No. 10 Saint John's hosts Hamline in the MIAC semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, in Sexton Arena. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video | Tickets

FIRST 400 CSB/SJU STUDENTS: Thanks to the SJU Senate, the first 400 CSB/SJU students will get into the game free by showing their ID.

TICKET INFORMATION: Fans wishing to attend the game must purchase tickets online. The rate is $12 for adult and $3 for any student (5 years old and younger are free). There is no senior discount. MIAC passes are honored. No other passes are accepted. – Purchase Online Tickets

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (22-3, 15-1 MIAC) earned a share of its 12th MIAC regular-season championship, and fourth in the last six seasons, last Saturday (Feb. 22) with an 89-62 victory at Bethel. The Johnnies shot 52.9 percent (37-for-70) from the field and outscored the Royals 22-3 in second-chance points thanks to a 12-3 margin on the offensive glass (45-25 in total rebounds).

The visitors made 60 percent (21-for-35) of its shots, including 57.1 percent (8-for-14) from three-point range, for a 50-27 halftime lead. SJU led by 20 points or more in all but 10 seconds of the game's final 26:32. 

Senior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) led SJU with 15 points on a 5-for-15 performance from behind the arc. Senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) was next with 14 points on a 7-for-9 afternoon from the floor, while senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) totaled 13 points, five rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes.

Adam Mattes led four Royals in double figures with 16 points, including 14 in the second half.

THREE AWAY: Vaughn's five three-pointers on Saturday brought him to within three of David Stokman's '19 program record of 266. He is also 17th on SJU's all-time scoring list with 1,233 career points, five behind Paul Henrichs '06 in 16th (1,238).

NCAA STATS: The Johnnies are currently (through games of Feb. 25) second in NCAA Division III in both assist/turnover ratio (+1.79) and free-throw percentage (.792), third in shooting percentage (.497), fifth in fewest turnovers per game (9.0), seventh in scoring margin (+16.9 ppg.), 11th in three-point shooting (.387) and 16th in three-point defense (.286). Individually, senior guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) is 10th in assist/turnover ratio (+3.15).

NEW POLLS: SJU moved up two spots to No. 10 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll (Feb. 24) and stayed at No. 28 in today's NCAA National Power Index (NPI) for Division III men's basketball, which now updates daily. Three teams from NCAA's Region 9 were ranked in D3hoops.com's top 25, all in the top 10: Wisconsin-Platteville (No. 3), Wisconsin-La Crosse (No. 4) and SJU (No. 10). Gustavus Adolphus received votes.

SJU'S MIAC PLAYOFF HISTORY: The 2025 MIAC playoff appearance is the program's 31st since the postseason tournament began in 1984-85 and the 13th-consecutive. The Johnnies are 29-22 in MIAC Playoff games, including a 19-8 record in Collegeville.

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies led the MIAC in eight of the nine major statistical categories in conference play and were second in the other (scoring defense). Hamline, meanwhile, was in the league's top three in all but one (free-throw percentage).

Scoring Offense
1. SJU, 83.5 ppg. (80.5 overall)
3. HU, 77.6 ppg. (76.1 overall)

Scoring Defense
2. SJU, 64.8 ppg. (63.6 overall)
3. HU, 65.3 ppg. (66.0 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Offense
1. SJU, 52.7 percent (49.7 percent overall) *No. 3 in Division III
3. HU, 49.2 percent (47.5 percent overall)

Shooting Percentage – Defense
1. SJU, 40.4 percent (39.3 percent overall)
2. HU, 41.6 percent (41.5 percent overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Offense
1. SJU, 40.5 percent/148-365 (38.7 percent/229-591 overall) *No. 11 in Division III
3. HU, 37.4 percent/122-326 (36.4 percent/171-470 overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Defense
1. SJU, 30.6 percent/102-333 (28.6 percent/145-507 overall) *No. 16 in Division III
2. HU, 32.8 percent/105/320 (33.2 percent/174-524 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
1. SJU, 77.4 percent/168-217 (79.2 percent/270-341 overall) *No. 2 in Division III
8. HU, 68.9 percent/168-244 (70.5 percent/310-440 overall)

Rebounding
1. SJU, 37.9 rpg. (37.8 overall)
3. HU, 36.5 rpg. (35.8 overall)

Fewest Turnovers
1. SJU, 9.0 tpg. (9.0 overall) *No. 5 in Division III
t2. HU, 10.0 tpg. (9.6 overall) *No. 8 in Division III

MIAC LEADERS: SJU led the MIAC in shooting percentage (.527) for the eighth-straight season (and ninth time in the last 10 seasons) in conference play. The Johnnies also ended the regular season as the league leader in three-point percentage (.405), for the sixth time in the last eight seasons, as well as free-throw percentage (.774), in scoring offense (83.5 ppg.), three-point defense (.306), fewest turnovers committed (9.0 tpg.) and assist/turnover ratio (+1.88) in conference play. 

