No. 12 Saint John's opens a four-game road stretch with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off at Augsburg on Wednesday, Jan. 22, in Minneapolis. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (14-2, 7-0 MIAC) cruised to its 10th-straight win, 97-68 over St. Scholastica, on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 18) in Sexton Arena.

The Johnnies shot 66.7 percent (18-for-27) in the first half, including a 5-for-10 performance from behind the arc, for a 49-33 halftime lead. SJU out-scored St. Scholastica 65-15 in bench points and 12 different Johnnies scored a basket or more. The home team led by as much as 34 (93-59) with 3:40 to play.

Junior guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) led five Johnnies in double figures with 18 points off the bench. He finished 7-for-14 from the floor (4-for-8 from three-point) to go along with four assists and two steals.

Senior guard Luke Healy (Hudson, Wis.) and senior wing Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) followed with 14 points apiece. Healy led SJU with 25:23 played and chipped in four rebounds and three assists with a perfect 6-for-6 showing at the free-throw line. Rushin, meanwhile, totaled two thunderous dunks, four boards, two assists, one block, one steal and finished 6-for-8 from the field.

Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) posted SJU's first double-double of the season, and third of his career, with 13 points and 10 rebounds in 21 minutes of action. Thissen went 3-for-4 from three-point land and added two assists and two steals. The double-double was Thissen's first since Nov. 16, 2022 (15 points and 11 rebounds vs. Buena Vista, Iowa).

Senior post Luke Budzyn (St. Paul, Minn./East Ridge) was the fifth Johnnie in double digits with 10 points.

Koy Nelson led all scorers with 30 points in 31:31 of play for CSS, which shot 42.9 percent (12-for-28) in each half. The Johnnies out-scored the Saints 14-5 off turnovers and 13-2 in second-chance points.

RECORD BOOK UPDATE: Thissen is sixth in program history with 1,479 points, one behind Bill Sexton '55 in fifth (1,480). Vaughn, meanwhile, broke his tie with Bill Christopherson '53 (1,164) and passed both Tom Melancon '68 (1,166) and Zach Hanson '21 (1,168) for 18th with 1,169 points. He is 48 points behind Tom Grudnowski '72 in 17th (1,217). Vaughn is currently second in school history with 248 career three-pointers, 18 behind the record of 266 owned by David Stokman '19, and is also second in free-throw percentage (.891/245-for-275).

NEW POLL: The Johnnies jumped two spots to No. 12 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll released yesterday afternoon (Monday, Jan. 20). Four teams from NCAA's Region 9 were ranked in the top 25: Wisconsin-Platteville (No. 1), Wisconsin-La Crosse (No. 10), SJU (No. 12) and Wisconsin-Stevens Point (No. 17).

NCAA STATS: SJU currently (through games of Jan. 20) leads all of NCAA Division III in both fewest turnovers per game (9.0) and free-throw percentage (.814), is third in assist/turnover ratio (+1.74), 11th in three-point defense (.269), 13th in scoring margin (+15.4 ppg.), 14th in both shooting percentage (.486) and three-point percentage (.388), and 17th in scoring defense (62.5 ppg.).

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies currently lead the MIAC in scoring defense (63.7 ppg.), three-point defense (.299), free-throw percentage (.797) and fewest turnovers per game (9.1) in conference play. SJU is also second in scoring offense (81.3 ppg.), shooting percentage (.541) shooting percentage defense (.423) and three-point percentage (.429).

Scoring Offense
2. SJU, 81.3 ppg. (77.9 overall)
8. 71.0 ppg. (72.6 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 63.7 ppg. (62.5 overall)
9. AUG, 77.7 ppg. (79.3 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Offense
2. SJU, .541 (.486 overall)
4. AUG, .475 (.452 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Defense
2. SJU, .423 (.396 overall)
7. AUG, .488 (.465 overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Offense
2. SJU, .429/72-168 (.388/153-394 overall)
5. AUG, .373/50-134 (.315/106-336 overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Defense
1. SJU, .299/40-134 (.269/83-308 overall)
8. AUG, .379/53-140 (.345/116-336 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
1. SJU, .797/51-64 (.814/153-188 overall)
11. AUG, .625/65-104 (.668/187-280 overall)

Rebounding
5. SJU, 34.1 rpg. (36.2 overall)
11. AUG, 30.0 rpg. (33.9 overall)

Turnovers
1. SJU, 9.1 tpg. (9.0 overall)
8. AUG, 11.7 tpg. (12.8 overall)

