Saint John's continues conference play with a trip south to Gustavus Adolphus this Saturday, Dec. 1. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Gus Young Court in St. Peter. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Video
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Hamline handed Saint John's (0-3, 0-1 MIAC) a 75-59 loss in the conference opener for both teams on Nov. 28 in St. Paul. HU scored the game's first eight points and shot 59.1 percent (13-for-22) from the floor in the second half. Junior Nick Meyer (Plymouth, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) doubled his previous career high by leading the Johnnies with 16 points off the bench, while classmate and high-school teammate Seth Marx (Maple Grove, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) added 10. The Johnnies shot 23.5 percent (4-for-17) from three-point range and only scored 12 points off the Pipers' 17 turnovers in the game.
0-3 START: The 0-3 start for SJU is the first since the 2008-09 season. The Johnnies, however, ended the losing streak with a six-game winning streak and added another six-game winning streak in January and February to finish the regular season 14-11 (12-8 MIAC) to earn a trip to the conference playoffs.
BALANCED SCORING: SJU has had a different leading scorer in each of their first three games this season. Senior Chris Neumann (Winsted, Minn./Holy Trinity) led the Johnnies with 10 points in the season-opening loss to St. Cloud State Nov. 16 and freshman Alex Schmitt (Chaska, Minn./Waconia) posted 16 points in the loss at nationally-ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point Nov. 20. Six Johnnies are averaging at least five points per game: Schmitt (8.0), Joe Risinger (7.3), Meyer (6.0), Neumann (6.0), Marx (5.7) and Mitchell Kuck (5.0). Although the scoring is balanced, SJU is averaging only 53.0 points per game and with a .367 shooting percentage, while allowing 74.7 points per game and a .480 shooting percentage.
A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: After trailing by as many as 23 in the second half, Gustavus Adolphus (1-2, 0-1 MIAC) came back within six but ended up dropping its conference opener (81-73) at home to Augsburg Nov. 28. The Auggies jumped out to an early 11-2 lead and the lead would reach as many as 13. Despite only four first-half turnovers, the Gusties were unable to get anything going offensively, shooting just 36 percent from the floor and trailing 37-24 at the break. The Auggies used a 19-9 run to begin the second half, which pushed their lead to 23 with 14:40 remaining. It wasn't until a jumper from Jim Hill at the 9:30 mark that the Gusties began to show some signs of life. A deep three-pointer from Blake Shay with 6:21 left cut GAC's deficit to six, but Augsburg capitalized on 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the eight-point victory. Ben Biewen led the way for Gustavus with 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Shay followed with 16 points, six rebounds, and three steals, while Hill contributed 16 points.
THE LAST MEETING: Saint John's ended its 2011-12 season with a 64-52 loss at Gustavus Adolphus in the MIAC Playoff Semifinals. The Johnnies shot an even 34 percent on the night but made only five of their 22 three-point attempts (22.7 percent). Gustavus, meanwhile, finished the game at 53.7 percent, including 71.4 percent (5-for-7) from three-point range. SJU managed to outscore Gustavus 36-35 despite the Gusties' .667 shooting percentage (12-for-18) in the second half. After SJU cut the deficit to four, 15-11, Gustavus went on to outscore the Johnnies 14-5 in the final 11:11 of the first half, a span in which SJU shot just 15.4 percent (2-for-13) from the field and 1-for-4 from the free-throw line, to take a 29-16 lead into halftime. SJU finished the half at 28.0 percent (7-for-25) from the floor and just 12.5 percent (1-for-8) from three-point range. The Johnnies cut the deficit to as little as eight on three occasions in the second half, but GAC answered with a basket on the very next possession each time and maintained the momentum. Andy Burns '12 led the Johnnies with 16 points, while Aaron Barmore '12 added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Patrick Butcher (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) and Neumann added nine and eight points off the bench, respectively. Tyler Grey '12 led the Gusties with 13 points on five of seven shooting (3-for-5 from three-point), while Shay doubled his season average of 5.6 points per game with 12 on the night. Seth Anderson, the MIAC's scoring leader at the time (22.1 ppg), tallied 11. Paul Blacklock collected 14 rebounds, four blocks and three points.
SERIES HISTORY: SJU head coach Jim Smith is 50-54 all-time against Gustavus Adolphus, though the Gusties have won 18 of the last 25 meetings (10 of the last 12). The Johnnies are 16-32 in St. Peter during his tenure.
