No. 9 Saint John's plays host to Concordia for Alumni/Senior Day, and its first home game since Jan. 18, at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, in Sexton Arena. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM/95.7 FM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (18-2, 11-0 MIAC) extended its win streak to 14 games with a 100-66 victory at St. Scholastica on Wednesday night (Feb. 5) in Duluth. The Johnnies shot 58.8 percent (40-for-68) from the field and out-scored the Saints 66-22 in the paint and 55-24 off the bench in the victory.

SJU scored 15 of the game's first 17 points and led 50-28 at the half thanks to a .629 shooting percentage (22-for-35) and a 23-9 rebounding margin (9-3 offensive).

Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) led three Johnnies in double figures with 14 points in 22 minutes of play. All 14 Johnnies who played in the game scored a basket.

Senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) totaled 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes, while senior post Luke Budzyn (St. Paul, Minn./East Ridge) added 13 points, five boards and three blocks in 18 minutes off the bench.

Koy Nelson led the Saints with 14 points. CSS went 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) from three-point in the second half and finished at 33.9 percent (21-for-62) from the floor overall.

IN THE NCAA STATS: SJU currently (through games of Feb. 6) leads all of NCAA Division III in free-throw percentage (.796), is fourth in both assist/turnover ratio (+1.68) and fewest turnovers per game (9.4), fifth in shooting percentage (.493), seventh in both scoring margin (+16.5 ppg.), 10th in three-point defense (.275), 13th in three-point percentage (.387) and 18th in scoring defense (63.2 ppg.).

IN THE RECORD BOOK: Thissen is fourth in program history with 1,550 points, 18 behind Troy Bigalke '01 in third with 1,568. Senior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) is 18th on the scoring list with 1,189 career points, 28 behind Tom Grudnowski '72 in 17th (1,217). He is also second in school history with 253 career three-pointers, 13 behind the record of 266 owned by David Stokman '19, and is also second in free-throw percentage (.892/248-for-278).

CELEBRATING THE SENIORS: SJU will honor its seven seniors prior to today's game: Budzyn, Vaughn, guard Luke Healy (Hudson, Wis.), guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran), wing Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd), guard Andrew Wagner (Prospect Heights, Ill./Hersey) and manager Andrew Nerud (Elko New Market, Minn./New Prague). During their time here in Collegeville (2021-25), the Johnnies boast a 78-23 (.772) record, including a 59-11 (.843) mark in MIAC play, with two MIAC regular-season titles (2022, 2024) and two MIAC-championship game appearances (2022, 2023). That includes the trifecta of an MIAC regular-season title, MIAC playoff championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2021-22.

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies currently lead the MIAC in seven of the nine major statistical categories in conference play and are second in the other two.

Scoring Offense
1. SJU, 83.2 ppg. (79.6 overall)
8. CC, 69.9 ppg. (69.5 overall)

Scoring Defense
2. SJU, 64.5 ppg. (63.2 overall)
3. CC, 67.4 ppg. (66.9 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Offense
1. SJU, 53.4 percent (49.3 percent overall)
9. CC, 42.8 percent (43.5 percent overall)

Shooting Percentage – Defense
1. SJU, 40.0 percent (38.8 percent overall)
3. CC, 42.0 percent (40.0 percent overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Offense
1. SJU, 41.3 percent/102-247 (38.7 percent/183-473 overall)
8. CC, 33.6 percent/79-235 (30.8 percent/128-416 overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Defense
1. SJU, 29.7 percent/65-219 (27.5 percent/108-393 overall)
3. CC, 33.1 percent/88-266 (32.7 percent/165-504 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
1. SJU, 77.3 percent/109-141 (79.6 percent/211-265 overall)
4. CC, 71.3 percent/144-202 (67.7 percent/273-403 overall)

Rebounding
1. CC, 38.0 rpg. (38.7 overall)
2. SJU, 37.9 rpg. (37.8 overall)

Fewest Turnovers
1. SJU, 9.8 tpg. (9.4 overall)
8. CC, 11.2 tpg. (12.2 overall)

A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (9-11, 5-6 MIAC) wrapped up a four-game homestand Wednesday night (Feb. 5) with an 81-56 win over St. Olaf. Junior (6-foot-6) forward Jacob Cook led the Cobbers with 19 points. He leads the team in scoring (16.1 ppg.) and is second in rebounding (8.3 rpg.). Junior (6-foot-8) forward Jackson Loge, meanwhile, leads CC in blocks (19), rebounding (9.9 rpg.) and assists (55), and is second in scoring (15.2 ppg.).

LAST MONTH: SJU ran its win streak to nine games with a 75-60 victory at Concordia back on Jan. 15 in Moorhead. The Johnnies shot 56.7 percent (17-for-30) from the field in the first half, including an even 50 percent (5-for-10) performance from three-point land, and finished at 48.4 percent (30-for-62) for the game. The visitors closed the first half with a 13-4 run over the final 3:51 for a 44-26 halftime lead and led by as much as 26 (71-45) with 4:59 to play.

SJU out-rebounded Concordia, the MIAC's leader in conference play at the time (41.0 rpg.), by a 29-26 margin and held the Cobbers to 25 percent (4-for-16) from three-point (38.5 percent overall). The Johnnies entered play 15th in NCAA Division III in three-point defense (.268).

Vaughn led all scorers with 23 points on an 8-for-11 night from the floor, including a 5-for-7 showing from behind the arc. He was 5-for-5 (3-for-3 from deep) in the first half alone and also tied for the team lead with six rebounds in 26 minutes of action. 

Thissen totaled 13 points, six rebounds and three assists, while senior guard Luke Healy (Hudson, Wis.) added 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench.

A 57.4-percent (31-for-54) shooter from the free-throw line this season, Rowan Nelson went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe Wednesday night and led CC with 14 points.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 85-37 against Concordia since the 1964-65 season, including a 52-8 record in Collegeville. SJU has won 14 of the last 17 meetings in Sexton Arena. All three losses during the span were decided by three points or less: 80-79 on Feb. 5, 2024; 74-73 on Jan. 4, 2017; and 70-67 on Jan. 9, 2013.