No. 12 Saint John's basketball opens the 2024-25 season by hosting Wisconsin-Oshkosh for a 5 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Nov. 9, in Sexton Arena. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video

WINTER CLOTHING DRIVE: Fans planning to attend this Saturday's Saint John's home football, basketball and wrestling competitions are asked to donate new or gently-used winter clothing items for families in need in the greater Central Minnesota community.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Experience and talent is in plentiful supply as the Saint John's University basketball team gets set to start the 2024-25 season.

The Johnnies return all five starters from a squad that finished 20-6 (18-2 MIAC) and won the MIAC regular-season title a year ago, including a trio of All-MIAC honorees in senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne), senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) and senior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.).

SJU finished as the NCAA Division III leader in shooting percentage (.516) and three-point percentage (.409) in 2023-24, and fourth in free-throw percentage (.804). The Johnnies are expected to return 87.6 percent (1,886 of 2,154) of their points scored, 82.4 percent (709 of 860) of their rebounds and 84.7 percent (4,406 of 5,200) of their minutes played from last season.

Berg, Thissen and another starter from last season, senior wing Connor Schwob (Waconia, Minn.), return thanks to the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last season's conference title was the 11th in program history and fourth in the last six seasons (no MIAC season in 2020-21). The 20-win season was also the Johnnies' 15th overall and fifth in the past eight seasons. Four of the Johnnies' six losses were decided by three points or less.

Head coach Pat McKenzie '04 begins his 10th season with a .767 winning percentage (174-53 record), which is good for 12th among all NCAA active head coaches; 131-33 in MIAC play (.799).

5th-Year Thissen
A two-time All-MIAC honoree, Thissen led the Johnnies in assists (53) and minutes played (26.3 mpg.), and was second in scoring (13.7 ppg.) last season. He became the 40th Johnnie in school history to eclipse 1,000 career points last December, and finished the season with 1,255, which is good for 15th on the all-time list. Off the court, Thissen is a two-time MIAC Elite 22 Award recipient who collected his second-consecutive Academic All-America honor from College Sports Communicators in 2024.

NCAA Leader Returns
Vaughn led Division III in three-point percentage (.490/76-for-155) and was ninth in free-throw percentage (.909/80-for-88) last season. He started all 26 games and led SJU in scoring (13.8 ppg.), three-pointers (76), three-point percentage (.490) and free-throw percentage (.909) overall. He enters his senior season third in SJU history in both three-pointers made (205) and attempted (477), and second in free-throw percentage (.885, 207-for-234). He needs 27 three-pointers to tie Patrick Strom '18 for second in school history and 18 points to become the 41st Johnnie in program history to reach 1,000 for a career.

Strong Finish for Berg
Berg finished second in the MIAC in shooting percentage (.645/98-for-152) and was 10th in blocked shots (0.6 bpg.) in conference play. One of two Johnnies to start all 26 games last season, Berg finished third in NCAA Division III in shooting percentage (.650), second on the team in blocked shots (15) and third in scoring (12.9 ppg.) in just 23.0 minutes per contest. He scored a career-high 28 points and was 9-for-11 shooting in the Johnnies' loss in the MIAC semifinals and averaged 18.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 24.0 minutes per game, while shooting 79.2 percent (38-for-48) from the field, over his final five contests.

More Guard Power
The Johnnies return three guards who played 25 games last season: seniors Luke Healy (Hudson, Wis.) and Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn. St. Croix Lutheran), and junior Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle). Longueville started 25 games and averaged 5.8 points in 18.3 minutes per contest. He finished second on the team in assists (50) and shot 52.5 percent (53-for-101) from the floor, including 45.6 percent (26-for-57) from behind the three-point arc. Johnson averaged 15.8 minutes in 25 games off the bench and finished fourth on the team in scoring (7.3 ppg.). Healy also appeared in 25 games and averaged 4.8 points per game with 45 assists, 14 steals and shot 56.2 percent (41-for-73) from the field.

Athletic Bigs
SJU returns four athletic wings that played the post position last season. Senior wing Connor Schwob (Waconia, Minn.) saw the court in 25 games, with 22 starts, and averaged 4.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per contest with a .688 shooting percentage (44-for-64). Senior Luke Budzyn (St. Paul, Minn./East Ridge) started the season's first four games before a hand injury held him out until January. He then returned to play 13 more games off the bench. He posted a .764 (42-for-55) shooting percentage with 5.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest. Senior Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) played all 26 games, with one start, and led SJU with 23 blocked shots last season. He shot 45 percent (50-for-111) from the field, including 39.3 percent (22-for-56) from long range, and averaged 5.6 points per game. Sophomore Vincent Hillesheim (Minneapolis, Minn./Hopkins) made 10 appearances off the bench as a freshman and totaled 19 points and 19 rebounds.

Home-Court Advantage
SJU once again led the MIAC in per-game attendance (944 avg.) and finished 12th in NCAA Division III in 2023-24. The Johnnies tout a 469-152 (.755) all-time record at Sexton Arena (Warner Palaestra), including a 72-11 (.867) mark over the last seven seasons.

New MIAC Format
The 2024-25 schedule will look a little different than past years, as the MIAC coaches and administrators approved a reduction in conference games from 20 to 16 as part of a four-year trial. This season, SJU will only play Gustavus Adolphus, Hamline, Macalester and Saint Mary's once (and the other six MIAC members twice).

