Box Score
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 12 Saint John's opened its 2024-25 basketball season with a 73-62 win over Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday, Nov. 9, in Sexton Arena.
NCAA Division III's leader in shooting percentage (.516) and three-point percentage (.409) last season, SJU (1-0 overall) shot 35.9 percent (23-for-64) from the field and 32.4 percent (11-for-34) from behind the arc in the opener. The Johnnies, however, out-rebounded Oshkosh (0-1 overall) by a 43-36 margin, including 10-5 on the offensive glass, and scored 20 points off 15 Titan turnovers. The home team also scored an 8-4 advantage in second-chance points.
Senior guard
Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) led the Johnnies with 25 points on a 6-for-12 showing from the floor, including 4-for-8 from three-point range, and added five rebounds in the win. The performance enabled Vaughn to become the 41st Johnnie in program history to reach 1,000 career points.
Senior wing
Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) followed with 21 points, his 21st game of 20 points or more, and passed Mitchell Kuck '16 for 14th in school history with 1,276 career points. Vaughn (9-10) and Thissen (4-4) combined to go 13-for-14 at the free-throw line.
Senior wing
Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) totaled 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals off the bench.
The Johnnies made five of their first six shot attempts to build an early 13-2 lead, but Oshkosh responded with a 12-2 run and scored the half's final six points to take a 33-30 deficit into halftime.
UWO opened the second half with an 8-2 advantage for its first lead of the game (38-35), but the Johnnies answered with a 12-0 run and led the rest of the way.
The Titans' Michael Metcalf-Grassman led all scorers with 28 points, on 10-for-21 shooting, and added 10 rebounds for a double-double. The visitors shot 40.4 percent (23-for-57) for the game, but just 21.1 percent (4-for-19) from long range.
The Johnnies travel south to Iowa next weekend for a pair of games, beginning with a 7 p.m. tip-off on Friday, Nov. 15, at Central. SJU then visits Simpson for a 6 p.m. game on Saturday, Nov. 16.