Individually, senior post Luke Budzyn (St. Paul, Minn./East Ridge) led the MIAC in with a .765 shooting percentage (52-for-68) and Berg boasted a league-best 21 blocks in conference play, while Longueville was second in both assists (56) and assist/turnover ratio (+3.3).

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (17-9, 12-4 MIAC) advanced to Thursday's MIAC semifinal with a 74-59 home win over Concordia – the team's sixth-straight victory – last night (Feb. 25) in St. Paul. Senior (6-foot-4) wing Bradley Cimperman led all scorers with 31 points on 10-for-21 shooting (10-for-10 from the free-throw line) and eight rebounds. Senior (6-foot-6) forward Austin Holt recorded his 12th double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and just missed a triple-double with nine assists. Sophomore (6-foot-0) guard Raoul Vaidya and senior (6-foot-3) guard Daniel McCarrell were next with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Cimperman leads the team in scoring (17.5 ppg.) and is second in rebounding (6.3 rpg.), while Vaidya is the Pipers' leader in minutes (30.4 mpg.) and three-pointers made (50).

BACK ON JAN. 4: SJU shot a blistering 66.7 percent (16-for-24) from the field in the second half in a 79-61 win over Hamline earlier this season on Jan. 4 in Sexton Arena. The Johnnies finished at 55.6 percent (30-for-54) for the game, including a 10-for-17 (58.8 percent) performance from behind the arc to extend their win streak to seven games.

Hamline made its first two shots of the game, a pair of three-pointers, to gain a quick 6-0 lead as SJU missed its first four attempts from the field. The home team, however, made 13 of its next 18 shots (72.2 percent), including a 5-for-7 clip (71.4 percent) from three-point, and the Pipers went 3-for-15 (0-for-4 from deep) with three turnovers as SJU built a 31-14 lead with 7:06 left in the first half. Berg scored SJU's first 10 points.

HU closed the first half with an 8-2 run, including the last six points, to cut the Johnnies' lead to 10 (35-25) at the break.

The Johnnies answered the Pipers for the first four minutes of the second half and kept its lead to double digits for the remainder of the game. The margin reached its highest point at 21 (73-52, 75-54) twice under five minutes to play.

Berg led all scorers with 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting in 31 minutes of play. He also chipped in three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Thissen followed with 17 points on a 7-for-10 showing from the floor, including a perfect 3-for-3 mark from three-point land, with a team-high five rebounds in 26 minutes.

Senior guard Luke Healy (Hudson, Wis.) was the third Johnnie in double figures with 13 points in 16 minutes off the bench. He also added two rebounds and two steals.

Cimperman led the Pipers with 15 points on 5-for-13 shooting and six rebounds. HU shot 36 percent (9-for-25) from the field in the first half, including a 4-for-13 showing inside the three-point arc, and finished at 44.2 percent (23-for-52) overall.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 97-29 against the Pipers since the 1964-65 season, including a 55-10 record in Collegeville. SJU has won 18 of the last 21 meetings overall, including 19 of the last 21 in Collegeville. 
 
SJU is 4-2 all-time against Hamline in the MIAC Playoffs and 3-2 in Sexton Arena.
 
-Feb. 23, 1985: W, 54-47 (St. Paul, MIAC Championship)
-Feb. 25, 1988: W, 70-66 (Collegeville, MIAC Semifinals)
-Feb. 21, 2006: L, 71-74 (Collegeville, MIAC Quarterfinals)
-Feb. 21, 2017: W, 86-58 (Collegeville, MIAC Quarterfinals)
-Feb. 23, 2022: W, 74-53 (Collegeville, MIAC Quarterfinals)
-Feb. 22, 2024: L, 80-83 (Collegeville, MIAC Semifinals)