To St. Paul Johnson’s credit, the Governors have figured out what they need to remember and what they must forget.

Feeling unloved and under-respected, the Governors communicated their feelings with a 71-66 victory over No. 4-seeded Austin Wednesday at Williams Arena.

“It was kind of a statement game for us,” said guard Marcus Marshall, Johnson’s leading scorer with 23 points. “Austin got the fourth seed and we didn’t get seeded, so we had to make a statement.”

For the first half, Austin played even with Johnson, with the Packers’ height advantage negating Johnson’s quickness. Austin scored nine of the final 11 points of the first half to take a 37-35 halftime lead.

The Governors had been in that situation many times this season, however. Of their eight losses, three had been in overtime and two more had been by two points or less. They were used to taking shots and coming back.

“Our program is always about the next play,” Johnson coach Vern Simmons said. “The next rebound, the next free throw. We don’t worry about what happened before.”

Johnson’s frenetic, up-and-down style took a toll on Austin after halftime. The Governors (21-8) gained control of the game with a 16-5 run midway through the second half, then put the game on cruise control and held off a late Austin comeback attempt by making 13 of their final 18 free throw attempts.

“It felt like we didn’t make that many,” Simmons said. “We should have closed it out earlier, but we didn’t step on the gas. If I have one concern, it’s that we don’t have that killer instinct. But, hey, we won the game.”

Joe Aase led Austin (23-6) with 25 points before fouling out in the final minute of the game.

JIM PAULSEN, Star Tribune

Marcus Marshall, St. Paul Johnson

Marshall was the offensive catalyst for the Governors. He made the most of his 30 minutes of playing time, tallying 23 points on 8-14 shooting. His 3 first half three-pointers helped Johnson open up and early lead. He stayed active defensively, locking down the guards for Austin while racking up 3 steals.

Darius Watson, St. Paul Johnson

Watson stuffed the stat sheet for the Governors, helping them scrap out the victory. Watson had 6 points, 6 assists, 6 steals, and 4 rebounds, with 3 of them coming at the offensive end.

Joe Aase, Austin

Aase was a horse in the paint for the Packers playing a team-high 34 minutes, scoring 25 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. He was huge on the defensive end throughout, blocking four shots and contesting many others.

-Alec Kinsky, MN Basketball Hub Staff