WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team returns home on Saturday, hosting Macalester in a 3 p.m. conference matchup at the SMU Gym.





The Teams:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-9 MIAC / 8-9 Overall)
Macalester Scots (1-10 MIAC / 1-15 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Action:
The Cardinals dropped a heartbreaker on Wednesday, as Bethel's Daniel Baah drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to break a 63-63 tie and lift the Royals to a 66-63 win over SMU in Arden Hills, Minn. … Macalester, meanwhile, has been off since last Saturday, when the Scots came out on the short end of a 69-59 conference decision against Bethel in St. Paul, Minn.

Earlier This Year:
December 4, 2010: Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) scored a season-high 29 points and Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) chipped in 23 points, as the Cardinals held off Macalester 87-80 in St. Paul, Minn.

A Year Ago:
December 2, 2009: SMU got a season-high 27 points from Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) and 18 from Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) — while holding off a late Scots' comeback attempt — en route to a 70-67 conference win in St. Paul, Minn.

January 20, 2010: SMU scored the game's first 10 points and never looked back, getting a game-high 24 points from Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.) and 21 more from Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) in a convincing 78-60 MIAC win at the SMU Gym.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are back on the road to kick off a busy week on Monday, as they travel to Moorhead, Minn., for a 7:45 p.m. conference game against Concordia. … Macalester, meanwhile, is also on the road on Monday, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a 7:30 MIAC game against Gustavus.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
Saturday's game against Macalester is just the third home game in the Cardinals' last 11 contests. SMU is back on the road on Monday at Concordia, before playing four of its last six games at the SMU Gym. … Gary Seifert (Prescott, Wis.), playing extended minutes for the injured Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.), equaled his career high with 17 points against Bethel Wednesday. … Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 16 points vs. the Royals, giving the Cardinal senior 1,636 career points. He currently ranks sixth all-time in program history, and trails No. 5 Doug Luebbe by 48 points. … With his 16 points vs. Bethel, Wright has now scored in double figures in 81 of his 92 collegiate games, including 32 games of 20 or more points. … Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) scored six points vs. Bethel Wednesday and boasts 1,263 career points, moving him past George Hoder for 11th all-time. … Palmer, who has collected nine double-doubles this season — and 17 in his collegiate career — is averaging a team- and conference-best 18.5 ppg. … Palmer, who is averaging 9.4 rebounds-per-game, has led the team in rebounding in 14 of its 16 games. … Palmer has scored in double figures in 10 straight games and 13 times this season — including a career-best 37 points in SMU's win over Bethel on Dec. 6. … Palmer's 37-point effort against Bethel was the Cardinals' highest individual offensive output since Wright scored 41 points vs. MacMurray on Nov. 22, 2008. … The Cardinals boasted two players with 20 or more points in their previous meeting against Macalester on Dec. 4, as Wright scored a game-high 29 points and Holland chipped in 23. Both were season highs. … The Cardinals enter today's game vs. Macalester with three players averaging in double figures — Palmer (18.5 ppg), Wright (16.6 ppg) and Holland (10.8 ppg). … Wright leads the team with 22 3-pointers. Holland (18), Palmer (17) and Pat Freeman (Champlin, Minn. / 16) have also netted 10 or more treys this season. … Wright and Palmer are one-two, individually, in the conference in free throw percentage. Wright is 64-for-71 (.901) from the line, while Palmer is 103-for-115 (.898). Along with his league-leading 18.5 ppg scoring average, Palmer is also second in the league in rebounding (150 rebounds, 9.4 rpg), while Wright is fourth in scoring (16.6 ppg). … Wright and Holland hold down the league's top two spots in minutes played at 35.40 and 34.80, respectively. … As a team, the Cardinals lead the MIAC and all of NCAA Division III in free throw percentage (.804), knocking down 279 of 347 attempts. … SMU also leads the MIAC in offensive rebounds (196, 11.50 orpg) … SMU's loss at St. Thomas on Jan. 3 snapped the Cardinals' season-high six-game winning streak. … SMU's 66-59 double-overtime win over Millikin on Dec. 29 was its first 2 OT game since the Cardinals lost to Concordia 63-59 on Jan. 3, 1998 | 2010-2011 Overall Statistics

Macalester Scots News and Notes:
The Scots enter today's game at Saint Mary's looking to put an end to a seven-game losing streak. The Scots have not won since beating Saint John's 90-81 in Collegeville, Minn., on Jan. 5. … Macalester's win over the Johnnies snapped three lengthy Scot losing streaks ¬ — a season-opening eight-game slide, a 26-game slump that dated back to an 81-69 win over Martin Luther on Dec. 14, 2009, and a 52-game conference losing streak that stretches back to Jan. 30, 2008. … Macalester has surrendered 70 or more points in 13 of its 16 games, while the Scots have eclipsed the 70-point barrier just five times — including their season-high 90-point effort vs. Saint John's on Jan. 5. … Justin Wasik scored 16 points and Pierce Peters chipped in 13 for the Scots in their loss to Bethel last Saturday. … Wasik's 16-point effort vs. Bethel marked just the fifth time in Macalester's 16 games that Peters did not lead the team in scoring. … Peters enters today's game at Saint Mary's averaging a team-best 16.5 ppg. He has scored in double figures in 14 of the team's 16 games — including six games of 20 or more points. … Wasik and Kyle Hamblett are also averaging in double figures at 11.0 ppg each. … Peters and Hamblett are the only Scots to have started all 16 games this season | 2010-2011 Overall Statistics