Top-seeded Saint John's basketball hosts fourth-seeded Hamline in the MIAC semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, in Sexton Arena. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video | Tickets

TICKET INFORMATION: Admission is $10 for adult and $2 for any student (5 years old and younger are free). There is no senior discount. MIAC passes will be honored, though no other passes will be accepted.
 
-The ticket booth and entrance to Sexton Arena will open at 6 p.m. 
-Those with MIAC passes need to go to the ticket window to receive a ticket for the game.
-Those that have reserved seats can still sit in their spot, but will need to purchase a ticket.
-General admission tickets can be purchased in advance at www.gojohnnies.com/tickets.

ALL CSB/SJU STUDENTS GET IN FREE: Thanks to the SJU Senate, all CSB/SJU students who show their school ID at the entrance to Sexton Arena gain free admittance Thursday night.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (20-5, 18-2 MIAC) ended its regular-season schedule with a 79-74 home win over Bethel last Wednesday (Feb. 14) in Sexton Arena. The Johnnies finished at 56.4 percent (31-for-55) from the field for the game but found themselves down three (58-55) with 9:56 remaining. SJU responded, however, with an 11-0 run over the next 4:08 and eventually tied its largest lead of the game – nine – with 4:44 remaining. 

Payton Thomsen drained three-pointers on three-straight possessions for Bethel and a pair of free throws from Caden Boettcher cut the Johnnies' lead to three (75-72) with 32 seconds left, but junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) went to the free-throw line with a one-and-one opportunity and made both. Sophomore post Brady Spaulding (Annandale, Minn.) recorded his third steal of the game on the ensuing BU possession and senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) sealed the win with two more free throws on the other end with 17 seconds on the clock.

Vaughn led SJU with 24 points, his third 20-point game of the season and eighth of his career, on 7-for-9 shooting. He went 3-for-4 from behind the three-point arc and a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe. 

Senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) fell one rebound shy of a double-double with 19 points and nine boards. He also collected four assists. Thissen was the other Johnnie in double digits with 14 points.

Thomsen led all scorers with a game-high 28 points, 20 of which came in the second half. He finished 6-for-9 from long range and scored 13 of BU's final 16 points. Zach Doely, like Berg, also fell one rebound from a double-double with 21 points and nine boards. BU edged SJU on the glass, 29-27, but the Johnnies scored 16 points off 14 turnovers.

ANOTHER 20-WIN SEASON: Last Wednesday's victory gave SJU its 15th 20-win season in program history and fifth in eight seasons (not including the 2020-21 COVID season) under the direction of head coach Pat McKenzie '04. Two of the other three seasons ended with 19 wins (2015-16 and 2016-17) and the third was last year's 17-10 record.

TWO FROM 15TH: Thissen (1,236) needs three points to pass Paul Henrichs '06 (1,238) for 15th in program history. Mitchell Kuck '16 is 14th with 1,274 career points.

KOOP NEARING 1,000: Vaughn needs 26 points to become the 41st Johnnie in program history to reach 1,000 for a career. He is also third in SJU history in both three-pointers made (203) and attempted (472), and second in free-throw percentage (.885, 207-for-234). He needs 29 treys to tie Patrick Strom '18 for second.

SJU'S MIAC PLAYOFF HISTORY: The 2024 MIAC playoff appearance is the program's 30th since the postseason tournament began in 1984-85 and the 12th-consecutive. The Johnnies are 29-21 in MIAC Playoff games, including a 19-7 record in Collegeville.

FRIENDLY CONFINES: The Johnnies are 9-1 in Sexton Arena this season and need one more victory to record 10 home wins or more for the sixth-straight season (aside from the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season). SJU is 70-8 (.897) at home during that span and 469-150 (.758) all-time in the Warner Palaestra (est. 1973-74), including a 30-14 record in the postseason.

Statistically, SJU shot 56.2 percent from the field, including 47.4 percent (109-for-230) from three-point range, and 81.1 percent (120-for-148) from the free-throw line in 10 home games this season. Despite the +20.3 scoring margin, opponents attempted 191 free throws to SJU's 148 and the home team was whistled for 174 fouls to the opposition's 131. Vaughn led the way individually with 15.9 points per contest and was one of six Johnnies who shot over 50 percent from behind the three-point arc at 52.3 percent (34-for-65).

REGIONAL RANKINGS: SJU was listed at No. 6 in the latest NCAA Region IX rankings released yesterday (Feb. 20). 

1. Wisconsin-Platteville
2. Nebraska Wesleyan
3. Coe, Iowa
4. Dubuque, Iowa
5. Loras, Iowa
6. SJU
7. Bethany Lutheran

SMITH TO RECEIVE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL THURSDAY NIGHT: Jim Smith, who served as the Johnnies' head basketball coach from 1964 to 2015 and finished his career with 786 career victories – the most of any coach at any level in Minnesota collegiate history – will be presented with the Saint John's University Presidential Medal by College of Saint Benedict and SJU President Brian Bruess, Ph.D. at halftime of Thursday night's semifinal. 

MIAC LEADERS: SJU led the MIAC in shooting percentage (.537) for the seventh-straight season (and eighth time in the last nine seasons) in conference play. The Johnnies also ended the regular season as the league leader in three-point percentage (.442), for the fifth time in the last seven seasons, as well as in scoring offense (84.7 ppg.), scoring defense (68.2 ppg.), three-point defense (.331), fewest turnovers committed (10.0 tpg.), assist/turnover ratio (+1.45) and from the free-throw line (.798) in conference play. 

