Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's basketball dropped its MIAC opener to St. Olaf 77-69 on Wednesday, Dec. 3, in Sexton Arena.

SJU (2-4, 0-1 MIAC) controlled the paint, outscoring STO (4-4, 1-0 MIAC) 46-18 with a 43-36 advantage in rebounds, but free-throw attempts were 21-6 in favor of the visitors. The Johnnies doubled up the Oles 14-7 on the offensive glass for a 19-8 margin in second-chance points.

Senior guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) returned for his first game after missing all of preseason practice and the season's first five contests due to injury. He struggled in his first 14 minutes, going 0-for-7 from the floor, but once he hit his first three-pointer, he finished 5-for-8 in the second half with three from beyond the arc and five rebounds. 

Freshman guard Henry Tschetter (Stewartville, Minn.) tallied a career-high 15 points, despite foul trouble for most of the game. He was 7-for-12 overall with five rebounds, three assists and a steal. Tschetter scored seven of the Johnnies' 27 points in the first half and added eight more with four fouls to his name. 

Sophomore post Charlie Theis (Cottage Grove, Minn./East Ridge) fouled out with 8:27 to play but went 4-for-12 in the game with a team-high nine rebounds (seven defensive) for 11 points. He added a block and a steal in 25 minutes of play.

Junior post Vincent Hillesheim (Minneapolis, Minn./Hopkins) finished with 10 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting with six rebounds in 23:29 played, adding three boards each on both ends of the court. 

St. Olaf took the lead four minutes into the game and never let it go, holding the Johnnies six or more points away on eight different occasions. Three different Oles hit three-pointers in the first half and went on a 12-point run seven minutes into the second, missing just one shot and grabbing every rebound off the glass during its run.

Kobe Kirk led the Oles with a game-high 27 points on 9 of 19 shooting (4-for-8 from three-point). He drew six fouls – while only being whistled for one – and made 5 of 6 free throws. He accounted for 19 of the Oles' 61 shots and four of the team's seven three-pointers. 

The Oles finished 18-for-21 from the charity stripe to the Johnnies' 5-for-6.

The Johnnies play host to Concordia (5-0, 0-0 MIAC) for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Dec. 6, in Collegeville.