The reduced conference schedule was announced in August and is intended to provide better scheduling flexibility for teams to add quality non-conference games to match the needs of their programs, while also allowing coaches to maintain increased autonomy over their schedules. Coaches and administrators will assess the philosophy midway through the four-year trial.

In addition, the MIAC games will be played in a doubleheader format. The men's games will be played first (5:30 p.m. on weeknights, 1 p.m. on weekends) followed by the women's games (7:30 p.m. on weeknights, 3 p.m. on weekends) for the first nine weeks of the 2024-25 season. The doubleheader order will flip on the 10th play date, with the women's games being played first followed by the men's game for the remainder of the season. 

The 2024-25 Schedule
Four of SJU's nine non-conference games will be played in two out-of-state tournaments. The Johnnies open the 2024-25 season by hosting Wisconsin-Oshkosh Nov. 9, then travel south to Iowa for road games at Central (Nov. 15) and Simpson (Nov. 16). 

SJU flies to Grand Rapids, Mich., for the Great Lakes Invitational Nov. 22-23 against a pair of NCAA Tournament teams from last season, Hope (Mich.) and the event's host, Calvin. Hope went 23-7 and ended the 2023-24 season in the NCAA's second round, while the host Knights reached the NCAA's Elite 8 with a 25-5 record.

The Johnnies return home to host Wisconsin-La Crosse the night before Thanksgiving (Nov. 27) and visit Minnesota-Morris Dec. 9. SJU wraps up the non-conference schedule Dec. 18-19 in Washington, D.C. The Cardinal and Blue face Marymount (Md.) in the opener and play another NCAA Tournament team, either host Catholic (D.C.) or Rowan (N.J.), the following day. Catholic tallied a 25-4 record and made it to the second round, while Rowan (N.J.) went 21-8 and advanced to the NCAA's Sweet 16.

The defending MIAC regular-season champions begin conference play with back-to-back home games against St. Olaf (Dec. 4) and Carleton (Dec. 7) before a Dec. 11 trek to Saint Mary's. Three of 2025's first four games are in Collegeville: Jan. 4 vs. Hamline, Jan. 8 vs. Bethel and Jan. 18 vs. St. Scholastica. The lone road game during that stretch is a Jan. 15 trip to Concordia. The Johnnies then play four-consecutive road games: Jan. 22 at Augsburg, Jan. 29 at St. Olaf, Feb. 1 at Carleton and Feb. 5 at St. Scholastica. 

SJU plays host to Concordia for Alumni/Senior Day Feb. 8 and Macalester Feb. 12 before traveling south Feb. 15 for a Saturday matinee at Gustavus, the reigning MIAC playoff champion. The Johnnies host Augsburg Feb. 19 and end the regular-season schedule Feb. 22 at Bethel.

The MIAC Playoffs begin with the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 25, followed by the MIAC semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 27. The MIAC championship game, as well as the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament, will be determined on Saturday, March 1. The high seed hosts in all three rounds.

PRESEASON POLL: SJU was ranked No. 12 in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25 poll released Oct. 23. The Johnnies received votes in six D3hoops.com polls in 2023-24 and was last ranked in the top 25 – at No. 25 – in the 2022-23 preseason poll.

A LOOK AT THE TITANS: Wisconsin-Oshkosh finished eighth in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 3-11 record (10-15 overall) last season and was picked to place sixth out of eight teams in this year's preseason coaches' poll. UWO returns sophomore (6-foot-5) guard Michael Metcalf-Grassman, who earned All-WIAC first-team honors and was named the conference's Newcomer of the Year in 2023-24. He played all 25 games (with 17 starts) and averaged 12.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest. Junior (6-foot-5) guard Carter Thomas started all 25 games and led the team with 49 three-pointers (.345) and sophomore (6-foot-8) forward Tristan Johanknecht averaged 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game.

THE LAST MEETING: Then-No. 17 Oshkosh handed Saint John's its first loss of the 2021-22 season – 89-55 – the last time these two teams met on Nov. 12, 2021, at Illinois Wesleyan's Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational in Bloomington, Ill.

The Titans shot 61.5 percent (40-for-65) from the field, including a scalding 75 percent (36-for-48) from inside the arc, and scored 17 points off 15 SJU turnovers.

SJU, meanwhile, shot 43.4 percent (23-for-53) from the floor and made only three of its 20 three-point attempts (15 percent) in the loss. The Johnnies missed their first nine shots from downtown until post Ethan Youso '24 drilled a trey from the top of the key with 14:07 left in the game.

Thissen was the lone Johnnie in double figures with 14 points. Post Zach Hanson '21 added eight points and four rebounds in 18 minutes, while guard Colton Codute '22 totaled seven points and three assists.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 1-3 all-time against Titans: 1-1 in Oshkosh, Wis.; 0-1 in Collegeville; and 0-1 at a neutral site.

-Dec. 2, 1989: L, 69-73 at Oshkosh, Wis.
-Nov. 22, 1997: L, 59-70 in Collegeville
-Nov. 28, 2009: W, 79-71 at Oshkosh, Wis.
-Nov. 12, 2021: L, 55-89 at Bloomington, Ill. (Illinois Wesleyan)