Saint John's takes its five-game win streak to Bethel for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday, Jan. 21, in Arden Hills. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (9-7, 5-2 MIAC) stifled Carleton in the second half of a 70-51 victory on Saturday (Jan. 17) in Northfield. The Johnnies trailed by two points at halftime, 29-27, before outscoring the Knights 43-22 over the final 20 minutes thanks to a 21-0 run. 

SJU shot 41.7 percent (10-for-24) from the field and 50 percent (6-for-12) from three-point in the opening half but surrendered 20 points in the paint to the home team, which gathered four steals on seven Johnnie turnovers. A layup from junior wing Jamison Lien (Prior Lake, Minn.) with 9:27 left gave SJU the lead briefly at 19-15, but the visitors fell scoreless for the next 7:37 until freshman guard Peyton Podany (Anoka, Minn.) snapped the drought with a three-pointer at the 1:51 mark to cut Carleton's lead to 24-22.

Carleton scored the first basket of the second half on the inbound, but sophomore guard Liam Farniok (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest) and Podany fed a 21-0 run to take over the game and the lead for good, 48-21. Farniok scored 12 points – all on three-pointers – and Podany put up five with a pair of rebounds and an assist. 

SJU's defense kept the Knights scoreless for more than eight minutes (0-for-7) and forced a total of eight turnovers in the second half, in addition to a favorable margin of 20-14 off the boards and a pair of blocks from junior guard Baiden Bean (Farmington, Minn.). The Johnnies also held Carleton's Matt Drake, who entered play Saturday as the third-leading scorer in the MIAC at 20 points per game, scoreless on 0-for-11 shooting in 29 minutes played.

Podany, who was battling illness ahead of the game, finished with a game-high 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting. He was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc, with four of his long-range daggers coming in the first half. He also added three assists and three rebounds. 

Farniok finished with 15 points, all in the second half, on 5 of 9 from three-point. He also posted four assists and three rebounds. 

Bean, who had a point-assist double-double earlier in the week, registered four assists, three rebounds and two steals in addition to his second-half blocks. 

Sophomore guard Justin Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) and Lien each scored nine points off the bench. Johnson's total came from 3-for-7 shooting from three, while Lien was 4-for-4 from the floor with six rebounds, two fouls drawn and a steal in 17 minutes.

ASSIST/TURNOVER RATIO: Bean is currently (through Jan. 19) tied for second in NCAA Division III with a +4.00 assist/turnover ratio (68 assists to 17 turnovers) and is tied for eighth across all divisions of NCAA basketball.

SECOND-HALF STREAKERS: SJU has trailed at halftime four times during the current five-game win streak. The Johnnies are shooting 58.2 percent (85-for-146) from the field, including 47.5 percent (28-for-59) from three-point land, in the second half over the last five games. Defensively, SJU has held the opposition to 38.1 percent (48-for-126) from the floor and just 5-for-34 (14.7 percent) from long range after halftime during the win streak.

STAT COMPARISONS (ranked by conference play)
Scoring Offense
6. SJU, 76.6 ppg. (77.8 overall)
9. BU, 74.1 ppg. (73.6 overall)

Scoring Defense
2. SJU, 71.1 ppg. (74.5 overall)
8. BU, 81.6 ppg. (81.2 overall)

Shooting Percentage
3. SJU, .481 (.466 overall)
8. BU, .453 (.451 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Defense
6. SJU, .449 (.439 overall)
11. BU, .504 (.478 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
3. SJU, .387/70-181 (.335/155-462 overall)
7. BU, .311/52-167 (.312/.117-375 overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Defense
6. SJU, .342/39-114 (.336/107-318 overall)
7. BU, .359/51-142 (.348/101-290 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
5. BU, .744/93-125 (.701/197-281 overall)
9. SJU, .696/64-92 (.658/160-243 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage – Defense
5. SJU, .732/101-138 (.751/257-342 overall)
6. BU, .731/68-93 (.725/179-247 overall)

Rebounding
2. SJU, 36.4 rpg. (37.8 overall)
11. BU, 32.7 rpg. (32.9 overall)

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (6-9, 3-4 MIAC) dropped its second in a row with a 93-73 defeat on Saturday (Jan. 17) at St. Scholastica. The Saints shot 58.5 percent (38-for-65) from the field in the victory and led by 13 (45-32) at halftime. Junior (6-foot-5) guard Nick Burke led the Royals with 16 points. Burke leads the team in scoring (16.9 ppg.), rebounding (6.6 rpg.) and three-pointers (26-for-70, .371). Three other Royals also averaged 10 or more points per game: junior (6-foot-2) guard Blake Schmitz (12.7 ppg.), sophomore (6-foot-1) guard Jay Neubert (12.2 ppg.) and junior (6-foot-4) guard Sam Gingras (10.5 ppg.).

LAST SEASON: SJU swept the series against BU for the third-straight season in 2024-25.

at Saint John's 96, Bethel 70 (Jan. 8, 2025)
Then-No. 15 SJU made 70 percent (42-for-60) of its shots in a 96-70 win over Bethel – its eighth-straight victory – last Jan. 8 (2025) in Sexton Arena. SJU missed nine shots, both inside (32-for-41) and outside (10-for-19) the arc, and out-scored the Royals 61-23 off the bench.

The .700 field-goal percentage was the Johnnies' highest since their program record of 70.1 percent (47-for-67) recorded on Jan. 17, 2018, at Macalester (a 133-80 win).

Although SJU led by as much as 33 (83-50) with 7:31 remaining, the contest's first 12 minutes were back-and-forth and had a 22-22 score with 8:28 remaining. BU led by six (20-14) with 11:06 on the clock, but the home team made 15 of its final 19 shots (3-for-4 from three-point) to close the first half with a 33-8 run for a 47-28 halftime advantage. The Johnnies finished at 73.3 percent (22-for-30) from the field in the first 20 minutes. The Royals opened the second half with an 8-4 run, but the Johnnies rattled off 13-straight points in an eventual 17-2 run to gain a 30-point lead (68-38) with 12:47 left.

Guard Luke Healy '25 led all scorers with a career-high 18 points, on 8-for-9 shooting, in 15:35 off the bench. Post Luke Budzyn '25 and wing Griffin Rushin '25 added 12 points apiece off the bench. Budzyn went a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, including three dunks, and tied for the team lead with five rebounds, while Rushin added four boards and two blocks. Wing Ryan Thissen '24 was the fourth Johnnie in double figures with 10 points to go along with three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 23:29 played.

Burke and Payton Thomsen led BU with 12 points each. The Royals finished at 41.2 percent (28-for-68) for the game, but just 21.9 percent (7-for-32) from behind the arc.

Saint John's 89, at Bethel 62 (Feb. 22, 2025)
Then-No. 12 SJU earned a share of its 12th MIAC regular-season championship, and fourth in the last six seasons, with an 89-62 victory at Bethel back on Feb. 22 (2025). 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.

Guard Kooper Vaughn '25 led SJU with 15 points on a 5-for-15 performance from behind the arc. Guard Blake Berg '24 was next with 14 points on a 7-for-9 afternoon from the floor, while Thissen 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.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 69-30 against BU since the 1964-65 season, including a 25-21 mark in Arden Hills (6-7 in the last 13 visits to the Robertson Center). The Johnnies have won 17 of the last 22 meetings overall.