No. 21 Saint John's returns to conference action with a 5:30 p.m. game at Saint Mary's on Wednesday, Dec. 11, in Winona. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (7-2, 2-0 MIAC) doubled up Minnesota-Morris on the scoreboard by a 48-24 margin in the second half en route to an 87-60 road win last night (Dec. 9).

The Johnnies opened the second half with a 22-6 run thanks to a 9-for-13 shooting performance that featured a 4-for-7 output from three-point range. SJU made 51.4 percent (18-for-35) of its shots in the second half with a 7-for-15 showing (46.7 percent) from behind the arc to finish at 45.5 percent (30-for-66) for the game.

Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) led all scorers with 22 points – his third-consecutive 20-point game – on an 8-for-13 night from the floor and collected seven rebounds with three steals in 25 minutes of play. 

Senior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) was the other Johnnie in double figures with 14 points on a 4-for-8 performance from three-point land. 

Senior guards Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) and Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) added nine points apiece. Longueville dished out six assists and went 3-for-3 from three-point, while Berg added four assists. The Johnnies recorded 20 assists on the 30 made field goals and scored 14 points off 13 Minnesota-Morris turnovers.

The visitors started the game 5-for-10 from three-point and built a 12-point lead (29-17) with 9:40 left in the first half, but went 8:31 between made field goals – going 0-for-11 (0-for-7 from three-point) – as the Cougars went on a 14-2 run to cut their deficit to just one (32-31). The Johnnies' lone made field goal was a traditional three-point play from Thissen with 1:08 left as SJU went 8-for-9 from the charity stripe during that span for a 39-36 halftime lead.

Pal Dak led UMM, which shot 33.3 percent (9-for-27) overall and 1-for-10 from three-point in the second half, with 16 points.

CLIMBING THE LISTS: Last night's 22 points enabled Thissen to pass Bernie Kukar '62 (1,389) for ninth in program history with 1,402 in his career, four behind Norb Kowalkowski '59 in eighth (1,406). Vaughn's 14 points, meanwhile, lifted him past Larry Bassett '92 (1,072), Tim Muller '71 (1,079) and Eric Kohorst '93 (1,080) for 30th on SJU's all-time scoring list with 1,085 for his career.

UP TO NO. 21: The Johnnies climbed two spots to No. 21 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll released prior to last night's tip-off in Morris.

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring Offense
-SMU, 76.1 ppg.
-SJU, 73.6 ppg.

Scoring Defense
-SJU, 62.1 ppg. (No. 20 in Division III)
-SMU, 81.3 ppg.

Shooting Percentage – Offense
-SMU, .434 
-SJU, .431

Shooting Percentage – Defense
-SJU, .384
-SMU, .485

Three-Point Percentage – Offense
-SMU, .357/71-for-199
-SJU, .332/78-for-235

Three-Point Percentage – Defense
-SJU, .246/44-for-179 (No. 14 in Division III)
-SMU, .379/77-for-203

Free-Throw Percentage
-SJU, .809/110-for-136 (No. 4 in Division III)
-SMU, .682/88-for-129

Rebounding
-SJU, 39.1 rpg.
-SMU, 32.0 rpg.

Turnovers
-SJU, 9.6 tpg. (No. 12 in Division III)
-SMU, 10.9 tpg.

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's (3-5, 0-1 MIAC) dropped a 77-66 decision on Saturday (Dec. 7) at St. Scholastica for its MIAC opener. The Cardinals had four players in double figures but shot only 36.4 percent (24-for-66) from the field and 28 percent (7-for-25) from three-point in the loss. Senior (6-foot-3) guard Jemari Moore led the way with 18 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore (6-foot-2) guard Bailey McDonald added 14 points and four steals off the bench. Senior (5-foot-11) guard Jabari Sawyer followed with 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists (to five turnovers), and fifth-year (6-foot-1) guard Owen Ziegler totaled 12 points on 4-for-10 shooting from behind the arc. An All-MIAC honorable mention selection last season, senior (6-foot-4) guard Breyton Buysman averaged 22.5 points and nine rebounds through the team's first two games – both wins – but has not been on the court since.

LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS: SJU swept the regular-season series vs. SMU for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons in 2023-24. 

at Saint John's 90, Saint Mary's 64 (Nov. 29, 2023)
SJU shot 63.8 percent (37-for-58) from the field, including 50 percent (12-for-24) from three-point range, en route to the win. The Johnnies made six of their final seven field-goal attempts in the first half and closed on a 12-2 run to take a 43-31 lead into the break. The home team then proceeded to shoot 71.4 percent (20-for-28) in the second half, including 55.6 percent (5-for-9) from behind the arc, and led by as much as 31.

Longueville led four Johnnies in double figures with 14 points thanks to a 4-for-5 showing from long range. Thirteen of the 17 Johnnies who saw the court scored a basket in the victory.

Berg followed with 13 points, on 6-for-7 shooting, and senior wing Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) added 11 points – all in the first half – and a team-best six rebounds with a career-high three blocks. Vaughn was the fourth Johnnie in double digits with 10 points.

Cameron Mallory led Saint Mary's with 13 points and eight boards. The visitors were whistled for five fouls in the game (one in the first half) and shot 41.3 percent (26-for-63) from the floor, but just 18.8 percent (3-for-16) from behind the arc. 

SJU out-rebounded SMU by a 36-25 margin, though the Cardinals tallied 17 points off 13 turnovers and posted a 10-5 edge in second-chance points.

Saint John's 84, at Saint Mary's 59 (Jan. 17, 2024)
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 senior 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.

Thissen led four Johnnies in double digits with 18 points and Vaughn followed with 14 points, 12 of which came on a 4-for-5 performance from long range in the second half. 

Junior 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.

Mallory led all scorers with 19 points (8-for-16 shooting) for SMU 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.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 97-22 against the Cardinals since the 1964-65 season, including a 33-21 record in Winona, and have won 32 of the last 33 meetings overall.