Saint John's travels to take on Gustavus Adolphus in the MIAC Playoffs this Friday, Feb. 24. The semifinal game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Gus Young Court in St. Peter. – Listen Live (WBHR-660) | Live Stats | Live Video
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-Head coach Jim Smith (2:45)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's senior Andy Burns (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) hit his second game-winning jumper of the season to give the Johnnies a 47-45 win at Augsburg in the MIAC Playoff Quarterfinals Wednesday night in Minneapolis. A three-pointer from junior Chris Neumann (Winsted, Minn./Holy Trinity) gave the Johnnies (16-10, 11-9 MIAC) a six point lead (45-39) with 1:31 remaining. Augsburg tied it with 25 seconds left on three-pointers from Tyler Schmidt and Andy Seidlitz. Unlike his game-winning, 15-foot jumper against Hamline Feb. 4, Burns drove right and laid a short one-handed jumper off the glass as the horn sounded. Defense owned the night as SJU shot only 34.0 percent (18-for-53) to the Auggies' 33.3 percent (14-for-42). Augsburg jumped out to a 10-point lead (13-3) before the Johnnies went on a 9-0 run to bring it to within one with fewer than 10 minutes left in the first half. Burns hit a jumper with five seconds remaining in the opening half to send both teams to the locker rooms tied at 21-21. Burns opened the second half with a three-pointer, which seemed to spark SJU and give the visitors control for much of the second half. The Johnnies led by as much as nine (37-28) with 7:34 left, but the Auggies chipped away until Seidlitz tied the game with a trey at 45-45. The Auggies out-rebounded the Johnnies by a 47-14 margin the last time the teams met, a 65-49 Augsburg win in Collegeville, including 18 offensive rebounds. Augsburg tallied a 20-5 advantage in second-chance points in the game. This game was a bit different, however, as SJU posted a 34-33 advantage on the glass with 15 offensive rebounds. Both teams left six points at the free-throw line, though Augsburg gained an edge with 13 points off eight SJU turnovers. Burns led the Johnnies with 14 points and added six assists, while classmate Aaron Barmore (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) tallied his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Chris Orgas (Lakeville, Minn./North) collected six rebounds, all on the offensive glass, while Neumann tallied eight of the Johnnies' 17 bench points. Schmidt led the Auggies with 14 points on a perfect 4-for-4 night from behind the arc. Andy Grzesiak-Grimm grabbed 10 rebounds but was held to five points on 2-for-10 shooting. He entered the game averaging 15.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. The win snapped a six-game losing streak for SJU at Augsburg and avenged 15- and 16-point losses to the Auggies during the regular season.
BURNS CONTINUES TO CLIMB: Burns' 14 points Wednesday night brought his career total to 1,052, which enabled him to pass Steve Ward (1971-75) and Mark Lenss (1974-78) and move into 28th on the school's all-time scoring list. He needs six points Friday, his 100th career start, to pass Ryan Lieser (2005-08) for 27th and 14 total to jump Kevin Coleman (1968-72) for 26th.
A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus (19-6, 16-4 MIAC) saw its eight-game win streak come to an end with a 68-52 loss to Bethel in the regular-season finale Feb. 18 in St. Peter. The Gusties shot just 29.6-percent from the field in the second half. Gustavus registered season lows in both points (52) and shooting percentage (.389) in the game. The Royals tallied 17 points off 13 GAC turnovers and outscored the home team 24-8 in the paint. Seth Anderson led all scorers with 25 points on 11-of-23 shooting. No other Gustavus player scored more than five points, as Paul Blacklock and James Hill brought down a team-high seven rebounds. Taylor Hall and Daniel Baah led the way for the Bethel with 20 and 16 points, respectively. Hall went 8-for-19 from the field and grabbed eight boards, while Baah went 6-for-12 and had a game-high four steals.
