vs.
71		96

Game Summary / GameDay Online

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — After scoring just 51 points in their last outing, the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team was in dire need of a jump-start.

Enter Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.), who stepped up to knocked down a  team-best 23 points Wednesday evening against Augsburg.

Unfortunately, while the SMU offense stepped things up a notch, the Cardinal defense couldn't get out of neutral, as Augsburg seemed to score at will, erupting for 96 points en route to a 96-71 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

The Cardinals scored eight of the game's first 15 points, leading 8-7 with just over 13 minutes remaining in the opening half, but when Carilus Hughes answered a Josh Knights (Plainfield, Wis.) 3-pointer with a basket underneath, the Auggies led 9-8 — and never looked back.

Augsburg led by as many as 18 points over the final 13 minutes of the half, scoring 20 of its 40 first-half points off SMU turnovers en route to a 40-26 lead at the break.

"We were not very good on the defensive side," said SMU coach Mike Trewick, whose Cardinals have now dropped three straight. "We're not very good defensively right now, and the guys have to understand that defense wins games.

"It's great that we scored 71 points, but to give up 96, that's just not acceptable."

The Cardinals' defensive troubles continued in the second half, as Augsburg picked up where it left off, shooting 56 percent from the field (15-for-31) in the game's final 20 minutes, and outscoring SMU 56-45 to complete the rout.

"We did some good things on the offensive end, but until these guys start taking some pride in playing good defense, we're going to struggle," said Trewick, who, along with Wright's 23 points, also got 12 points from Dan Cormier (Blaine, Minn.) and 11 from Josh Knights (Plainfield, Wis.) "We can't be solid on one end, and struggle on the other — we've got  to figure out a way to put the whole package together."