The Johnnie basketball team wraps up its three-game homestand by hosting St. Olaf for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday, Feb. 7, in Sexton Arena. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (17-5, 15-2 MIAC) suffered an 80-79 loss to Concordia-Moorhead but clinched at least a share of the MIAC regular-season title and a top-two seed in the conference playoffs (first-round bye) last night (Feb. 5) in Sexton Arena.
  
The Johnnies shot 63 percent (17-for-27) in the first half, including 5-for-7 from three-point range (71.4 percent), to take a 41-33 lead into halftime. The margin would have been much worse, but the Cobbers scored 14 points off seven offensive rebounds and were whistled for only two fouls in the first half.
 
The shooting percentages flipped in the second half as CC shot 61.1 percent (11-for-18) from the floor to SJU's 35.5 percent (11-for-31) despite the 13-shot deficit. The Cobbers, however, did the most damage at the free-throw line by going 22-for-26 (84.6 percent) in the second half and 24-for-29 (82.8 percent) for the game. CC entered the game shooting 70.4 percent from the charity stripe on the season.
 
Concordia started the second half with a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to one (41-40), but the Johnnies responded and gradually built a 57-50 lead with 10:38 to play. The Cobbers answered with a 10-0 run to gain their first lead of the game and never relinquished it.
 
SJU made six of its final 14 field-goal attempts but could not overcome CC's 11-for-15 showing at the free-throw line the rest of the way. The Johnnies trailed by as much as eight (77-69) with 29 seconds remaining, but trimmed it to one at the horn after senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) and junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) each made a three-pointer and a pair of free throws.
 
Thissen and sophomore guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) tied for the team lead with 17 points apiece. The 17 points were a career high for Johnson, while Thissen also grabbed seven rebounds with two steals.
 
Vaughn followed with 15 points on just 3-for-5 shooting (3-for-4 from three-point) and senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) added 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting in only 14:55 due to foul trouble.
 
Matt Johnson led Concordia with 26 points, including 20 in the second half, and eight rebounds. CC ended the game at 50 percent (25-for-50) from the floor and outrebounded SJU, 33-28 (9-8 on the offensive glass). The Johnnies went 15-for-18 at the free-throw line.
 
SJU junior guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) was coming off an illness and played only six minutes Monday night, while junior post Luke Budzyn (St. Paul, Minn./East Ridge) did not play due to illness.
 
Both of SJU's MIAC losses this season were decided by one point (74-73 on Jan. 20 at Hamline). 

A WIN FOR AN OUTRIGHT TITLE: The MIAC regular-season title is the Johnnies' 11th in program history and their fourth in the last six seasons (no MIAC season in 2020-21). SJU can secure the championship outright, as well as the No. 1 seed in the MIAC Playoffs, with either a win in one of its final three games or a loss by Gustavus Adolphus and Hamline.

A RARE HOME LOSS: SJU is now 29-4 in Sexton Arena in the past three seasons, including a 27-4 in conference play. Monday's loss was just the Johnnies' eighth at home against Concordia since 1962 (a 54-8 record).

STAT COMPARISONS: SJU continues to lead the MIAC in five of the six major statistical categories in conference play. Wednesday's game features the MIAC's top-two teams from the free-throw line.

Scoring Offense
1. SJU, 85.9 ppg. (83.6 overall)
6. STO, 73.1 ppg. (71.7 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 68.0 ppg. (69.9 overall)
7. STO, 74.4 ppg. (75.0 overall)

Shooting Percentage
1. SJU, .533 (.511 overall *No. 1 in Division III)
8. STO, .453 (.456 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
1. SJU, .442 (.411 overall *No. 2 in Division III)
9. STO, .336 (.320 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
1. SJU, .794 (.807 overall *No. 3 in Division III)
2. STO, .757 (.753 overall)

Rebounding
5. SJU, 33.4 rpg. (33.6 overall)
7. STO, 32.4 rpg. (31.5 overall)

LEADING DIVISION III: As noted above, the Johnnies are in the top three in all of NCAA Division III in three statistical categories: the national leader in shooting percentage (.511), second in three-point percentage (.411) and third in free-throw percentage (.807). SJU is also eighth in fewest turnovers per game (9.5), 15th in scoring margin (+13.8 ppg.) and 17th in assist/turnover ratio (+1.44). Individually, Vaughn leads Division III in three-point percentage (.500/69-for-138) and is sixth in made three-pointers (69; ninth with 3.14 made per game).

FIRST REGIONAL RANKINGS: SJU was listed among the seven teams, alphabetically, in the first NCAA Region IX rankings released today (Feb. 6). Five of the seven teams are from the American Rivers Conference: Central (Iowa), Coe (Iowa), Dubuque (Iowa), Loras (Iowa), Nebraska Wesleyan, SJU and Wisconsin-Platteville. The first "ranked" regional rankings are expected next week.

A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf (9-12, 8-8 MIAC) broke a four-game losing streak last night (Feb. 5) with a 63-52 win over Hamline in Northfield. Sophomore (6-foot-4) forward Kobe Kirk led all scorers with 25 points, going an efficient 8-for-9 from the field and 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. Senior (6-foot-6) forward Brendan Kauls finished with 15 points and junior (6-foot-1) guard Addison Metcalf added 13 points and eight rebounds. Kirk leads the Oles in scoring (19.6 ppg.), free-throw percentage (.841), defensive rebounds (86) and steals (25). He earned MIAC Men's Basketball Offensive Player of the Week accolades yesterday (Feb. 5) after he scored a career-high 44 points by going 13-for-22 from the field (6-for-9 from three-point range) and 12-for-14 from the free-throw line in Jan. 31's 84-75 loss at Carleton. Senior (6-foot-2) guard Connor Martin is the other Ole averaging in double figures with 16.8 points per game on a team-leading .551 shooting percentage (124-for-225). 

A MONTH AGO: SJU rode a hot first half to an 89-74 win at St. Olaf back on 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, including one at the horn. Thissen added 12 points, four assists and two steals. 
 
Johnson 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.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 75-36 against the Oles since the 1964-65 season, including a 47-9 record in Collegeville. SJU has won 10 of the last 12 meetings overall (13 of the last 16) and each of the last nine in Sexton Arena.