The Johnnies host Saint Mary's for Alumni Day at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, in Sexton Arena. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (9-8, 5-3 MIAC) mid-season win streak came to an end with an 81-63 loss at Bethel on Wednesday night (Jan. 21) in Arden Hills.

SJU trailed by 11 (35-24) at the half and could not overcome the deficit in the final 20 minutes, as the Royals shot 61.5 percent (32-for-52) compared to the Johnnies' 39 percent (23-for-59) from the field. 

The Johnnies struggled in the paint in the first half, missing eight layups and scoring just eight points in the lane compared to Bethel's 16. SJU was 5-for-18 inside the arc in the first frame, while the Royals made 11 of 20 and out-rebounded the Johnnies, 17-5.

A three-pointer from sophomore guard Justin Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) pushed SJU to within two points (26-24) late in the first half, but Bethel finished with a nine-point run to take a 35-24 lead into the break. 

Shooting improved for the visitors in the second half, as nine different Johnnies scored a point and combined to go 51.9 percent (14-for-27) from the floor. That improvement held little ground to the hot-shooting Royals, who missed just seven shots in the final frame, finishing at 72 percent (18-for-25) from the field and 62.5 percent (5-for-8) from three-point range. 

Junior wing Jamison Lien (Prior Lake, Minn.), who came off the bench for six second-half points, brought the deficit within six at 41-35 with 15:45 remaining, but the Royals hit five of their next six shots to build a double-digit lead that held the rest of the game.

Junior guard Baiden Bean (Farmington, Minn.) scored a game- and career-high 22 points on 8 of 10 shooting (3-for-4 from three-point). Bean scored double digits in both halves and collected five rebounds, three assists and two steals. He drew four fouls and missed just one of his four chances at the line. 

Johnson was the other Johnnie in double figures with 10 points off the bench. 

Nick Burke (20), Blake Schmitz (19) and Jack Charbonneau (18) combined for a 23-for-31 night (74.2 percent) from the field and 57 of the Royals' 81 points.

HONORING THE 2019-20 TEAM: SJU will honor its 2019-20 team at halftime of Saturday's game. That squad tied the program record for single-season wins (27-2, 19-1 MIAC), won its ninth MIAC regular-season title and seventh MIAC Playoff championship, and made its third consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearance. The Johnnies advanced to the third round (Sweet 16) of the NCAA Tournament, where they were scheduled to host No. 4 St. Thomas (March 14), but the season abruptly ended with the NCAA's cancellation of all winter and spring championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. SJU ended the season ranked No. 2 nationally in the final D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

Jubie Alade '20 was named the MIAC Most Valuable Player, was an All-Region selection and was joined on the All-MIAC first team by Zach Hanson '21. The five-man senior class set program records for wins (a 92-20 record), winning percentage (.821), MIAC wins (68-12 record) and home wins (48-8 record) over their four seasons on the court.

SJU ended the season fourth in Division III in both fewest turnovers per game (9.8) and scoring defense (61.5 ppg.); fifth in scoring margin (+15.2 ppg.); sixth in shooting percentage (.507); seventh in rebound margin (+10.2 rpg.); and eighth in three-point percentage (.394). Alade was 11th nationally in free-throw percentage (.892).

STAT COMPARISONS (ranked by conference play)
Scoring Offense
8. SJU, 74.9 ppg. (77.8 overall)
11. SMU, 64.8 ppg. (68.1 overall)

Scoring Defense
3. SJU, 72.4 ppg. (74.5 overall)
9. SMU, 82.0 ppg. (84.1 overall)

Shooting Percentage
5. SJU, .470 (.466 overall)
11. SMU, .390 (.412 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Defense
7. SMU, .465 (.467 overall)
8. SJU, .468 (.439 overall)

Three-Point Percentage
3. SJU, .376/79-210 (.335/155-462 overall)
11. SMU, .277/57-206 (.305/131-430 overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Defense
3. SMU, .315/63-200 (.343/155-452 overall)
8. SJU, .364/47-129 (.336/107-318 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage
1. SMU, .784/91-116 (.771/195-253 overall)
9. SJU, .692/72-104 (.658/160-243 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage – Defense
3. SJU, .738/110-149 (.751/257-342 overall)
10. SMU, .697/85-122 (.710/201-283 overall)

Rebounding
5. SMU, 34.8 rpg. (33.3 overall)
7. SJU, 34.5 rpg. (37.8 overall)

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's (1-16, 0-8 MIAC) saw its losing skid move to six games with an 84-74 home loss to St. Olaf on Wednesday (Jan. 21). Sophomore (6-foot-8) forward Jackson Harvey (21 points) and sophomore (6-foot-3) guard Reid Weckwerth (20) led the Cardinals in scoring and combined to go 15-for-27 from the field. Freshman (6-foot-5) forward Reid Klug leads the team in scoring (14.7 ppg.) and steals (20), and is second in rebounding (5.6 rpg.) and blocks (14). Weckwerth (13.2 ppg.) and Harvey (12.3 ppg.) also average in double figures. Harvey boasts a team-best 9.1 rebounds per game.

LAST SEASON: Then-No. 21 SJU shot 57.1 percent (16-for-28) in the second half, including an 8-for-17 performance (47.1 percent) from three-point, in a 75-61 win at Saint Mary's last Dec. 11 (2024) in Winona. The Johnnies, who were playing their third game in five days, opened the second half by making nine of their first 10 shots (10 of the first 12) with a 7-for-9 showing from behind the arc to build a 17-point lead (62-45).

The visitors finished at 51.7 percent (30-for-58) for the game and 38.2 percent (13-for-34) from three-point range.

Guard Kooper Vaughn '25 led the Johnnies with 17 points on a 5-for-11 showing from behind the arc. He made his first four attempts in the second half and totaled five rebounds with two assists in 26 minutes played. Post Luke Budzyn '25 was the other Johnnie in double figures with 10 points off the bench on a 5-for-5 showing from the field, including three dunks.
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SJU trailed by two (29-27) with 1:04 left in the first half, but senior guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) drained a pair of three-pointers in the final minute to give his team a four-point lead (33-29) at the break. The Johnnies made only 29.4 percent (5-for-17) of their three-point attempts in the game's first 20 minutes.

Jabari Sawyer led all scorers with 18 points for Saint Mary's, which was whistled for only five fouls in the game. He also registered five steals and four rebounds.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 98-22 against the Cardinals since the 1964-65 season, including a 59-1 record in Collegeville. The Johnnies have won 56-straight games at home (52-0 in the Warner Palaestra) in the series. The last time Saint Mary's defeated SJU in Collegeville occurred Jan. 31, 1968, when the Johnnies played in the Old Gym (Guild Hall).