December 6, 2008: Bethel took advantage of the Cardinals' cold-shooting first half, racing out to a 42-28 lead at the break and never looked back in beating SMU 78-62 in Arden Hills, Minn.

January 24, 2009: The high-flying Royals eclipsed the 70-point barrier for the 15th time in their 17 games, handing SMU a 70-58 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the SMU Gym.

Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: Wednesday's win over Macalester marks the second straight year SMU has opened conference play with a victory. …  SMU enters today's game looking to open its conference slate 2-0 for the first time since the 2005-06 season, when the Cardinals opened with wins over Augsburg (61-56) and Macalester (69-64). … Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) scored a season-high 27 points against Macalester Wednesday. The 27-point effort was just three points shy of the career-best 30 points he netted vs. Concordia on Feb. 23, 2008. … Holland, who scored 19 of his 27 points vs. Macalester in the first half, knocked down a season-high five 3-pointers vs. Macalester. … Holland's effort also gave SMU at least one 20-point scorer in all five games this season. … Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 18 points vs. the Scots Wednesday. It was the 28th time in SMU's last 30 games that the SMU junior has scored 10 or more points. Wright has now scored in double figures in 50 of his 54 collegiate games. … SMU's last two games have been decided by three points or less — the Cardinals dropped an 87-85 overtime decision to Lake Forest last Sunday, before beating the Scots by three Wednesday. … Last Sunday's game was SMU's first OT game since a 70-65 victory over Macalester on Jan. 21, 2008. The 87-85 loss was also the first overtime setback since falling to St. Thomas 65-62 on Feb. 21, 2003. … The Cardinals enter today's game boasting three players averaging in double figures — Holland (20.4 ppg), Wright (18.4 ppg) and Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.) (11.2 ppg). … Holland, who extended his consecutive games played streak to 54 vs. Macalester, leads the team in 3-pointers with 14, while Wright is shooting a team-best 87 percent (28-for-32) from the free throw line. … Today's game is the final home game of 2009 for the Cardinals, who play at Gustavus (Monday), St. Thomas (Wednesday) and Winona State (Dec. 28), before returning home to take on Saint John's on Jan. 2, 2010.

Bethel Royal Notes: Through four games, .500 seems to be the Royals' number — Bethel is 2-2 overall, 1-1 at home and 1-1 on the road. They have not won, or lost, two games in a row. … Greg Meyer scored a team-high 13 points in Bethel's loss to Saint John's Wednesday and missed a double-double by one rebound. … Daniel Baah also scored in double figures vs. SJU Wednesday, netting 12 points — all in the second half. … Bethel enters today's game with three players averaging in double figures, led by Chris Vavra (14.0 ppg). J.D. Robinson (13.5 ppg) and Chris Breser (12.0 ppg) are the other two. …