ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team, coming off three games in five days last week, is back on the road for the first of four games in eight days on Monday, traveling to St. The game will be played at Concordia University's Gangelhoff Center with tip off at 7:45 p.m.
The Records:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-4 MIAC / 4-7 Overall)
St. Thomas Tommies (6-0 MIAC / 10-1 Overall)
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Last Action: SMU boasted three players scoring in double figures Wednesday evening against Hamline, but the trio's combined 40 points weren't enough to overcome an ice-cold first-half shooting performance, as the Pipers handed the Cardinals a
93-57 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn. St. Thomas, meanwhile, stayed perfect in the MIAC on Saturday, collecting a
60-51 conference win at Carleton.
A Year Ago: St. Thomas swept its two conference games against the Cardinals a year ago
December 10, 2008: The Cardinals shot a dismal 7-for-16 from the field in the first half — and never recovered — as the fourth-ranked Tommies rolled to a
102-64 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at the SMU Gym.
February 2, 2009: St. Thomas, fueled by five players in double figures, raced out to a 47-26 halftime advantage and never looked back in cruising to a
99-44 conference victory in St. Paul, Minn.
Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) scored a team-high 17 points vs. the Pipers Wednesday evening. He has now scored in double figures in 52 of his 57 collegiate games. … Wright's 17 points vs. Hamline give the Cardinal junior 1,093 career points, moving him within 26 points the No. 20 spot among SMU career scorers. … Wright boasts an 18.0 ppg average through six conference games, ranking him second behind league-leader Mark Torell of St. Olaf (19.3 ppg). …
Thomas Sims (Eagan, Minn.) netted a career-best 10 points vs. the Pipers Wednesday, while
Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.) also scored in double figures, finishing with 13. … Palmer also pulled down a team-best nine boards, missing his second collegiate double-double by one rebound. …
Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) extended his consecutive games started streak to 58 vs. Hamline Wednesday. … The Cardinals enter today's game boasting three players averaging in double figures — Wright (18.4 ppg ppg), Holland (15.7 ppg) and Palmer (12.1 ppg). … Holland leads the team with 20 3-pointers, while Palmer (.851) and Holland (.846) are both shooting above 80 percent from the free throw line.
St. Thomas Tommie Notes: St. Thomas enters tonight's game ranked No. 5 in the latest D3hoops.com national poll. UST has been ranked in the top five for 17 consecutive polls, including a five-week stint as No. 1 last season. … UST fell behind at Carleton 15-1 on Saturday but used a 30-8 run on each side of halftime en route to the 60-51 victory. … With Saturday's win over Carleton, the Tommies tied the MIAC record for consecutive conference wins at 31. UST won its last regular-season game of 2007-08 and then won two playoff games; went 22-0 against conference teams last season; and now is 6-0 this season. UST is 41-1 against MIAC teams since January 2008. … UST is 60-2 at home against conference opponents over the last six seasons, including an 8-0 record in the MIAC playoffs. The lone home blemishes in that span are an overtime defeat to Carleton in 2005, and a 62-59 loss to Augsburg on Jan. 2, 2006. … The Tommies return nine of their top 14 players from last year's 30-1 squad that lost in the NCAA playoff quarterfinals to eventual champion Washington (Mo.). … Tommie starters average 37 ppg, and its bench averages 36 ppg. Tyler Nicolai (16.3 ppg), Joe Scott (10.5 ppg) and Alex Healy (10.1 ppg) have combined to score half of UST's 73 ppg. The Tommies are shooting 49 percent from the floor, 42 percent from 3-point range and average just 11.5 turnovers.
