WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team bids farewell to its five graduating seniors, as the Cardinals close out the season with a 3 p.m. MIAC game against Augsburg Saturday at the SMU Gym.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-16 MIAC | 4-20 Overall)
vs. Augsburg Auggies (13-6 MIAC | 18-6 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Action:
Saint John's scored the game's first seven points and the Cardinals could not recover, as the Johnnies handed SMU a 77-50 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback Wednesday at Sexton Arena in Collegeville, Minn. … Augsburg, meanwhile, locked up third place in the MIAC standings with an 88-64 conference win over Macalester Wednesday at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn.

SMU vs. Augsburg — Earlier This Year:
January 19, 2013: Three days after hauling in a career-best 13 rebounds en route to his second collegiate double-double against St. Olaf, Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) poured in a career-high 24 points against Augsburg. Swiggum's Herculean effort, however, was not enough, as Augsburg scored four unanswered points in the game's final 39 seconds to hand SMU a heartbreaking 64-61 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn.

SMU vs. Augsburg — A Year Ago:
January 14, 2012: In a game that saw 13 lead changes and neither team owning a lead of bigger than five points, SMU's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest against Augsburg lived up to assistant coach Kevin Landrum's pre-game billing — going right down to the wire. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, despite boasting four players in double figures, it was the Auggies who came out on top, as Augsburg knocked down four free throws over the final 44 seconds to escape the SMU Gym with a 65-61 win over the Cardinals.
February 11, 2012: The first time SMU and Augsburg squared off, the game went right down to the wire, with the Auggies escaping the SMU Gym with a 65-61 victory. And the two teams picked up right where they left off when they met again on the Auggies' home court. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their second straight nailbiter against the Auggies ended in much the same fashion as the first, as Augsburg dealt SMU a 66-57 setback.

Up Next:
Saturday's game is the season finale for the Cardinals. … Augsburg, meanwhile, has already locked up the third seed in the upcoming MIAC Tournament. The Auggies will play the conference's sixth seed (to be determined) next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
Saturday's game against Augsburg is the final collegiate game for SMU seniors Josh Bennett (North St. Paul, Minn.), Tom Gores (Rochester, Minn.), Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.), Joe Murray (Burr Ridge, Ill.) and Brian Thomas (Bellwood, Ill.). … Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) scored a team-high 12 points for the Cardinals against Saint John's on Wednesday, hitting 3 of 9 field goals, including a 1-for-2 showing from behind the 3-point line, while adding a 5-for-6 effort from the free throw line. … Burfeind, who became the 25th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points against Concordia on Feb. 3, has scored in double figures in 38 of his last 46 games and 47 times in his collegiate career. … Among Burfeind's 47 double-figure performances have been 15 games of 20 or more points — including seven this season. … Burfeind owns the team's top four scoring performances this season — netting a season-high 28 points against Bethany Lutheran on Dec. 12, tallying 26 points against Crown (Dec. 18) and Bethel (Jan. 12), and scoring 24 vs. Concordia (Feb. 3). … Burfeind heads into Saturday's season finale against Augsburg with a team-best 15.9 ppg scoring average. … Burfeind is one of four Cardinals averaging in double figures — Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis. / 11.6 ppg), Schumacher (10.1 ppg) and Swiggum (10.1 ppg) are the other three. … Thomas scored a career high 14 points in SMU's win over Macalester on Feb. 6. Twelve of Thomas' 14 points came in the second half. … Swiggum, who has scored in double figures 12 times this season, netted 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'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. … Swiggum, who pulled down a game- and career-high 14 rebounds against Macalester on Feb. 6, has led the team in rebounding 13 times and enters Saturday's game against Augsburg with a team-best 173 rebounds (7.2 rpg). … Murray hauled in a team- and career-best eight rebounds vs. Bethel last Saturday. … The Cardinals have posted three games this season with four double-figure scorers. … Swiggum owns a team-leading three double-doubles this season. … Before suffering a season-ending knee injury, Pederson had dished out 93 assists for the season — the most since the 2001-02 season, when Lance Larson recorded 94 assists. … Pederson recorded a career-best nine assists twice 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. … 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. … With their Feb. 6 58-46 win, the Cardinals improved to 9-1 against Macalester under coach Todd Landrum.

Scouting The Augsburg Auggies:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
Wednesday's 88-64 win over Macalester was the Auggies' second straight and third in their last four games. … Augsburg has scored 80 or more points in each of its last three wins — and eight times this season. … The Auggies netted a season-high 106 points in a 106-87 win over Saint John's on Feb. 4, and, after a 63-56 loss to Carleton two days later, Augsburg has netted 82 and 88 points in wins over St. Olaf and Macalester, respectively. … Augsburg boasted four players in double figures against the Scots on Wednesday, led by Andy Seidlitz with 17. Noah Veach (16), Tyler Schmidt (12) and Dan Kornbaum (11) also reached double figures vs. Maclaester. … Veach added a career-best six assists on Wednesday, while Seidlitz's 17 points marked the 10th time this season he has reached double figures in scoring. … Kornbaum enters Saturday's game at Saint Mary's boasting a team-leading 18.2 ppg scoring average, while also owning a team-best 189 rebounds (7.9 rpg). … Kronbaum has accounted for the Auggies' top four individual offensive performances, scoring a season-best 27 points against Carleton on Jan. 9, while netting 27 points on three separate occasions. … The Auggies, who are averaging 73.0 ppg as a team, boast four players averaging in double figures. Along with Kornbaum, Schmidt (10.7 ppg), Brett Rasmussen (10.5 ppg) and Parker Hines (10.3 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. … Hines has dished out a team-leading 102 assists, while Schmidt and Seidlitz are second with 50 assists each. … Hines is also the team-leader in steals (29), while Schmidt has knocked down a team-best 43 3-pointers. … Augsburg has netted 135 3-pointers this season, with Schmidt (43), Hines (37) and Seidlitz (21) accounting for 101 of them. … With their win over Macalester Wednesday, the Auggies improved to 9-3 on their home court. Augsburg enters Saturday's game at Saint Mary's with an identical 9-3 mark on the road.