Box Score 

LA CROSSE, Wis. – Saint John's basketball dropped a non-conference matchup to No. 3 Wisconsin-La Crosse 80-65 on Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 26. 

SJU (2-3 overall) faced shooting woes through the first half and was whistled for 21 personal fouls that La Crosse – which jumped four spots in the first D3hoops.com national poll released Nov. 24 – scored 27 points off of from the line. 

Both teams went nearly three minutes without a made field goal until junior post Vincent Hillesheim (Minneapolis, Minn./Hopkins) broke through with a hook shot for the Johnnies to make it 2-2 after UWL (6-0 overall) scored on free throws to open the game.  

But that was all SJU could muster up for the opening minutes of play, as the home team put up seven more quick points for a 9-2 lead early in the first half.  

Freshmen Peyton Podany (Anoka, Minn.) and Noah George (Roseville, Minn./Roseville Area) each hit a three-pointer to put Saint John's in double digits, but UWL shot 72.7 percent from the floor (8-for-11) and made eight of nine free throws in the final 10 minutes for a 42-26 lead at intermission. 

La Crosse guard Sam Grieger accounted for half of the team's points in the first half, totaling 21 on a pair of three-pointers, three free throws and a total of eight made from the floor in 18 minutes.  

Head coach Pat McKenzie '04 worked a number of non-starters in for the majority of the second half, coming up with 23 bench points – including eight from freshman post Evan Weichert (New Prague, Minn.) – after the break.  

Saint John's out-scored UW-La Crosse by one point, 39-38, in the second half, with 11 different players scoring on a 15-for-31 (48.4 percent) clip from the floor.  

La Crosse struggled from beyond the arc (3-for-20) but made up for it with 27 free throws on 32 attempts. The Johnnies grabbed 11 offensive rebounds to the Eagles' seven, but only converted three more second-chance points (9-6). The Johnnies missed six free throws and finished 5-for-28 from three-point range. 

Grieger led all scorers with 32 points on 11 of 16 shooting and 8 of 9 free throws. 

Hillesheim finished atop the stat sheet for the Johnnies with a career-high 15 points and six rebounds, five of which were offensive boards. He drew five fouls and made 5 of 8 free throws. 

Podany added eight points and six boards (five defensive), while junior guard Baiden Bean (Farmington, Minn.) led the team with four assists. Weichert joined Podany with eight points, all in the second half.  

The Johnnies open MIAC play by hosting St. Olaf at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3, in Sexton Arena.