A LOOK AT THE AUGGIES: Augsburg (8-8, 4-3 MIAC) topped St. Olaf 75-67 at home on Saturday (Jan. 18) for its second win in a row. The Auggies shot 80.8 percent (21-for-26) in the first half but only led 50-41 as the Oles went 7-for-11 (63.6 percent) from three-point land and 10-for-11 (90.9 percent) at the free-throw line. Augsburg finished at 63 percent (29-for-46) from the field and 53.3 percent (8-for-15) from behind the arc. Senior (6-foot-5) guard Andy Stafford, the team's leader in scoring (18.2 ppg.), led the way with 17 points. Sophomore (6-foot-2) guard Elias Batala leads the team in steals (22) and is second in scoring (11.1 ppg.), while senior (6-foot-4) guard Will Blascziek is the third Auggie averaging in double digits at 10.4 points per game.

LAST SEASON: SJU swept the Auggies in 2023-24.

at Saint John's 112, Augsburg 54 (Dec. 4, 2023)
The Johnnies shot 67.2 percent (41-for-61) from the field, including 53.8 percent (14-for-26) from three-point range, to Augsburg's 24.1 percent (14-for-58) in the win. SJU's bench accounted for 78 points and the home team scored 20 points off 18 Auggie turnovers.

Eight Johnnies scored the team's first eight field goals and 17 scored two points or more. The 58-point differential was SJU's largest since Dec. 15, 1978 – a 121-62 home win over George Williams (Wis.). The 41 made field goals and 112 points were both the third-most in an SJU game and the most since Jan. 17, 2018 (a 133-80 win with 47 made field goals at Macalester).

Guard Brandon Adelman '24 led all scorers with a career-high 19 points off the bench, thanks to a perfect 7-for-7 night from the field (3-for-3 from three-point) in 12:24 played.

Vaughn followed with 14 points – on a 4-for-6 performance from behind the arc – and three assists in 13 minutes. Rushin totaled 12 points, on 4-for-4 shooting (3-for-3 from three-point), with four rebounds and a career-high four blocks. Johnson was the fourth Johnnie in double figures with 10 points and three assists.

SJU opened a nine-point game (24-15) with a 15-5 run, on 7-for-8 shooting, and led 51-26 at halftime. The Johnnies missed their first two shot attempts of the second half but responded by making each of their next 14 – 6-for-6 from three-point – and went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line over span of 8:16 to build an 89-40 lead with 10:26 to play.

Will Blascziek and Isaac Rabaey led Augsburg with eight points apiece but combined to go 1-for-8 from the floor (13-for-18 from the free-throw line). Twenty-four (24-for-35) of the Auggies' 54 points came at the charity stripe.

Saint John's 81, at Augsburg 67 (Jan. 31, 2024)
The win clinched the 30th appearance in the MIAC Playoffs (est. 1984-85) and 12th-consecutive for SJU, which shot 52.5 percent (32-for-61) from the field, including 26-for-44 (59.1 percent) inside the three-point arc.

The Johnnies built a 23-8 lead in the game's first 9:18 and shot 58.1 percent (18-for-31) from the floor to take an eventual 41-29 lead into halftime. The Auggies cut their deficit to as little as seven on four occasions in the second half, the last occurring with 10:03 to play. SJU, however, responded with a 9-0 run and the lead never dipped below 13 the rest of the way.

Budzyn led SJU with a career-high 23 points, on 9-for-11 shooting, and grabbed eight rebounds off the bench. Five of the nine made field goals were dunks for Budzyn, who also blocked two shots.

Thissen followed with 17 points, six rebounds and a season-high five assists. Senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) collected 16 points and seven rebounds, while Vaughn was the fourth Johnnie in double figures with 12 points thanks to a 4-for-9 showing from behind the arc.

Trent Gomez led Augsburg with 16 points and a 4-for-4 performance from long range. 

SJU recorded a 42-28 advantage in rebounds, but both teams struggled from the free-throw line. The Johnnies entered the game fourth in NCAA Division III in free-throw percentage at .810 (as well as No. 1 in shooting percentage at .509) but finished at a season-low 64.7 percent (11-for-17). The Auggies, meanwhile, were just 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) at the charity stripe.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 69-60 against the Auggies since 1964-65, but just 28-38 in Minneapolis. SJU, however, has won 18 of the last 23 meetings overall and eight of the last 10 in Si Melby Hall.