The 84.7 points per game, .442 three-point percentage and .798 free-throw percentage were program records. SJU also finished second in opponent shooting percentage (.429), by .001 to Concordia (.428), and defensive rebounds (26.5 rpg.), by 0.1 to Bethel (26.6 rpg.), blocked shots (64) and assists (290).

Individually, Vaughn led the MIAC in three-pointers made (60) and three-point percentage (.492, 60-for-122) in MIAC play. He was also first in free-throw percentage (.907, 49-for-54), but did not reach the statistical minimum. SJU was seventh in the league in total free-throw attempts (326) across 20 games. Berg was second in shooting percentage (.645, 98-for-152) and junior wing Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) was third in blocked shots (20).

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring Offense
1. SJU, 84.7 ppg. (82.9 overall)
6. HU, 73.3 ppg. (73.0 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 68.2 ppg. (69.8 overall)
3. HU, 69.1 ppg. (68.1 overall)

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .537 (.516 overall *No. 1 in Division lll)
4. HU, .475 (.468 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
1. SJU, .442 (.414 overall *No. 1 in Division lll)
9. HU, .335 (.326 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
1. SJU, .798 (.809 overall *No. 3 in Division lll)
9. HU, .654 (.674 overall)

Rebounding
6. SJU, 32.9 rpg. (33.2 overall)
7. HU, 31.5 rpg. (32.2 overall)

LEADING DIVISION III: As noted above, the Johnnies currently lead 412 NCAA Division III teams in shooting percentage (.516) and three-point percentage (.414), and are third in free-throw percentage (.809). Individually, Vaughn leads Division III in three-point percentage (.493/74-for-150) and is 12th in free-throw percentage (.909/80-for-88).

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (16-10, 13-7 MIAC) advanced to the MIAC semifinals with a 73-55 win over fifth-seeded Concordia last night (Feb. 20) in St. Paul. The Pipers used an 18-8 run in the first half to take a 10-point lead (24-14) with 8:58 remaining and never surrendered the lead. HU shot 49.1 percent (26-for-53) from the field, but just 27.3 percent (6-for-22) from three-point range, and held Concordia to 32.1 percent (17-for-53) overall. Junior (6-foot-3) guard Daniel McCarrell led Hamline with 16 points and junior (6-foot-4) wing Bradley Cimperman had 13 despite shooting 4-for-14 from the field and 0-for-7 from three-point. Junior (6-foot-6) forward Austin Holt logged his 12th double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Cimperman leads the Pipers in scoring (14.7 ppg.) and Holt is close behind with 14.3 points per contest, while leading the team in shooting percentage (.534), rebounds (9.8 rpg.) and assists (93).

LAST MONTH: SJU suffered its first conference loss of the season in the closing seconds, 74-73, the last time these two teams met on Jan. 20 at HU's Hutton Arena.
 
Ahead by one (73-72) with 8.9 seconds remaining, Berg was at the free-throw line in a one-and-one situation. Berg missed the free throw - the Johnnies' first of the day (12-for-13) - and the Pipers grabbed the defensive rebound. Cimperman then drew a foul against Berg, his fifth of the game, with two seconds left. He made both free throws – due to the double-bonus – for the go-ahead points and SJU's last-chance heave from the opposite baseline was deflected in the air near mid-court and the clock ran out.
 
A deep three-pointer from junior guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) gave the Johnnies a two-point lead (71-69) with 2:41 left. Holt made one of his two free-throw attempts on the ensuing possession and both teams were scoreless for over a minute before Berg made a shot in the paint to increase the visitors' lead to 73-70 at the 1:02 mark. Cimperman cut the Pipers' deficit to one with a basket on the next possession and SJU escaped a shot-clock violation when HU was whistled for a defensive foul with 10 seconds remaining (three seconds left on the shot clock). The foul, however, was just the Pipers' sixth of the half (to SJU's 10). Another whistle on the in-bounds pass sent Berg to the line.
 
SJU started the game with a 12-2 run, but HU answered with an 11-2 run of its own and the teams exchanged the lead seven times in the first half. The Pipers took a 41-37 lead into halftime thanks to a 59.3-percent (16-for-27) showing from the field – to the Johnnies' 48 percent (12-for-25) – and a 24-10 scoring advantage in the paint.
 
Thissen led four Johnnies in double figures with 19 points on just 7-for-21 shooting. Berg followed with 15 points and Vaughn totaled 11. Senior post Connor Schwob (Waconia, Minn.) filled the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Longueville added eight points, six boards and four assists.
 
Holt scored a game-high 24 points and completed the double-double with 13 rebounds. He more than doubled his season average of 23.3 percent (7-for-30) from behind the arc by going 2-for-4 on the afternoon. HU edged SJU on the glass, 26-25, though the Johnnies scored 17 points off 12 turnovers. SJU's 13 free-throw attempts were seven below its season average and the loss was the Johnnies' first in Hutton Arena in nine years (Feb. 9, 2015).

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 96-28 against the Pipers since the 1964-65 season, including a 54-9 record in Collegeville. SJU has won 17 of the last 19 meetings overall, including 18 of the last 19 in Collegeville. 
 
SJU is 4-1 all-time against Hamline in the MIAC Playoffs, including a 3-1 record in Sexton Arena.
 
-Feb. 23, 1985: W, 54-47 (St. Paul, MIAC Championship)
-Feb. 25, 1988: W, 70-66 (Collegeville, MIAC Semifinals)
-Feb. 21, 2006: L, 71-74 (Collegeville, MIAC Quarterfinals)
-Feb. 21, 2017: W, 86-58 (Collegeville, MIAC Quarterfinals)
-Feb. 23, 2022: W, 74-53 (Collegeville, MIAC Quarterfinals)