WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team closes out its three-game homestand Wednesday evening, as the Cardinals host Saint John's in a 7:30 p.m. MIAC game at the SMU Gym.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-8 MIAC | 3-13 Overall)
vs. Saint John's Johnnies (5-6 MIAC | 9-7 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals raced out to an 11-point first-half lead against defending national champion St. Thomas, but the Tommies bounced back, turning a four-point, 39-35 halftime lead into a 77-59 conference win at the SMU Gym on Saturday. … Saint John's, meanwhile, had no answer for Concordia's red-hot 3-point shooting, as the Cobbers shot 69 percent from behind the 3-point in the first half and never looked back in  beating SJU 89-64 in Moorhead, Minn.

SMU vs. Saint John's — Earlier This Year:
December 5, 2011: Saint John's jumped out to an 11-point, 33-22, halftime lead — the second time in as many games that SMU trailed by 11 at the break — in handing SMU a 69-58 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback in Collegeville, Minn.

SMU vs. Saint John's — A Year Ago:
January 17, 2011: Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.) missed out on his fifth straight double-double by one rebound, but the SMU sophomore's effort was not quite enough, as Saint John's broke away from a three-point halftime advantage in handing the Cardinals an 84-68 MIAC setback in Collegeville, Minn.
February 16, 2011: SMU shot 59 percent from the field and took a 38-31 lead into the break, but couldn't equal their torrid shooting from the field over the game's final 20 minutes, falling to the Johnnies 74-67 in an MIAC game at the SMU Gym.

Up Next:
The Cardinals hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 3 p.m. MIAC showdown against St. Olaf. … Saint John's, meanwhile, is back at home on Saturday, as the Johnnies host Carleton in a 3 p.m. conference contest in Collegeville, Minn.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
Wednesday's game against Saint John's is the third straight home game for the Cardinals, who have picked up two of their three wins on their home court this season. … After a 3 p.m. road game at St. Olaf on Saturday, SMU will begin its second three-game homestand next Monday against Concordia. … Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.) recorded his second straight 20-plus point performance Saturday against St. Thomas. Just three days after netting 28 points in a win over Carleton last Wednesday, Burfeind tossed in 25 points against St. Thomas on Saturday. … Burfeind's 25-point effort vs. UST marked the eighth time this season the SMU junior has scored 20 or more points. … Burfeind — who has led the team in scoring in 11 of their 15 games and owns the top five individual offensive outputs this season — has now scored in double figures in 15 of the Cardinals' 16 games. … Burfeind's career-high 38 points against Concordia on Dec. 7 was the first 30-point effort of Burfeind's career and was the most scored by a Cardinal since Will Wright tossed in 41 against MacMurray (Ill.) on Nov. 22, 2008. … Pat Freeman (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) chipped in 14 points against the Tommies on Saturday. … Burfeind (16 points) and Freeman (12) accounted for 28 of the team's 35 first-half points against UST Saturday. … Freeman recorded a career-high nine rebounds against Hamline on Jan. 16. … Burfeind, who recorded his first collegiate double-double with 26 points and 12 rebounds in SMU's first meeting against Saint John's on Dec. 5, enters Monday's SJU rematch as the team leader in scoring (20.1 ppg) and rebounding (5.4 rpg). He also boasts a team-best .850 free thorw percentage, going 96-for-113. … Burfeind's 19.3 ppg average ranks him second in the MIAC in scoring. … Freeman also enters Wednesday's game vs. SJU averaging in double figures at 10.9 ppg. … Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.), who had back-to-back 14-point games against Augsburg on Jan. 14 and Hamline on Jan. 16, is the team's assist leader with 54 and ranks third on the team in scoring, averaging 8.1 ppg. … The Cardinals enter Wednesday's game against Saint John's averaging 60.6 ppg. They scored a season-high 79 points in a 91-79 loss at UW-Oshkosh on Nov. 25, 2011. … Three of SMU's top five offensive outputs have come on the road. … SMU's 35-point first-half effort against St. Thomas was its second-highest first-half output of the season, one point shy of the 36 points the Cardinals scored against UW-Oshkosh on Nov. 25. … Last Wednesday's 64-60 win over Carleton put an end to a pair of streak for the Cardinals, who snapped their two-game losing streak, while also ending a 23-game losing streak against the Knights. SMU had not beaten Carleton since a 69-55 win in Northfield on Jan. 29, 2000. … With their win over Macalester on Jan. 7, the Cardinals improved to 7-0 vs. the Scots under coach Todd Landrum.

Saint John's Johnnies News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
The Johnnies' 89-64 loss at Concordia Saturday was their second straight, and dropped SJU to 1-4 in its last five games. … Saint John's has now lost five straight at Concordia. …The Cobbers' 89 points Saturday were the most allowed by the Johnnies this season. … SJU's 69-58 win over Saint Mary's in the teams' first meeting on Dec. 5, propelled the Johnnies to a season-high six-game winning streak. … The Johnnies, who missed nine of their first 11 shots vs. Concordia Saturday, got double-figure scoring from Aaron Barmore (14 points) and Seth Marx (12) in the 89-64 loss. … Marx's 12 points came on four 3-pointers. … Barmore has now led the team in scoring in each of their last three games — including a season-high 27-point effort against Macalester on Jan. 16. … Marx owns the team's lone double-double, scoring 20 points and adding 10 rebounds in a 78-71 win over Hamline on Jan. 7. … Barmore enters Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's with a team-leading 13.6 ppg scoring average, while Andy Burns is also averaging in double figures at 11.1 ppg. … Marx is the team's rebounding leader (80, 5.0 rpg), while Burns has dished out a team-best 62 assists. … The Johnnies have been outscored 503-451 in the first half, but have outscored their opponents by 66 (570-504) after intermission.