No. 23 Saint John's visits Minnesota-Morris for a 5:30 p.m. non-conference game on Monday, Dec. 9. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (6-2, 2-0 MIAC) ended the game with an 18-8 run over the final 8:15 to defeat Carleton 72-66 yesterday (Dec. 7) in Sexton Arena.

A layup from Luke Harris gave Carleton a four-point lead (58-54) with 8:16 to play before senior guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) drilled a three-pointer on the other end of the court and Harris answered with another bucket with 6:45 on the clock for a 60-57 advantage. Harris finished with 32 points on 11-for-22 shooting, as well as five rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Knights. 

Longueville started a 10-0 run for SJU with a layup on the ensuing possession and recorded two-consecutive steals that the home team turned into four more points. Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) made his third trey of the game to give SJU a 67-60 lead with 3:11 remaining. 

The Knights, however, responded with a 5-0 run capped by a three-pointer from Harris to cut Carleton's deficit to five (67-65). Thissen answered with a drive to the basket and the visitors missed their final three shot attempts of the game. A sprawling effort for an offensive rebound by senior wing Connor Schwob (Waconia, Minn.) led to a foul and two free throws from senior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) with 14 seconds left that virtually sealed the victory.

Thissen led the Johnnies with 22 points for his second-straight, 20-point game. He finished 8-for-12 from the floor, including a 3-for-4 performance from behind the arc, and grabbed eight rebounds in 35:56 played.

Senior guard Luke Healy (Hudson, Wis.) added 12 points off the bench and Longueville chipped in 10 (eight in the second half). SJU scored 16 points off seven Carleton turnovers and the home team outscored the Knights 25-6 in bench points.

Senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) scored only four points, but filled the stat sheet with a career-high seven assists, three blocks and three rebounds.

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring Offense
-SJU, 71.9 ppg.
-UMM, 71.3 ppg.

Scoring Defense
-SJU, 62.4 ppg. (No. 20 in Division III)
-UMM, 76.9 ppg.

Shooting Percentage – Offense
-SJU, .428
-UMM, .395

Shooting Percentage – Defense
-SJU, .386
-UMM, .432

Three-Point Percentage – Offense
-SJU, .323/65-for-201
-UMM, .269/53-for-197

Three-Point Percentage – Defense
-SJU, .236/37-for-157 (No. 4 in Division III)
-UMM, .313/51-for-163

Free-Throw Percentage
-SJU, .807/96-for-119 (No. 6 in Division III)
-UMM, .720/72-for-100

Rebounding
-SJU, 39.2 rpg.
-UMM, 37.0 rpg.

Turnovers
-SJU, 9.6 tpg. (No. 13 in Division III)
-UMM, 12.7 tpg.

A LOOK AT THE COUGARS: Minnesota-Morris (2-5, 0-0 UMAC) snapped a four-game skid with an 87-46 win over Oak Hills Christian on Saturday (Dec. 7) at home. The team's other victory so far this season was also against Oak Hills Christian, a junior college, on Nov. 18 (84-63). Senior (6-foot-3) guard Pal Dak leads the team in scoring (15.0 ppg.). Senior (6-foot-3) guard Dom Aguilar is next at 9.7 points per game, with a team-leading 19 assists, and freshman (6-foot-7) forward Carvin Fish right behind him with an average of 9.6 points to go with a team-best 6.6 rebounds per contest.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 24-10 all-time against Morris, including an 11-6 record on the Cougars' home court. SJU has won each of the last six meetings overall and 12 of the last 13.