No. 10 Saint John's plays host to Carleton for the MIAC playoff championship, and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 1, in Sexton Arena. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video | Tickets

FIRST 500 CSB/SJU STUDENTS: Thanks to the SJU Senate, the first 500 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 (23-3, 15-1 MIAC) avenged a last-second upset at the hands of Hamline in last season's MIAC semifinals with a 72-54 victory over the Pipers in this year's semifinals last night (Feb. 27) before a raucous crowd of 2,144 in Sexton Arena. A year ago, the Johnnies entered the MIAC playoffs as the conference's regular-season champions and the top seed. But Bradley Cimperman scored 26 points for fourth-seeded Hamline - including a three-pointer at the buzzer that lifted his team to an 83-80 win. SJU then failed to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, ending the Johnnies' season far sooner than they had expected.

This time around, SJU entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed after sharing the MIAC regular-season crown with Gustavus Adolphus. The Pipers - who finished their season 17-10 overall - were the No. 3 seed and entered play with visions of a rerun of a year ago.

But this time around, the Johnnies made sure that didn't happen, riding the wave of a 17-2 second-half run to put the game out of reach. Senior wing Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) led SJU with 17 points off the bench. Senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) finished with 14 points and senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) added 12 points (eight in the second half) and six rebounds. The Pipers finished 22-for-53 (41.5 percent) from the field and were just 1-for-12 from 3-point range.

After a layup by Cimperman with 12:20 to play, Hamline managed only a pair of free throws until a basket by Austin Holt with 5:45 remaining. But a deep three-pointer by senior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) then put SJU in front by 24 (67-43). 

Raoul Vaidya had 15 points to lead Hamline, but after starting the game 7-for-7 from the field, he finished 0-for-7. Led by Rushin, the Johnnies got 35 points off the bench to the Pipers' six.

ONE AWAY FROM THE RECORD: Vaughn needs one three-pointer to tie – and two to break – David Stokman's '19 program record of 266. His seven points Thursday night enabled him to pass Paul Henrichs '06 (1,238) for 16th on SJU's all-time scoring list with 1,240. Mitchell Kuck '16 is 15th with 1,274 points.

NCAA STATS: The Johnnies are currently (through games of Feb. 27) second in NCAA Division III in assist/turnover ratio (+1.80); fourth in fewest turnovers per game (8.8), free-throw percentage (.784) and shooting percentage (.497); sixth in scoring margin (+17.0 ppg.); 11th in three-point shooting (.384); and 12th in three-point defense (.281). Individually, senior guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) is 10th in assist/turnover ratio (+3.29).

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 30-22 in MIAC Playoff games (12-5 under the direction of head coach Pat McKenzie '04), including a 20-8 record in Collegeville. The title-game appearance is the Johnnies' sixth in the past eight tournaments. SJU is 8-8 in the championship game, including a 5-2 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).

Scoring Offense
1. SJU, 83.5 ppg. (80.2 overall)
5. CAR, 73.4 ppg. (74.2 overall)

Scoring Defense
2. SJU, 64.8 ppg. (63.2 overall)
5. CAR, 71.8 ppg. (70.9 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Offense
1. SJU, 52.7 percent (49.7 percent overall)
4. CAR, 46.9 percent (46.5 percent overall)

Shooting Percentage – Defense
1. SJU, 40.4 percent (39.4 percent overall)
5. CAR, 44.4 percent (44.4 percent overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Offense
1. SJU, 40.5 percent/148-365 (38.4 percent/236-614 overall)
4. CAR, 37.2 percent/103-277 (36.1 percent/175-485 overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Defense
1. SJU, 30.6 percent/102-333 (28.1 percent/146-519 overall) 
5. CAR, 35.2 percent/145-412 (33.1 percent/216-652 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
1. SJU, 77.4 percent/168-217 (78.4 percent/279-356 overall) 
5. CAR, 70.5 percent/172-244 (72.0 percent/319-443 overall)

