WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team kicks off its home schedule on Saturday, as the Cardinals entertain Crown in a 7:30 p.m. nonconference game at the SMU Gym.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-1 Overall) vs. Crown Storm (0-4 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals struggled to find their shooting touch early, and could not recover, falling to Viterbo 65-48 in their season-opener Wednesday evening in La Crosse, Wis. | Recap … Crown dropped its fourth straight on Thursday, as the Storm fell to Hamline 74-67 in a nonconference game in St. Paul, Minn. | Recap

SMU vs. Crown — Their Last Meeting:
December 8, 2012: Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.) scored 26 points and Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) added 16, but it was not enough, as Crown — behind Athony Di Loreto's 26 points and seven rebounds — held off the Cardinals 72-69 at the SMU Gym | Recap

Up Next:
The Cardinals are back in action next Friday and Saturday, when they head to Tacoma, Wash., to take part in the Pacific Lutheran Thanksgiving Classic. SMU will face host Pacific Lutheran at 10 p.m. (CST) on Friday, then square off against Puget Sound at 2 p.m. (CST) on Saturday. … Crown returns to the court on Tuesday, when the Storm head to St. Paul, Minn., for a 7:30 p.m. nonconference game against Macalester.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
The Cardinals boasted four players — Trent Vix (Rushford, Minn.), Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.), Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.) and Chad Schlosser (Stillwater, Minn.) — who made their first collegiate starts against Viterbo Wednesday. … Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) — an MIAC All-First-Year Team selection a year ago — scored a team-high 12 points in SMU's season-opening loss to the V-Hawks Wednesday. … Ferron chipped in eight points, while Johnny Spillane (West St. Paul, Minn.) finished with six and Vix added five. … Swiggum's 12-point effort against Viterbo marked the 14th time in his collegiate career that the sophomore has scored in double figures. … Swiggum recorded a pair of 20-point performances during his freshman campaign a year ago — netting a career-high 24 points against Augsburg on Jan. 19, then following that up with a 23-point effort against Hamline two days later. … Swiggum and Romportl shared the team's rebounding lead vs. the V-Hawks Wednesday with four boards each. … Swiggum grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds against Macalester on Feb. 6, 2013 and finished with a team-leading 178 rebounds (7.1 rpg) a year ago. … The Cardinals play three of their first four games on the road — Saturday's game vs. Crown the lone exception — before closing out the first semester portion of their schedule with three of four games on their home court.

Scouting The Crown Storm:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the second of three straight nonconference games against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes. The Storm squared off against Hamline on Thursday, and will face Macalester on Tuesday. …  Crown will also face MIAC foes Carleton (Dec. 14) and Concordia (Dec. 31) this season. …  Saturday's game is the fifth of seven straight road games to open the season for the Storm — who do not play a home game until hosting Finlandia on Dec. 3.  … Crown heads into Saturday's matchup with Saint Mary's looking to snap its season-opening four-game losing streak. … Truman Shetler scored a season-high 27 points — shooting 11-for-20 from the field — against the Pipers Thursday. … Bryce Williams, who drained five first-half 3-pointers vs. Hamline, finished with 25 points Thursday. … Shetler, Williams and Roland Owczarek (10 points) accounted for 62 of the Storm's 67 points against Hamline. … Williams enters Saturday's game at Saint Mary's averaging a team-best 24.3 ppg, while Shetler is also averaging in double figures at 13.5 ppg. … Williams has knocked down a team-leading 15 3-pointers, while Billy Berglund is the team's rebounding leader, owning 28 boards (7.0 rpg) through four games. … As a team, the Storm are scoring at a 62.7 ppg clip, while Crown's opponents are averaging 74.5 ppg.