CHICAGO, Ill.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team steps out of conference play on Tuesday, squaring off against North Park in a 4 p.m. nonconference showdown.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-4 Overall) at North Park Vikings (7-2 Overall), 4 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) scored a career-high 22 points, but Viterbo used a 42-29 second-half scoring advantage in handing the Cardinals an 82-73 nonconference setback at the Saint Mary's Gym on Dec. 20 | Recap
• North Park: Jordan Robinson scored a game-high 30 points, as the Vikings handed Saint John's a 69-62 nonconference setback in Chicago, Ill., on Dec. 20 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. North Park—Their Last Meeting:
• November 26, 1988: Saint Mary's and North Park have not met since the 1988-89 season, when the Vikings handed the Cardinals an 87-83 nonconference setback in Chicago, Ill.
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, traveling to Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead, Minn., for a 3 p.m. showdown with Concordia.
• North Park: The Vikings are back on their home court in Chicago, Ill., on Saturday, as North Park entertains Milikin in a 7 p.m. CCIW contest.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Tuesday's game against North Park is just the second road game of the season for the Cardinals, who have played four of their first five games on their home court. … Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) netted a career-high 22 points against Viterbo on Dec. 20. … Ferron's 22-point effort was the Cardinals' highest individual single-game performance of the season. … Ferron was one of three Cardinals to score in double figures vs. the V-Hawks on Dec. 20—Nick Ogren (Stillwater, Minn.) and Mark Schumacher (Perham, Minn.) finished with 15 and 14 points, respectively. … Saint Mary's has put three players in double figures in three of their first five games this season. … Ogren's 15-point effort vs. Viterbo was a career best. … Schumacher hauled in a team-best seven rebounds against Viterbo—it was his third-straight seven-rebound performance. … The Cardinals' leading rebounder has hauled in seven boards in four of their five games this season. … Ronnie Ortiz (Dayton, Ohio), who tossed in a season-high 15 points to pace the Cardinals against Augsburg on Dec. 6, has scored in double figures in four of Saint Mary's five games this season. …  Ortiz heads into Tuesday's matchup at North Park averaging 10.6 ppg, while Ferron is second at 9.2 ppg. … Jake Rhyner (Apple Valley, Minn.) knocked down a team-high three 3-pointers en route to his collegiate-best 11-point effort vs. Hamline on Dec. 3. … Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.), an honorable-mention All-MIAC selection in a year ago—and the team-leader in both scoring average (12.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg)—has a team-high 26 rebounds (5.3 rpg)—one more than Schumacher. … Saint Mary's, which drained 113 3-pointers last season, has netted 29 treys through five games. … Ogren is shooting 47 percent from behind the arc and leads the team with nine 3-pointers. … The Cardinals' 70-67 win over Hamline on Dec. 3 snapped their eight-game losing streak vs. the Pipers, dating back to a 98-77 win on Feb. 10, 2010. … The win over Hamline was also the Cardinals' first season-opening victory since beating Crown 78-57 to kick off the 2010-11 season.
 
Scouting The North Park Vikings:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Tuesday's game against Saint Mary's is the second straight contest against a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe—North Park dropped Saint John's 69-62 on Dec. 20. … With their victory over Saint John's on Dec. 20, the Vikings improved to 7-2—their best start under coach Tom Slyder and the best start by a North Park team since the 2008-09 season. … All seven of North Park's wins have come on their home court, where the Vikings are a perfect 7-0. … After dropping a 76-65 decision to St. Norbert in their season opener, the Vikings rattled off six straight wins and are 7-1 in their last eight—the lone loss a 90-86 overtime setback to the University of Chicago on Dec. 17. … Robinson's 30-point effort vs. SJU on Dec. 20 was not only a game high, but also the highest single-game offensive performance of the season for the Vikings. … North Park has had a player score 20 or more points in all nine games this season. … North Park boasts three players averaging in double figures, led by Juwan Henry, who enters Tuesday's showdown vs. Saint Mary's scoring at a 21.5 ppg clip. Robinson (17.2 ppg) and Colin Lake (11.4 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. … Robinson also owns a team-leading 71 rebounds (7.9 rpg), while Henry has dished out a team-best 55 assists and Lake leads the team with 20 steals. … As a team, the Vikings had drained 62 3-pointers, led by Henry with 15, Lake with 13, and Garrett Gatz with 12. … North Park is averaging 74.1 ppg—and scored a season-high 90 points in a 90-66 victory over Illinois College on Nov. 29.