No. 23 Saint John's begins the MIAC schedule by hosting St. Olaf at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, in Sexton Arena. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video

5 P.M. START ON SATURDAY: Saturday's home game vs. Carleton was originally scheduled for a 1 p.m. tip-off but has been pushed back to a 5 p.m. start due to SJU football's NCAA playoff game at noon.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (4-2 overall) went cold in the game's final 5:30 in an 80-71 loss to No. 21 Wisconsin-La Crosse last Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 27) in Collegeville.

A tip-in from senior wing Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) gave the Johnnies a one-point lead – 64-63 – with 5:31 remaining, but the home team proceeded to make only two of its final 13 shot attempts, including a 1-for-8 showing from three-point range.

SJU finished at 40.6 percent (28-for-69) from the field, including 29.6 percent (8-for-27) from behind the arc, in the game. The Eagles did not fare much better from long range, finishing at 21.7 percent (5-for-23), but made 53.3 percent (24-for-45) of their shots inside the arc and went 17-for-20 at the free-throw line. The Johnnies attempted only eight shots (7-for-8) at the charity stripe and the visitors totaled 14 points off 11 SJU turnovers.

The game was the Johnnies' third in five days against a nationally ranked opponent.

Senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) slammed home a put-back to tie SJU's largest lead of the game – six (49-43) – with 16:07 left in the second half. The Johnnies, however, were whistled for a technical foul and UWL turned the call into a four-point play thanks to two made free throws and a basket on its offensive possession. The momentum swing eventually led to a 12-4 run for the Eagles.

Four of the team's six free-throw attempts in the second half came in the final 6:07 – a traditional three-point play from Berg at the 6:07 mark and a 2-for-3 showing from senior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) with 1:16 to play. Vaughn's free throws made it a three-point game – 72-69 – but UWL scored eight of the game's final 10 points.

Berg led the Johnnies with 17 points and two blocks before fouling out with 29 seconds left. Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) followed with 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Rushin added 12 points and six rebounds off the bench, while Longueville was the fourth Johnnie in double figures with 11 points.

SJU shot an even 50 percent, both overall (16-for-32) and from three-point (7-for-14), and closed the first half with a 9-4 run to take a 41-37 lead into the locker room.

Sam Grieger led all scorers with 21 points, including 15 on 7-for-11 shooting (6-for-7 inside the arc), in the second half. JJ Paider totaled 16 points and 12 rebounds.

MIAC OPENERS: The Johnnies are 38-11 in the first MIAC game of the season since 1975-76, including a 26-3 record in Collegeville. SJU is 6-2 – 3-1 in Collegeville and 3-1 in Northfield – against St. Olaf in the first conference game during that span. The Oles, however, have won the last two: Dec. 4, 2010 in Collegeville (72-64) and Nov. 19, 2022 in Northfield (73-62).

NEW POLL: SJU fell eight spots to No. 23 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll released yesterday (Dec. 2). The poll's top three remained unchanged from last week's rankings: Trine (Ind.), Washington (Mo.) and Emory (Ga.). Three from NCAA's Region 9 - Wisconsin-Platteville (No. 6), Wisconsin-La Crosse (No. 14) and SJU (No. 23) - were listed in the top 25. Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Illinois College and Wisconsin-Oshkosh received votes.

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring Offense
-SJU, 71.3 ppg.
-STO, 58.6 ppg.

Scoring Defense
-SJU, 62.2 ppg.
-STO, .73.3 ppg.

Shooting Percentage – Offense
-STO, .416
-SJU, .410

Shooting Percentage – Defense
-SJU, .370
-STO, .494

Three-Point Percentage – Offense
-SJU, .313
-STO, .271

Three-Point Percentage – Defense
-SJU, .213 (No. 5 in Division III)
-STO, .381

Free-Throw Percentage
-SJU, .815 (No. 8 in Division III)
-STO, .687

Rebounding
-SJU, 39.8 rpg.
-STO, 28.4 rpg.

Turnovers
-SJU, 9.0 tpg. (No. 7 in Division III)
-STO, 13.9 tpg.

A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf (1-7 overall) suffered its seventh-straight loss – since its 61-56 season-opening win over Wisconsin-Stout on Nov. 8 – with a 72-50 defeat on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 1) at Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Junior (6-foot-4) guard Kobe Kirk was the lone Ole in double figures with 14 points. Kirk leads the team in scoring (18.5 ppg.) and is 14th in NCAA Division III in field-goal attempts (123) and 19th in made field goals (58). Sophomore (6-foot-6) forward Jachin Mertes (6.8 ppg., 4.4 rpg.) and freshman (6-foot-6) forward AJ Uhl (5.3 ppg., 4.6 rpg.) are next behind Kirk on the stat sheet.

LAST SEASON: SJU swept 2023-24's regular-season series.

Saint John's 89, at St. Olaf 74 (Jan. 3)
The Johnnies shot 70.4 percent (19-for-27) from the field in the first half, including 50 percent (5-for-10) from three-point range, to take a 49-31 lead into the break. Down 14-12 6:33 into the game, SJU went on a 12-0 run and started a 12-2 advantage two minutes later to go up 38-20 with 4:55 before halftime.

The cylinder cooled in the second half as SJU went 0-for-6 from long range and finished at 54.8 percent (34-for-62) overall for the game. The visitors scored 26 points off 15 St. Olaf turnovers and led by as much as 22 (79-57) with 6:24 remaining.

Vaughn played only 12 minutes and led SJU with 15 points, including 13 in the first half, on 6-for-7 shooting. He made three treys, all in the first half with one at the horn.

Thissen added 12 points, four assists and two steals, while junior guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) totaled 11 points off the bench and Berg was the fourth Johnnie in double figures with 10, including two thunderous dunks in the first half.

Senior wing Connor Schwob (Waconia, Minn.) fell a basket shy of his first collegiate double-double with a career-high eight points and 11 rebounds.

Kirk led all scorers with 21 points for the Oles, who finished at 43.4 percent (26-for-60) from the field.

at Saint John's 89, St. Olaf 69 (Feb. 7)
SJU locked up the MIAC regular-season championship outright and the top seed in the MIAC Playoffs with an 89-69 win over St. Olaf the last time these two teams met on Feb. 7 in Sexton Arena. The Johnnies held St. Olaf without a field goal for the game's first 7:11 and shot 59.3 percent (16-for-27) from the field, including 13-for-17 (76.5 percent) inside the three-point arc, to build a 45-25 halftime lead.

SJU led by as much as 38 (85-47) with 7:51 remaining in the game before the Johnnies' top-11 (in terms of minutes) left the game for good.

Thirteen Johnnies scored a point or more, led by guard Brandon Adelman '24 with 17 off the bench on 7-for-11 shooting. He also added four rebounds and three assists.

Rushin followed with a career-high 16 points and five rebounds, also off the bench, and Berg was the third Johnnie in double digits with 15 points on a perfect 6-for-6 night from the field in just 12 minutes of play. SJU outscored STO 54-17 in bench points, 21-8 on the fast break and 17-13 off turnovers.

Kirk, the reigning MIAC Men's Basketball Offensive Player of the Week at the time, led the Oles with 23 points.

SJU finished at 53.3 percent (32-for-60) for the game, to the Oles' 38.6 percent (22-for-57), and posted a 41-25 advantage on the glass.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 76-36 against the Oles since the 1964-65 season, including a 48-9 record in Collegeville. SJU has won 11 of the last 13 meetings overall (14 of the last 17) and each of the last 10 in Sexton Arena.