Rebounding
1. SJU, 37.9 rpg. (37.7 overall)
5. CAR, 34.9 rpg. (34.5 overall)

Fewest Turnovers
1. SJU, 9.0 tpg. (8.8 overall) 
6. CAR, 10.6 tpg. (10.6 overall)

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 KNIGHTS: Carleton (18-9, 9-7 MIAC) trailed top-seeded Gustavus Adolphus 55-48 with 13:30 remaining, but closed the game with a 27-9 run en route to a 75-64 win in Wednesday's other MIAC semifinal in St. Peter. Freshman (6-foot-5) wing Tobias Averill led four Knights in double figures with 16 points in 21 minutes off the bench, while senior (6-foot-3) forward Spencer Goetz added 12 points, three assists and two steals. Carleton shot 10 percentage points better from the field (47.2-37.9) and went 9-for-22 from three-point range to the Gusties' 25 percent (7-for-28). GAC missed 11 points at the free-throw line (7-for-18). Senior (6-foot-1) guard Luke Harris, the reigning MIAC Offensive Player of the Year, leads the team in scoring (19.1 ppg.) and minutes played (32.8 mpg.), and is second in assists (74) and steals (39). Sophomore (6-foot-5) forward Sam Koelling touts team highs in rebounding (6.7 rpg.) and blocks (23), and is second in scoring (13.1 ppg.).

EARLIER THIS SEASON: The Johnnies swept the Knights for the second-straight year in 2024-25.

at Saint John's 72, Carleton 66 (Dec. 7)
SJU ended the game with an 18-8 run over the final 8:15 to defeat Carleton 72-66 back on 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 senior wing Connor Schwob (Waconia, Minn.) led to a foul and two free throws from Vaughn 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.

Berg scored only four points, but filled the stat sheet with a career-high seven assists, three blocks and three rebounds.

Saint John's 90, at Carleton 74 (Feb. 1)
The Johnnies scored 25 second-chance points off 17 offensive rebounds in a 90-74 win at Carleton earlier this month (Feb. 1) in West Gymnasium. SJU out-rebounded Carleton by a 49-26 margin overall and six Johnnies scored 10 points or more in the win.

The Johnnies broke a 29-29 stalemate with a 20-10 run over the final 6:14 of the first half, including a trio of three-pointers from Longueville under the three-minute mark, for a 49-39 halftime lead. Longueville led the visitors with 15 points on a 5-for-8 showing from three-point in the first half, a stat line that held as he played only two minutes after the break due to foul trouble.

The Knights cut the deficit to six on three occasions in the second half, the last coming with 11:42 remaining. The visitors, however, answered the last with a 15-3 scoring advantage and led by as much as 20 (85-65) with 4:37 left.

Junior guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) led SJU with 17 points in 22 minutes off the bench. He sparked the late 15-3 run with six-straight points.

Senior post Luke Budzyn (St. Paul, Minn./East Ridge) was next with 16 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench. SJU totaled a 40-14 advantage in bench points.

Berg registered 12 points, a career-high four blocks and two assists, while Vaughn posted 11 points. The game was the first for Vaughn in two weeks due to injury. Thissen was the sixth Johnnie in double digits with 10 points. He also collected eight rebounds and six assists. Schwob cleaned the glass with 14 rebounds, the most by a Johnnie since Nov. 22, 2022 (16 by Carson Schoeller '23 at Gustavus Adolphus), including 12 in the first half alone.

Harris led all scorers with 26 points for Carleton, which finished at 39 percent (23-for-59) from the field, including an even 50 percent (7-for-14) from behind the arc.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 53-36 against Carleton since the 1964-65 season (3-2 in the MIAC Playoffs), including a 32-12 record in Collegeville (2-0 in the MIAC Playoffs). The Johnnies have won 11 of the last 13 meetings in Sexton Arena.