ST. PAUL, Minn. — Nothing has come easy for the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team this season.

There was the 84-69 exhibition loss to NCAA Division I Northern Illinois, followed by a 98-54 setback at the hands of NCAA Division II national champion Winona State. Then came a 78-65 loss to UW-Eau Claire.

And, the road didn't get any easier for the reeling Cardinals Wednesday evening, as they opened Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play against St. Thomas.

"It's been a tough start," said SMU coach Mike Trewick, whose team dropped its third straight, falling to the seventh-ranked Tommies 87-43. "We knew when we put this schedule together that the start of the season was going to be tough — but a Division I team, the reigning Division II national champions, and then the seventh-ranked team in Division III, that's a pretty tall order to open the year."

The Tommies dominated from start to finish, shooting 60 percent from the field, including 9-for-19 from behind the 3-point line. UST also boasted a 41-28 rebounding advantage.

Terrence Smith (Broadview, Ill.), Eric Lear (Antoich, Ill.) and Michael Rohr (Bloomingdale, Ill.) all scored eight points to lead the Cardinals (0-1 MIAC, 0-3 overall), while Mike Keating had 26 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in just 26 minutes to lead the No. 7-ranked Tommies.

"I thought we played fairly well in the first half, but it was a game that was pretty similar to the Winona State game — once (UST) got on a bit of a roll, we let the game get away from us," said Trewick. "(St. Thomas) is a very good team, but we weren't as good as we are capable of being, either.

"It's been a tough start, but we'll be all right — we'll just keep battling, and, hopefully, we can get things turned around."