ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team is back on the road on Wednesday, as the Cardinals head to Gustavus for a 7:30 p.m. conference game against the Gusties at Gus Young Court.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-11 MIAC | 3-15 Overall)
at Gustavus Gusties (7-7 MIAC | 10-9 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Action:
SMU boasted a pair of double-figure scorers in Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) and Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.), but the Cardinals could not shut down high-powered St. Thomas, as the league-leading and No. 1-ranked Tommies handed SMU an 87-46 MIAC setback at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn., last Wednesday. … Gustavus, meanwhile,led by two points with 3:35 to play, but Saint John's tied the game with 1:09 remaining and knocked down two free throws with three seconds left to claim the two-point, 59-57 victory Saturday at Sexton Arena in St. Cloud, Minn.

SMU vs. Gustavus — Earlier This Year:
January 2, 2013: Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.) and Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) each scored in double figures, as SMU gave Gustavus all it could handle for the first 28 minutes at the SMU Gym. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, those final 12 minutes proved disastrous, as Gustavus scored 32 of the game's final 43 points to pull away for a 75-56 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

SMU vs. Gustavus — A Year Ago:
January 4, 2012: SMU got 15 points from Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.) and 10 from Tom Gores (Rochester, Minn.), but Gustavus used an 11-2 run to open the second half to pull away from the Cardinals in handing SMU a 62-45 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback in St. Peter, Minn.
February 8, 2012: Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.) scored a team-high 15 points, but the rest of the Cardinals couldn't seem to find their shooting touch, as Gustavus raced out to a 38-19 halftime advantage and never looked back in handing SMU a 64-44 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the SMU Gym.

Up Next:
After back-to-back road games, the Cardinals return home for a busy weekend, hosting Carleton on Saturday and Concordia on Sunday. Both MIAC games are slated for 3 p.m. at the SMU Gym. … Gustavus, meanwhile, hits the road on Saturday, traveling to Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference game against Hamline.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
Wednesday's game against Gustavus is the second straight road game for the Cardinals. … Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) continued to carry the hot hand for the Cardinals vs. top-ranked St. Thomas last Wednesday, as the freshman scored a team-best 15 points. … Swiggum has now scored in double figures in six straight games and 10 times this season. … Swiggum scored a career-high 24 points against Augsburg on Jan. 19, and followed that up with a 23-point effort against Hamline two days later. … The 24- and 23-point games marked the first two times in  his collegiate career that Swiggum has eclipsed the 20-point barrier. … Swiggum also hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds against Hamline on Jan. 21 en route to his third double-double of the season. … 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 in the team's rematch on Jan. 16. … Along with his 15 points, Swiggum also led the Cardinals with six rebounds vs. St. Thomas last Wednesday. It was the fourth straight game, and 12th time this season, he has led the team in rebounding. … Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) — coming off a 22-point showing against Hamline — chipped in 10 points vs. St. Thomas last Wednesday. … Swiggum's 23 points and Pederson's 22 vs. Hamline on Jan. 21 marked the first time this season the Cardinals have boasted two players with 20 or more points in the same game. … Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.), who has scored in double figures in 35 of his last 40 games and 43 times in his collegiate career, heads into Wednesday's showdown with Gustavus needing 32 points to become the 25th Cardinal to reach the 1,000 career-point milestone. … Among Burfeind's 43 double-figure performances 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. … Burfeind heads into Wednesday's conference game at Gustavus owning a 17.3 ppg scoring average — first on the team and fifth in the MIAC. … Pederson and Swiggum are also averaging in double figures at 11.9 ppg and 10.6 ppg, respectively. … The Cardinals have posted three games this season with four double-figure scorers. … Swiggum's 130 rebounds (7.2 rpg) are tops on the team and fourth-best in the MIAC. … Pederson dished out six assists vs. St. Thomas last Wednesday, giving the sophomore 85 assists for the season — the most since the 2001-02 season, when Lance Larson recorded 94 assists and Brett Johnson added 87. … Pederson has recorded a career-best nine assists twice this season. … Pederson has played all 40 minutes in six games this season. … The Cardinals knocked down a season-high 30 free throws on 36 attempts vs. Hamline on Jan. 21 — including a 24-for-28 effort in the second half. … After averaging 57.8 ppg a year ago, the Cardinals are on a 62.9 ppg clip this season. … SMU's 78 points against Hamline on Jan. 21 equaled its season high — the Cardinals also scored 78 points against North Central on Nov. 17.

Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
Saturday's two-point loss to Saint John's pushed the Gusties' losing streak to three straight — GAC has not won since beating Concordia 87-75 on Jan. 18. … Gustavus enters Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's boasting a 3-3 record in its last six games. … GAC's 57 points at Saint John's Saturday were the second-fewest scored by the Gusties this season. Gustavus was held to a season-low 55 points in a 59-55 loss to UW-Stout on Nov. 20. … Jim Hill scored a team-high 16 points against Saint John's. Hill was one of three Gusties to score in double figures vs. the Johnnies — Blake Shay (14) and Ben Biewen (11) were the other two. … Hill has now led the team in scoring in each of their last six games — including a season-high 23-point effort against Bethel on Jan. 23. … GAC has had five games with a player scoring 20 or more points — four by Hill and one by Biewen. … Hill enters Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's averaging a team-leading 16.3 ppg. Biewen is also averaging in double figures, scoring at a 14.9 ppg clip. … Hill is also the team's rebounding leader with 86 boards (4.8 rpg), while Biewen owns a team-leading 62 assists and 32 steals. … Gustavus has poured in 96 3-pointers, led by Biewen and Shay with 21 each. … As a team, the Gusties are shooting 50 percent from the field (464-for-924) and are averaging 69.1 ppg. … Gustavus is 4-5 on its home court, and 5-4 away from Gus Young Court.