No. 12 Saint John's returns to Northfield for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Feb. 1, at Carleton. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (16-2, 9-0 MIAC) extended its win streak to a dozen games with a 78-54 victory on Wednesday night (Jan. 29). SJU shot 50.8 percent (30-for-59) from the floor, including 58.1 percent (18-for-31) in the second half, and out-rebounded St. Olaf by a 42-24 margin (13-6 on the offensive glass). The visitors also out-scored the Oles 50-18 in the paint and 16-8 in second-chance points.

The Johnnies held STO to 22.2 percent (6-for-27) from the field in the first half en route to a 30-17 halftime lead. The Oles opened the second half with a 20-11 run, thanks in large part to 11 points and a 3-for-3 showing from three-point land by Chris Willis, in the first 5:36 after the break to cut their deficit to just four (41-37). Senior guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) started a 12-2 advantage with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession and the Johnnies closed the game with a 25-10 run over the game's final 8:53.

Senior wings Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) and Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) led all scorers with 20 points apiece. Thissen, the reigning MIAC Men's Basketball Offensive Player of the Week, also added six rebounds and three assists. The 20 points were a career-high for Rushin off the bench.

Longueville ended the night with nine points, six assists and four rebounds. Senior post Connor Schwob (Waconia, Minn.) grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds to go with six points.

Kobe Kirk led the Oles with 13 points on a 3-for-13 evening from the field. STO, which entered the game shooting 69.2 percent from the free-throw line this season, finished a perfect 15-for-15 at the charity stripe and 32.7 percent (17-for-52) overall.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Thissen is fourth in program history with 1,526 points, 42 behind Troy Bigalke '01 in third with 1,568. Vaughn is 18th on the scoring list with 1,169 career points, 48 behind Tom Grudnowski '72 in 17th (1,217). He is also 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).

NCAA STATS: SJU currently (through games of Jan. 30) leads all of NCAA Division III in free-throw percentage (.810), is second in assist/turnover ratio (+1.73), fourth in fewest turnovers per game (9.1), seventh in three-point defense (.269), 10th in shooting percentage (.488), 12th in scoring margin (+15.5 ppg.) 14th in scoring defense (62.4 ppg.) and 16th in three-point percentage (.389).

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies currently lead the MIAC in seven of the nine major statistical categories in conference play.

Scoring Offense
2. SJU, 80.6 ppg. (77.9 overall)
5. CAR, 73.3 ppg. (74.8 overall)

Scoring Defense
1. SJU, 63.2 ppg. (62.4 overall)
4. CAR, 68.5 ppg. (70.5 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Offense
1. SJU, 53.3 percent (48.8 percent overall)
5. CAR, 46.8 percent (46.4 percent overall)

Shooting Percentage – Defense
1. SJU, 40.8 percent (39.1 percent overall)
4. CAR, 43.4 percent (45.3 percent overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Offense
1. SJU, 42.4 percent/84-198 (38.9 percent/165-424 overall)
3. CAR, 37.9 percent/66-174 (36.2 percent/119-329 overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Defense
1. SJU, 29.1 percent/52-179 (26.9 percent/95-353 overall)
5. CAR, 34.9 percent/98-281 (33.5 percent/149-445 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
1. SJU, 79.4 percent/81-102 (81.0 percent/183-226 overall)
7. CAR, 70.0 percent/126-180 (72.1 percent/230-319 overall)

Rebounding
2. CAR, 36.7 rpg. (35.7 overall)
3. SJU, 35.6 rpg. (36.7 overall)

Fewest Turnovers
1. SJU, 9.3 tpg. (9.1 overall)
2. CAR, 10.3 tpg. (10.5 overall)

A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Carleton (13-6, 6-4 MIAC) pushed its win streak to four games Wednesday night (Jan. 29) with an 85-67 road victory at St. Scholastica. Freshman (6-foot-5) wing Tobias Averill posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while senior (6-foot-1) guard Luke Harris added 15 points and three steals. Harris leads the team in scoring (19.6 ppg.) and minutes (33.1 mpg.), and is second in assists (49) and steals (31). Sophomore (6-foot-5) forward Sam Koellling is next at 12.6 points per game and averages a team-best 6.7 rebounds.

EARLIER THIS SEASON: SJU ended the game with an 18-8 run over the final 8:15 to defeat Carleton 72-66 earlier this season (Dec. 7) in Sexton Arena.

A layup from Harris gave Carleton a four-point lead (58-54) with 8:16 to play before Longueville 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. Thissen 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 Schwob 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.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 52-36 against the Knights since the 1964-65 season, but just 20-24 in West Gymnasium. SJU has won 10 of the last 14 meetings overall.