EARLIER THIS SEASON: Gustavus won both matchups with the Johnnies during the regular season. GAC shot 57.1 percent in the second half to turn a three-point halftime lead into a 58-40 win at SJU last week (Feb. 13) in Collegeville. The Johnnies, meanwhile, shot just 23.8 percent (5-for-21) in the second half to drop their third straight game. The 40 points scored is the smallest total since Jan. 18, 1997 (45-40 loss at St. Thomas), and the least amount scored at home in 48 seasons under the direction of head coach Jim Smith (48-41 loss vs. St. Thomas on Dec. 3, 1994). The two teams played fairly even basketball in the first half despite SJU's 0-for-6 showing at the free-throw line. The second half was a different story, however, as the Johnnies committed four turnovers during a stretch in which they made only two of their first 13 shots after intermission. The dry spell equated to just eight points, thanks to a pair of layups and four free throws, in 14:12 of play. Sophomore Patrick Butcher (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) led the Johnnies with 10 points off the bench before fouling out with 2:08 left to play. Sophomore Seth Marx (Maple Grove, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) and Barmore followed with nine and eight points, respectively. Hill led the Gusties with 19 points off the bench, while Blacklock and Tyler Grey added 12 points apiece. Blacklock collected 11 rebounds and four blocks, and Grey was 4-for-5 from three-point range. Anderson, the MIAC's leading scorer at 23.1 points per game (now 22.1 ppg.), was held scoreless after a 0-for-6 showing from the floor in 17 minutes of play.
The Gusties shot 51.0 percent (26-for-51) from the field, including 50.0 percent (8-for-16) from three-point range, in a 63-49 win over SJU on Jan. 11 in St. Peter. GAC entered the game shooting just 28.8 percent (42-for-146) from three-point land and allowing a .477 opponent field-goal percentage. The Johnnies, however, shot just 33.3 percent (16-for-48) in the game and 26.7 percent (4-for-15) from beyond the arc. The loss ended a six-game winning streak for SJU. Gustavus started the game hitting 10 of 17 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from three-point range, to take a 24-5 lead with 9:42 left in the first half. The Johnnies, meanwhile, were just 2-for-13, one of four from beyond the arc. SJU went on an 11-0 run to cut it to 24-16 with just under three minutes left in the first before Seth Anderson snapped a 7:01 scoreless streak for the Gusties. Burns led the Johnnies with 20 points on the night, including 10 in the first half. The Johnnies missed five layups in the opening half (nine total), including three by Burns, to enter intermission down 31-20 with a .280 (7-for-25) shooting percentage. The Johnnies cut the deficit two six on two occasions in the second half, but Gustavus answered with 5-0 runs in both instances. SJU cut it to nine, 52-43, with 7:43 remaining but made only two of its last seven shots. GAC put the Johnnies in the bonus with seven fouls at the 10:21 mark of the second half but was called for just two fouls the rest of the way. Neumann added 10 points for SJU, including a perfect 8-for-8 night from the free-throw line, before leaving the game due to a knee injury. Barmore was held scoreless for the first time since Jan. 7, 2009, ending a streak of 76 consecutive games played with a point. Anderson led three Gusties in double figures with 20 points. Ben Biewen added 15 and Ty Moore tallied 11. Moore entered the game 5-for-15 from three-point range but was 3-for-3 on the night.
1988: The only other time SJU visited Gustavus in the MIAC Playoffs occurred Feb. 27, 1988. The Johnnies won the game 64-49, thanks to 16 points from Bryan Blascziek and 14 from Darrick Buettner. SJU erased a five-point halftime deficit (28-23) by shooting 63.0 percent (17-for-27) from the floor to outscore the Gusties 38-21 in the second half.
MIAC PLAYOFF SKID: Wednesday's victory ended a four-game losing streak for SJU in the MIAC Playoffs. The win was the first since the Johnnies defeated Gustavus 87-65 on Feb. 20, 2007, in Collegeville.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON: A win Friday night would send the Johnnies to the MIAC Playoff Championship, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. this Sunday, Feb. 26, at the highest seed. The Johnnies would travel to face St. Thomas if the Tommies defeat Bethel Friday. In the event of a Bethel victory, SJU would host the Royals Sunday afternoon for the conference's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division III Tournament.
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies under the direction of head coach Jim Smith have a similar series record with the Gusties, both overall and on the road, as they do with Augsburg. SJU is 50-53 all-time against GAC, including a 16-32 record in St. Peter. Last year's valiant comeback from 25 points down with 18:47 left (96-88 overtime victory) is just the second win in 11 meetings at Gustavus. The Gusties have won 17 of the last 24 meetings overall.
