ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team hits the road on Wednesday, traveling to Schoenecker Arena for a 7:30 p.m.  MIAC showdown with league-leading and No. 1-ranked St. Thomas.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-10 MIAC | 3-14 Overall)
at #1 St. Thomas Tommies (11-1 MIAC | 16-1 Overall)

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Last Action:
Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) scored 23 points and Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) added 22, but the Cardinals could not overcome a 14-point halftime deficit in falling to Hamline 94-78 at the SMU Gym Monday. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, suffered its first loss of the season, as the Tommies went 0-for-4 from the field in the game's final 50 seconds in falling to Concordia 54-52 Monday in Moorhead, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — Earlier This Year:
December 5, 2012: It was a tale of two halves for SMU against conference-leading and fifth-ranked St. Thomas at the SMU Gym. In the first half, the Cardinals gave the high-powered Tommies all they could handle in a see-saw 20 minutes that saw seven lead changes and ended with UST clinging to a six-point, 39-33 advantage. In the second half, however, the Tommies' high-pressure defense proved to be too much for SMU, as UST opened the half with an 11-0 run and outscored the Cardinals 62-30 over the games final 20 minutes en route to a 101-63 St. Thomas victory at the SMU Gym.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
January 21, 2012: If SMU was intimidated by St. Thomas' gaudy resume — which included “defending national champion” and “nationally ranked” — they certainly didn't show it. In fact, for the first 20 minutes, the Cardinals gave the Tommies all they could handle — and more. Unfortunately, the second half wasn't as memorable for SMU, as St. Thomas outscored the Cardinals 38-24 over the game's final 20 minutes to hand Saint Mary's a 77-59 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the SMU Gym.
February 18, 2012: Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) scored 17 points, but it wasn't enough, as SMU closed out its 2011-2012 season with a 70-40 MIAC setback against St. Thomas at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals get some much-needed rest now. After playing 10 games in a 22-game span, SMU is off until next Wednesday, when it travels to St. Peter, Minn., for a 7:30 p.m. conference game against Gustavus. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, is right back at home on Saturday, as the Tommies host Hamline in a 3 p.m. game at Schoenecker Arena.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
For the second game in a row, Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) eclipsed the 20-point barrier Monday evening against Hamline. Just two days after netting a career-high 24 points against Augsburg, Swiggum poured in a game-high 23 points against Hamline Monday. … Swiggum also hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. … With his 23-point showing against Hamline Monday, Swiggum has now scored in double figures in five straight games and nine times this season. … With his 11 rebounds Monday — two boards short of his career high — Swiggum has now led the team in rebounding in three straight games and 11 times in the Cardinals' 17 games. … Swiggum's other two double-doubles this season have both come against St. Olaf — 10 points and 11 rebounds vs. the Oles on Nov. 28, and 24 points, 13 boards vs. STO last Wednesday. … Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) chipped in 22 points against the Pipers, while Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.) added 17. … Pederson's 22 points were one shy of his season-high 23-point effort against North Central (Minn.) on Nov. 17. … Monday's effort by Swiggum and Pederson marked the first time this season the Cardinals have boasted two players with 20 or more points in the same game. … Burfeind has now scored in double figures in 13 of the 14 games he's played this season. He's also scored in double figures in 35 of his last 39 games and 43 times in his four-year collegiate career. … Among those 43 double-figure efforts have been 14 games of 20 or more points — including six this season. … Burfeind scored a season-high 28 points against Bethany Lutheran on Dec. 12, and netted 26 points last Saturday in a 75-72 win over Bethel. … With his 17 points vs. St. Olaf, Burfeind moved to within 36 points of becoming the 25th Cardinal to reach the 1,000 career-point milestone. … Burfeind heads into Wednesday's conference game at St. Thomas owning an 18.3 ppg scoring average — first on the team and fourth in the MIAC. …  Pederson is also averaging in double figures at 11.4 ppg. … The Cardinals have posted three games this season with four double-figure scorers. … Swiggum's 124 rebounds (7.1 rpg) are tops on the team and third-best in the MIAC. … Pederson, who recorded 80 assists a year ago — the most since Brensley Haywood dished out 81 assists during the 2006-2007 season — has recorded a career-best nine assists twice this season and enters Wednesday's game at St. Thomas boasting a team-best 79 assists. … Pederson has played every minute six times this season, including two of the team's last three games. … The Cardinals knocked down a season-high 30 free throws on 36 attempts vs. Hamline Monday — including a 24-for-28 effort in the second half. … After averaging 57.8 ppg a year ago, the Cardinals are on a 63.9 ppg clip this season. … SMU's 78 points against Hamline Monday equaled its season high — the Cardinals also scored 78 points against North Central on Nov. 17.

Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
The Tommies had their 16-game winning streak — and 18-game conference winning streak — snapped with their 54-52 loss at Concordia on Monday. … The Tommies enter Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's ranked No. 1 in the latest d3hoops.com poll. It's the third UST men's basketball team in the last five years to reach No. 1. After starting this season at No. 11, the Tommies have climbed in each of the last five polls from No. 5 to 4 to 3 to 2 to No. 1. … Zach Riedeman scored 14 points and Will DeBerg added 10 in UST's loss at Concordia Monday. … The Cobbers held St. Thomas 35 points under their season scoring average. … UST's 52-point effort was its lowest offensive output in the Tommies' last 93 games. … The Tommies enter Wednesday's game against St. Thomas boasting three players averaging in double figures — DeBerg (12.3 ppg), Tommy Hannon (10.6 ppg) and John Nance (10.1 ppg). … Hannon also owns a team-leading 110 rebounds (6.6 rpg). … The Tommies are 76-10 in games he's played in his career. … DeBerg (41) and Marcus Alipate (21) have accounted for 60 of the team's 119 3-pointers. … UST is shooting 43 percent (119-for-275) from behind the 3-point line. … DeBerg has 120 career 3-pointers, including 102 in 46 games since joining the starting lineup past season. … UST boasts 11 players with 10 or more assists, led by Nance (44), Noah Kaiser (44) and Erik Tengwall (41). … UST has surpassed 90 points nine times, including an exhibition win at Division II Winona State, which is now 14-3 and in the thick of the Northern Sun Conference race. … St. Thomas is averaging 85.2 ppg and is on pace to shatter the 29-year-old school record of 82.7 ppg. … St. Thomas' 15 3-point baskets made at St. Olaf on Jan. 14 tied the 21-year-old school record for most threes made in one game. The Tommies converted 15 of 30 from behind the arc, by seven different shooters. … The Tommies are 12-1 in MIAC play and have built leads of at least 25 points in five of their last six games — with Monday's showdown with Concordia the lone exception. … Monday's loss at Concordia was the Tommies' first road loss of the season, dropping UST to a 9-1 away from Schoenecker Arena. … UST returns home for games this week against Saint Mary's (Wednesday) and Hamline (Saturday). The Tommies are 33-3 since moving into the new Schoenecker Arena in 2010-11, with 13 wins in a row. …  The Tommies have won a Division III-best 121 games in the last five seasons. That includes a 91-15 record since the current seniors joined the varsity in 2009-10. … Out of 1,000-plus NCAA institutions at all levels, St. Thomas is the first to win its first 14 football games and first 14 men's basketball games in the same school year.