Saint John's (8-3, 4-2 MIAC) travels to face Gustavus Adolphus this Wednesday, Jan. 11. The game is set for 7:30 p.m. at Gus Young Court in St. Peter. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's extended its winning streak to six games with a 78-71 victory at Hamline Jan. 7 in St. Paul. Sophomore Seth Marx (Maple Grove, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) recorded the Johnnies' first double-double of the season, a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, and made five three-pointers (six of eight shooting overall) on the afternoon to lead SJU. Senior Aaron Barmore (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) added 17 points, while senior Andy Burns (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) and sophomore Kevin McKenzie (De Pere, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) chipped in 10 points apiece. The Johnnies held their five-point halftime lead (33-28) in check by shooting 52.2 percent (12-for-23) from the floor and 19 of 23 (82.6 percent) from the free-throw line in the second half.
MARX PROVIDES THE SPARK: Marx averaged 13.3 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 61.9 percent (13-for-21) from the field, including 61.5 percent (8-for-13) from three-point range, as the Johnnies went 3-0 to extend their winning streak to six games last week. He was named the MIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for his performance. The 6-foot-4 sophomore led all scorers with 15 points, including the game-winning three-pointer with 23 seconds left, and grabbed eight rebounds in the 68-66 upset over nationally-ranked St. Thomas on Jan. 2. The win, which was SJU's second victory over a Top-25 team this season, snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Tommies. Bethel's defensive focus on Marx in SJU's 66-52 win over the Royals Jan. 4 limited him to five points and three rebounds, but opened the door for senior Aaron Barmore to score 19 in the victory. Marx ended the week with career highs in points (20) and rebounds (10) to record SJU's first double-double post-Aaron Burtzel in the 78-71 win at Hamline. He is currently second in the MIAC (all games) in three-pointers per game (2.18 tpfgpg.) and third in three-point percentage (.429).
A FINE WEEK: The Johnnies forced nearly twice as many turnovers as they committed (96 to 51) in the three wins last week and shot 51.7 percent (78-for-151) in the second half while sinking 78.1 percent (100-for-128) of their free throws overall. Barmore led the Johnnies with 16.7 points per game and did not record a turnover all week. Burns, meanwhile, was a perfect 20-for-20 from the free-throw line and collected 11 assists.
TURNOVER MARGIN: SJU boasts the MIAC's (all games) best turnover margin, +4.64 per game, which is more than double the second-place stat (St. Thomas, +2.18).
THREE HIT 20: Marx became the third Johnnie to score 20 points or more this season last Saturday. Barmore posted 20 points in the 69-58 win over Saint Mary's Dec. 5 and Burns poured in 21 at Minnesota-Morris Dec. 15.
NATIONAL STAT RANKINGS: Thru games of Jan. 8, SJU is currently fourth out of 405 Division III teams with an average of 10.7 turnovers per game, and is sixth with a 1.38 assist/turnover ratio. The Johnnies are also 20th in free-throw percentage (.754) and 29th with the +4.64 turnover margin per game.
A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus (7-6, 4-2 MIAC) saw its three-game winning streak come to an end with a 64-62 non-conference loss to Wisconsin-Stout Jan. 7. GAC trailed 63-62 late but went 0-for-4 from the field in the final 1:10. Seth Anderson led the way for the Gusties in what was a cold shooting night for the senior. He tallied 14 points but was just 6 of 17 from the field. Anderson leads the MIAC with an average of 25.2 points per game and is a 57.3-percent shooter (106-for-185). The majority of his shots, however, are from inside the arc as he is just two of nine from three-point range this season (68.5 percent from the free-throw line, 63-for-92). He posted 45 points in the season opener and has accumulated 22 points or more, including a pair of 30+ games, in seven games since. As a team, the Gusties shoot at just a 28.8-percent clip (42-for-146) from beyond the arc and are at the bottom of the MIAC (all games) in opponent shooting percentage (.477) and opponent three-point shooting percentage (.419).
SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 50-51 all-time against Gustavus under the direction of head coach Jim Smith, including a 16-31 record in St. Peter. Last year's valiant comeback from 25 points down with 18:47 left (96-88 overtime victory) was just the second win in 10 meetings at Gustavus. The Gusties have won 15 of the last 22 meetings overall.
LAST SEASON: The Johnnies split the season series with GAC last year. Gustavus eliminated a one-point halftime deficit by outscoring SJU 45-29 in the game's final 20 minutes to earn a 72-57 win last Jan. 12 in Collegeville. The Gusties opened the second half with a 6-0 run and never looked back as they shot 61.5 percent (16-26) from the field. SJU cut the deficit to three with 11:01 left, but GAC went on a 17-5 run over the next 7:10 to pull away and hand the Johnnies their fourth consecutive loss. The home team went 1-for-6 with five turnovers during that stretch. Gustavus scored points, a total of 11, off all five turnovers. The GAC starters shot 69.6 percent (16-23) in the second half alone. SJU shot 44.0 percent in the second half, but went 0-for-7 from beyond the arc. The Johnnies held an advantage in points in the paint (34-18), second-chance points (13-7) and bench points (22-11), but was outscored 22-8 off turnovers.
Saint John's erased a 25-point deficit with 18:47 left in regulation and earned a crucial 96-88 overtime win at Gustavus last Feb. 14. The Johnnies shot a miserable 27.3 percent (6-22) from the field in the first half, while the host Gusties shot at a 57.1 percent (20-35) clip to build a 47-24 halftime lead. GAC outrebounded SJU 25-10, including an 8-1 advantage on the offensive glass, in the game's first 20 minutes. Gustavus posted its largest lead at 25, 51-26, before SJU went on a 24-7 run to bring the deficit down to single digits with 10 minutes left (58-50). The lead was as much as 10 with 3:12 remaining, but the Johnnies ended the half on a 10-0 run. Burns sent the game to overtime with an off-balance three-pointer as time expired. SJU shot 69.2 percent (18-26) from the field in the second half. A steal from Aaron Burtzel '11 on Gustavus' first possession of overtime, followed by another three from Burns, gave SJU its first lead since the game's first basket 1:06 in. SJU proceeded to shoot 66.7 percent (4-6) from the floor and 12 of 13 from the free-throw line (92.3 percent) in overtime to hand GAC its fifth-straight loss. The Johnnies outscored the Gusties 72-41 after halftime. Burtzel had a monster game with a career-high 32 points, seven rebounds, six blocks and three assists. He was nine of 12 from the floor and 14-for-18 from the charity stripe. Burtzel played all 45 minutes and scored 27 of his points after the intermission, 15 of which came via the traditional three-point play. Burns followed with 22 points, 20 of which came in the game's final 25 minutes. He was four of nine from three-point range and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. The Johnnies were 32 of 40 from the free-throw line in the game.
