench out-scored Macalester by a 62-23 margin. Thissen totaled 11 points, four assists and three rebounds in 15:46, while junior guard Luke Healy (Hudson, Wis.) matched him with 11 points and collected a career-high five assists. Senior guard Brandon Adelman (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) was the sixth Johnnie in double digits with 10 points.
 
SJU finished at 58.5 percent (38-for-65) from the field and 48.1 percent (13-for-27) from behind the arch. The Johnnies out-rebounded the Scots 33-24 and produced 17 points off 11 turnovers.
 
Gold led all scorers with 22 points for Mac, which shot 53.6 percent (30-for-56) from the floor. Gold also registered six rebounds and five assists in 34:50 played. Williams (20.3 ppg. at the time) finished with 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting and three first-half turnovers.
  
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 90-29 against Macalester since the 1964-65 season, including a 41-18 record in St. Paul. SJU has won 35 of the last 37 meetings overall.