WINONA, Minn. — After three straight road games to open the season, the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team returns home on Wednesday, hosting St. Olaf in a 7:30 p.m. conference-opening game vs. St. Olaf at the SMU Gym.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0 MIAC | 0-3 Overall)
vs. St. Olaf Oles (0-0 MIAC | 1-2 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals dropped a heartbreaker on Nov. 20, as Dominican's Anthony Keener drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer, lifting the Stars to a 56-53 nonconference win over SMU in River Forest, Ill. … St. Olaf, meanwhile, trailed by as many as 22 late in the second half, only to have its late-game rally fall just short in an 81-75 loss to Luther on Nov. 19 at the Skoglund Center in Northfield, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Olaf — A Year Ago:
December 3, 2011: SMU went point-for-point with St. Olaf in the second half of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup at the SMU Gym. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the first half was a different story, as the Oles built an 11-point, 35-24 halftime advantage, and held off a late Saint Mary's comeback to beat SMU 67-56.
January 28, 2012: Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.) scored 18 points and Pat Freeman (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) added 14, but the duo's efforts were not enough against St. Olaf, as the Oles handed Saint Mary's a 90-69 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Skoglund Center in Northfield, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are back on the road on Monday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 7:30 p.m. conference showdown at Hamline. … St. Olaf, meanwhile, is back on the road on Saturday, heading to St. Paul, Minn., for a 3 p.m. MIAC contest against Macalester.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
Wednesday's game vs. St. Olaf is the home opener for the Cardinals, who went 4-7 on their home court a year ago. … Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) and LaMonte Hall (Minneapolis, Minn.) each scored nine points to lead the Cardinals vs. Dominican on Nov. 20. … Pederson also equaled his career-high with seven assists vs. the Stars on Nov. 20. … Pederson, who scored a career-high 23 points against North Central on Nov. 17 — while also setting career marks for field goal attempts (17), 3-point field goal attempts (5), free throws made (6) and free throws attempted (9) — has played every minute of the Cardinals' last two games and has been on the court for 110 of a possible 120 minutes this season. … Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) poured in a career-best 18 points against North Central on Nov. 17, while Mark Schumacher (Perham, Minn.) did his collegiate-opening 11-point performance one better with 12 points against North Central. … Schumacher added 11 rebounds against North Central to record his first collegiate double-double. … Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.), who scored a game-high 18 points in SMU's season-opening loss to Northwestern — but has missed SMU's last two games with a concussion — is just 274 points shy of 292 points shy of 1,000 career points. … With his 18 points against Northwestern on Nov. 16, Burfeind has now scored in double figures 33 times in his collegiate career — including nine games of 20 or more points. … Burfeind enters Wednesday's conference opener against St. Olaf averaging a team-best 18.5 ppg scoring average, while Pederson (16.0 ppg) and Schumacher (10.3 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. … After averaging 57.8 ppg a year ago, the Cardinals are on a 66.3 ppg clip in their first three games this season. … SMU's six highest offensive outputs over the past two seasons have all come on the road.

Scouting The St. Olaf Oles:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
After opening the season with a 74-66 win over Bethany Lutheran, the Oles have dropped back-to-back home games. … St. Olaf's losses to UW-Stevens Point and Luther have been by a combined seven points. … St. Olaf scored a season-high 81 points in an 82-81 loss to UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 17. … St. Olaf had four players score in double figures against Luther on Nov. 19, led by Sterling Nielsen's 21-point effort. Nielsen went 9-for-16 from the field to record his second straight 20+ point game of the season. … Riley Aeikens (17 points), Connor Gunderson (13) and Justin Pahl (10) were the other three Oles to score in double figures vs. Luther. … Nielsen enters Wednesday's game vs. Saint Mary's averaging a team-best 17.3 ppg. He is one of three Oles averaging 10 or more points — Aeikens (15.0 ppg) and Gunderson (13.0 ppg) are the other two. … Nielsen also leads the team with 13 assists in three games, while Nielsen, Gunderson and Josh Pratt have all hauled in a team-leading 11 rebounds. … St. Olaf has been outscored 115-106 in the first half, but have outscored its opponents 128-114 over the game's final 20 minutes.