ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team kicks off its 2012-2013 season at the ACR Homes Tip-Off Tournament this weekend, squaring off against host Northwestern at 8 p.m. on Friday, then taking on North Central at 3 p.m. on Saturday.



The Cardinals' Tournament Matchups:
Friday, November 16, 2012 | St. Paul, Minn.
SMU Cardinals (2011-12: 5-20 Overall) vs. Northwestern Eagles (2011-12: 17-11 Overall)
Saturday, November 17, 2012 | St. Paul, Minn.
SMU Cardinals vs. North Central Rams (2011-12: 11-12 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats | Video Preview | Tournament Homepage

Last Action:
The ACR Homes Tip-Off Tournament is the regular-season opener for Saint Mary's, Northwestern and North Central.

SMU vs. Northwestern — Their Last Meeting:
Friday's season- and tournament-opening game between Saint Mary's and Northwestern will be the first-ever meeting between the Cardinals and the Eagles.

SMU vs. North Central — Their Last Meeting:
Saturday's game between Saint Mary's and North Central will be the first-ever meeting between the Cardinals and the Rams.

SMU Up Next:
The Cardinals are back on the road on Tuesday, traveling to River Forest, Ill, for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against Dominican (Ill.) University.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012-13 Roster | 2011-12 Final Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.) enjoyed a career year in 2011-12, averaging a team-best 18.0 ppg, while also owning team-highs in field goals made (163), free throws made (114), free throw percentage (.832) and blocked shots (11). … Burfeind's 18.0 ppg average ranked No. 3 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. … Burfeind — a First-Team All-MIAC selection a year ago — led the team in scoring in 18 of its 25 games. … Burfeind, who enters his senior season just 292 points shy of 1,000 career points, scored in double figures 22 times last season — including a streak of 19 straight games with 10 or more points. … Burfeind, who owned the top five individual offensive outputs last season, eclipsed the 20-point plateau nine times. His season- and career-high 38-point output 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. … Burfeind recorded his first collegiate double-double with 26 points and 12 rebounds in SMU's first meeting against Saint John's on Dec. 5. … Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) — named to the MIAC's All First-Year Team — scored a career-best 17 points in the team's season-finale against St. Thomas on Feb. 18. … Along with an 8.7 ppg scoring average, Pederson led the team with 80 assists — the most since Brensley Haywood dished out 81 assists during the 2006-2007 season. … LaMonte Hall (Minneapolis, Minn.) recorded a career-high 15 points vs. St. Olaf on Dec. 3 and hauled in a career-best seven rebounds vs. Hamline on Feb. 15. … The Cardinals boasted five players — Burfeind (24), Pat Freeman (13), Hall (12), Pederson (10) and Brandon Larsen (Rochester, Minn. / 10) — in double figures against UW-Oshkosh on Nov. 25. … The 10 points were a career-best for Larsen. … The Cardinals finished the season averaging 57.8 ppg. They scored a season-high 79 points in a 91-79 loss at UW-Oshkosh on Nov. 25, 2011. … SMU's top four offensive outputs came on the road. … With their 54-41 win over Macalester on Feb. 4, the Cardinals improved to 8-0 vs. the Scots under coach Todd Landrum. … SMU's 64-60 win over Carleton on Jan. 18, 2012 put an end to a 23-game losing streak against the Knights. SMU had not beaten Carleton since a 69-55 win in Northfield on Jan. 29, 2000.

Scouting The Northwestern Eagles:
2012-13 Roster | 2011-12 Final Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
Northwestern finished the 2011-2012 season with a 17-11 overall record. The Eagles won the UMAC Tournament to advance to the NCAA Division III National Tournament for the second consecutive year. … Northwestern fell to eventual national champion UW-Whitewater 83-68 in the NCAA Tournament's opening round. … Tom Gisler has led all of NCAA Division III nation in 3-point shooting percentage in each of the last two years. In 2011-2012, Gisler made 71 of his 140 attempts for a 50.7 mark. Gisler also closed out his junior year second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.1 ppg. … Wade Chitwood has led Northwestern in scoring in each of the last two years, owning a 13.6 ppg scoring average as a sophomore, while scoring at a 17.3 ppg clip last season. … Chitwood crossed the 1,000 point mark for his career in last year's UMAC Tournament championship game against Bethany Lutheran and heads into the season with 1,014 career points. … Chitwood recorded the team's top two offensive outputs a year ago, scoring 31 points against Luther on Dec. 9, while pouring in 29 against Whitman on Nov. 17. … The 2012-2013 senior class of Gisler, Chitwood, Ellis Libby and Lance Westberg have played in a combined 294 games over the last three years. Gisler and Chitwood have consistently started since their sophomore campaigns, with Libby and Westberg earning regular starts midway through the 2011-2012 season. … The Eagles closed out the regular season winning eight of their last nine games a year ago. … Head coach Tim Grosz is the Eagles' winningest coach, having earned 230 career victories throughout his 12-year career at the team's helm. … Under Grosz, Northwestern has hit 20 wins in five times and have won nine UMAC regular-season titles.

Scouting The North Central Rams:
2012-13 Roster | 2011-12 Final Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
The Rams did not graduate a player off last year's team that went 12-11 a year ago and reached the National Christian College Athletic Association Division II Regional final, where they were ousted by Trinity Bible 83-78. … Nathan Roeder and Andrew Berndt earned NCCAA All-American honors a year ago. … Roeder was named an NCCAA DII First Team All-American for the second straight season a year ago — becoming the first playing in NCU history to earn two First-Team awards. … Roeder was also selected the Association of Division III Independents (AD3I) Player of the Year a year ago. … Roeder averaged 22.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg and 4.5 apg a year ago, while also setting the NCU single-game scoring record with 44 points vs. Crown College on Jan. 17. … Roeder became the Rams all-time record holder for free throws made, while also shooting over 85 percent from the line in his 83-game career. … Roeder enters his senior season boasting 1,499 career points. … Berndt, meanwhile, was an honorable-mention NCCAA DII All-American, after averaging 19.8 ppg, 2.3 spg and 2.3 apg during his sophomore season. … North Central has accepted an invitation to join the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) as an associate member for 16 of its sports for the 2012-2013 academic year. The Rams, who already competed for conference championships in seven sports, will participate in each of the UMAC's 17 sports with the exception of football.