Saint John's basketball visits Northwestern for a 7:30 p.m. non-conference game on Tuesday, Dec. 16, in Roseville. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Gustavus Adolphus shot 64.3 percent (18-for-28) from the field, including an 8-for-12 showing from three-point range, in the second half to pull away for a 95-80 win over Saint John's (3-5, 1-2 MIAC) last Wednesday night (Dec. 10) in St. Peter. SJU trailed by three (74-71) with 7:45 left, but GAC went on a 16-6 run over the next 5:37 to seal the victory.

The home team finished at 61.7 percent (37-for-60) from the floor and an even 50 percent (13-for-26) from beyond the arc. The Johnnies, meanwhile, shot a season-high 54.4 percent (31-for-57) overall and matched the Gusties' 13 treys at 43.3 percent (13-for-30), but GAC scored 23 points off 15 SJU turnovers.

Freshman guard Peyton Podany (Anoka, Minn.) led four Johnnies in double figures with a career-high 27 points on a 10-for-16 night from the field, including a 6-for-9 performance from long range. He also grabbed six rebounds to go with two assists and two steals.

Senior guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) also registered a career high in points – 24 – thanks to a 6-for-11 showing from three-point (8-for-14 overall).

Sophomore post Charlie Theis (Cottage Grove, Minn./East Ridge) followed with 11 points and seven rebounds, while freshman guard Henry Tschetter (Stewartville, Minn.) added 10 points and eight boards (five on the offensive glass).

Jake Schmitt led the Gusties with 24 points and Myles Barnette totaled 20 with five steals. 

Gustavus closed the first half with an 18-9 run to take a 44-39 lead into the break after SJU led by as much as eight halfway through the opening stanza.

TOMMIES PULL AWAY IN SECOND HALF: Division I St. Thomas pulled away in the second half to top SJU 80-56 in an exhibition game (for the Johnnies, but a regular-season matchup for UST) last Thursday (Dec. 11) in St. Paul. 

Johnson - who hit three first-half three-pointers - helped keep the Johnnies in the game for the first 20 minutes. His jumper and a three-pointer by freshman post Evan Weichert (New Prague, Minn.) put the Johnnies on top 15-11 with 9:54 to go before halftime.
 
Led by nine-straight points from 6-foot-5 sophomore guard Nolan Minessale - who entered play averaging a team-best 21.2 points-per-game - the Tommies jumped back on top by nine before a late layup by Weichert helped cut the gap to just four - 35-31 - at the half.
   
But led by Minessale, who finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds and went 11-for-15 from the field, St. Thomas proved too much to stop in the second half. The Tommies finished the game 29-for-57 (50.9 percent) from the field. The Johnnies were just 20-for-62 (32.3 percent).
 
Johnson - who scored 13 of his points before halftime - finished with 15 points, three rebounds and two blocks. Junior wing Jamison Lien (Prior Lake, Minn.) finished with nine while Weichert and freshman guard Henry Tschetter (Stewartville, Minn.) each added six points.
    
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Northwestern (2-7, 0-0 UMAC) suffered a 98-79 loss on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 13) at Carleton. Junior (6-foot-1) guard AJ Greene led all scorers with a career-high 29 points on 10 of 14 shooting, but the Knights shot 55.9 percent (38-for-68) from the field and 48.5 percent (16-for-33) from three-point land. Senior (6-foot-1) guard Japheth Nyamari leads the team in both scoring (22.0 ppg.) and rebounding (6.3 rpg.), while sophomore (6-foot-2) guard Noah Frazell is second with an average of 19.3 points per contest. Nyamari did not play against Carleton, while Frazell has only the last three contests for the Eagles.

THE LAST TIME: The only other time the Johnnies and Eagles have met on the basketball court occurred March 1, 2019, when UNW upset then-No. 8 SJU 93-78 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament in Collegeville.

SJU shot a season-low 41.9 percent (31-for-74) from the floor, including 28.6 percent (10-for-35) from three-point range. The Johnnies entered the game leading NCAA Division III in both rebound margin (+13.3 rpg.) and shooting percentage (.542), were second in scoring margin (+19.2 ppg.) and three-point percentage (.415), and ninth in shooting percentage defense (.392) and scoring defense (62.7 ppg.).

SJU missed 15 layups/shots in the paint, including 10 in the first half alone.

The Eagles posted a 42-35 advantage on the glass and shot 62.1 percent (18-for-29) in the second half to finish at 53.8 percent (35-for-65) for the game, the team's 16th consecutive win.

UNW started the game hot, making nine of its first 14 shots. SJU cut its deficit to one (26-25), but the Eagles put together runs of 6-0 and 7-2 before wing Oakley Baker '21 drained a three-pointer at the horn as the visitors took a 39-35 lead into the break. 

Similar to the first half, Northwestern started the second half by making 10 of its first 15 shots (4-for-6 from three-point range) to build a 15-point lead (65-50) with 12 minutes remaining. SJU chipped its deficit down to nine on two occasions, but UNW made eight of its final 14 shots and went 10 of 14 from the free-throw line the rest of the way.

Guard David Stokman '19 led SJU with 20 points and five assists, while wing Jubie Alade '20 added 19 points and five rebounds. Baker finished with 13 points.

Stokman ended his career as the program's all-time leader in three-pointers (266), fourth in points (1,492 points) and fifth in assists (321). 

Tanner Youngberg led five Eagles in double figures with 21 points.