Saint John's basketball visits Hamline for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 14, at Hutton Arena in St. Paul. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (13-10, 9-5 MIAC) led the entire game in an 89-81 win at Macalester on Wednesday night (Feb. 11) in St. Paul. The Johnnies scored the game's first nine points and finished at 51.8 percent (29-for-56) from the field, including 44.8 percent (13-for-29) from three-point range.

Freshman guard Peyton Podany (Anoka, Minn.) led SJU with a career-high 34 points on 12 of 18 shooting (4-for-7 from three-point) and fell one rebound shy of a double-double with nine. He also added three assists and three steals in 35 minutes of action.

The 34 points, Podany's sixth game over 20 this season, were the most by a Johnnie since Kooper Vaughn '25 scored 38 points on Feb. 3, 2024.

Sophomore guard Justin Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) made his first collegiate start and followed with 19 points, thanks to four treys of his own (4-for-8), in 23 minutes.

Junior post Vincent Hillesheim (Minneapolis, Minn./Hopkins) totaled 10 points and, like Podany, fell one rebound shy of a double-double.

Freshman guard Hudson Hochstedler (Monticello, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) was the fourth Johnnie in double figures with 11 points and three assists off the bench. Junior wing Jamison Lien (Prior Lake, Minn.) registered seven points and six boards.

Macalester cut its deficit to five on four occasions, the last coming with 4:14 left. Podany answered by drilling a three-pointer, stole the ball on the defensive end and Lien scored a layup for a 10-point advantage.

The Johnnies led by 13 (86-73) with 44 seconds remaining in the game but the home team ended the contest with an 8-3 over the final 12 seconds.

The Scots' Noah Shannon – the MIAC's leading scorer at 21.2 points per game – matched Podany with 34 points, including 27 on 10 of 12 shooting (3-for-4 from three-point) in the second half. Mac went 17-for-30 (56.7 percent) from the field in the second half and scored 23 points off 13 SJU turnovers.

STAT COMPARISONS (ranked by conference play) 
Scoring Offense 
4. SJU, 78.3 ppg. (78.5 overall)
9. HU, 73.6 ppg. (76.6 overall)

Scoring Defense 
2. SJU, 71.5 ppg. (73.7 overall)
3. HU, 71.7 ppg. (69.4 overall)

Shooting Percentage 
2. SJU, .481 (.470 overall)
5. HU, .468 (.474 overall)

Shooting Percentage – Defense 
5. HU, .443 (.428 overall)
6. SJU, .458 (.447 overall)

Three-Point Percentage 
3. SJU, .357/134-375 (.334/219-656 overall)
8. HU, .323/72-223 (.339/129-380 overall)

Three-Point Percentage – Defense 
4. HU, .332/96-289 (.313/147-470 overall)
5. SJU, .341/86-252 (.338/154-456 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage 
9. SJU, .716/136-190 (.680/232-341 overall)
11. HU, .662/157-237 (.655/300-458 overall)

Free-Throw Percentage – Defense 
6. SJU, .734/193-263 (.747/349-467 overall)
8. HU, .745/184-247 (.722/312-432 overall)

Rebounding 
4. SJU, 36.4 rpg. (37.4 overall)
7. HU, 34.4 rpg. (34.7 overall)

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (13-9, 5-8 MIAC) 83-79 home win over Bethel on Wednesday (Feb. 11), the team's second win in its last nine games. The Pipers shot 62.1 percent (18-for-29) from the field, including 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) from three-point, to build a 46-37 halftime lead. Junior (6-foot-0) guard Raoul Vaidya led the home team with 24 points, while senior (6-foot-8) forward Dominic Dosmann followed with 14 points. Junior (6-foot-5) forward Dane DeDominces and freshman (6-foot-1) guard Jake DeDominces added 13 points apiece. Senior (6-foot-3) guard senior (6-foot-3) guard Brendan Ebel leads the team in scoring with 15.8 points per game.

LAST MONTH: Despite four different players in foul trouble and the most free-throws awarded to an opponent in two decades, SJU received 52 points off the bench and held Hamline at bay for a 75-73 win back on Jan. 10 in Sexton Arena.

Hamline cut a 13-point SJU lead down to two in the final minute of play after the Johnnies went 6:12 between made field goals, but a Liam Farniok (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest) dagger from long range – his first points of the game – extended the differential to five (72-67) with 31 seconds remaining. Farniok made both of his free throws during the next offensive possession to maintain SJU's victorious margin with 20 ticks left.

Johnson led all scorers with a career-high 23 points – including a 5-for-6 showing from beyond the arc.

Saint John's and Hamline exchanged the lead five times with eight tied scores in the first half, with neither team leading by more than five. Johnson scored the Johnnies' final 13 points of the first half to put SJU ahead of Hamline for good. He missed just one shot all game (8-for-9 overall, 5-for-6 from three-point) to go along with two rebounds, two fouls drawn and an assist.

The Pipers occupied the free-throw line after the break, getting six calls in their favor to the Johnnies' two in the first 4:53 of the second half. HU entered the bonus 15 seconds later while the home maintained its six-point lead.

That lead turned into a 22-12 stretch in favor of the Johnnies, with six more of the Pipers' points coming from the charity stripe. SJU earned its largest advantage – 13 (66-53) – after Lien poured in seven points with four rebounds in a six-minute span.

Hillesheim capped the run with a poster dunk before Hamline fought back into the game with a 14-3 run in which SJU shot 1-for-7 and 0-for-4 from three-point range. Farniok's three and two free throws off the inbound foul kept fate in the hands of the Johnnies, who went to junior guard Baiden Bean (Farmington, Minn.) for the final play of the game. Bean crossed and tripped up his opposition on the pass from Podany to run the clock out.

Lien finished with 13 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench, while Bean added 11 points, four assists, three steals, two rebounds and a block. Podany scored 11 with four boards, and Hillesheim posted four points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds.

Ebel led HU with 22 points, thanks to a 13-for-18 showing at the free-throw line, and collected eight rebounds, while the Pipers' Dane DeDominces posted a double-double of 15 points and 11 boards.

The Pipers shot 40.4 percent (21-for-52) from the field and led 14-0 in fast-break points and 13-4 in points off turnovers. They missed 15 of their 43 free throws, including nine in the second half. HU's 43 attempts were the most by an opponent since Gustavus Adolphus went 35-for-47 (74.5 percent) from the charity stripe on Feb. 19, 2005 in St. Peter.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 99-29 against the Pipers since the 1964-65 season, including a 42-19 record in Hutton Arena. SJU has won 20 of the last 23 meetings overall and eight of the last nine in St. Paul.