ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team hits the road on Saturday, as the Cardinals travel to St. Thomas' Shoenecker Arena for a 3 p.m. conference battle with the 14th-ranked Tommies.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-14 MIAC | 3-18 Overall) at #14 St. Thomas Tommies (14-1 MIAC | 17-3 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Action:
The Cardinals nearly erased a 21-point halftime deficit against Carleton Wednesday, cutting the lead to five with less than five minutes remaining, but that's where the comeback would end, as the Knights hung on for a 62-51 MIAC win at the SMU Gym. … St. Thomas got 19 points from Zach Riedeman and outscored Bethel 37-28 in the second half Wednesday in cruising to a 65-56 conference win at Schoenecker Arena in St Paul, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — Earlier This Year:
January 11, 2014: SMU got a first-hand look at the juggernaut that is league-leading and nationally-ranked St. Thomas. The Tommies scored the game's first nine points and shot a blistering 50 percent from the field in handing the Cardinals an 87-58 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the SMU Gym.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
December 5, 2012: 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 game's final 20 minutes en route to a 101-63 St. Thomas victory at the SMU Gym.
January 23, 2013: 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 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals take to the road on Monday, as SMU heads to Northfield, Minn., for a 7:30 p.m. conference contest against Carleton at West Gym. … St. Thomas is also right back in action on Monday, as the Tommies head to Arden Hills, Minn., for a 7:30 p.m. MIAC game against Bethel. Both games were originally scheduled for last Monday, but were postponed due to frigid temperatures

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Saturday's game at St. Thomas is the first of three straight road games for the Cardinals, who do not return home until Feb. 22, when SMU hosts Augsburg in the teams' regular-season finale. … Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) scored a team-high 13 points against Carleton last Wednesday. … Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) also scored in double figures against the Knights Wednesday, finishing with 11 points. … Swiggum recorded his fourth double-double of the season — and seventh of his collegiate career — with 18 points and 13 rebounds against Macalester on Feb. 3. … Swiggum's 18 points equaled his season high, a feat he also accomplished against Crown and Gustavus earlier this season. … Swiggum's 13 rebounds were also one shy of his career high. … Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.), who had led the team in scoring in each of its last three games, was held to seven points against the Knights Wednesday. … Swiggum enters Saturday's game at St. Thomas leading the team in scoring (11.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg). … Pederson and Ferron also enter Saturday's matchup at St. Thomas averaging in double figures at 10.6 ppg and 10.0 ppg, respectively. … Pederson, coming off a school-record 11-assist performance against Macalester on Feb. 3, added four more helpers on Wednesday vs. Carleton and enters the St. Thomas game with a single-game career-high 98 assists. … Pederson owns the team's top two individual scoring performances this season — scoring a game-, season- and career-best 29 points against Macalester on Jan. 2, while netting 21 against Saint John's on Dec. 7. …  Pederson's 29-point performance vs. Macalester was the highest single-game outing since Michael Burfeind scored 38 points against Concordia on Dec. 7, 2011. … The Cardinals boast seven players who have recorded career-high games of 10 or more points this season — Pederson (29 points), Ferron (19), Ronnie Ortiz (Dayton, Ohio / 18), Bakari Collins (Kenosha, Wis. / 14), Trent Vix (Rushford, Minn. / 13), Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn. / 13) and Johnny Spillane (West St. Paul, Minn. / 11). … As a team, SMU has recorded 99 3-pointers this season — including a season-high 10 against both Carleton on Jan. 13 and Bethel on Jan. 22. … Vix is the team's 3-point leader with 24, followed by Pederson (16) and Swiggum (14). … Fueled by Pederson's 11 assists, the Cardinals set a school record with 25 assists vs. Macalester on Feb. 3. … The Cardinals' 79 points against Macalester on Feb. 3 marked their second-highest offensive performance of the season — SMU netted a season-best 86 in an 86-81 overtime win over Crown on Nov. 23. … SMU's 31-point win over the Scots was its largest margin of victory since beating Cal-Tech 87-37 on Dec. 18, 2003 and the largest against an MIAC team since dropping Saint John's 94-57 during the 1957-58 season. … With their 79-48 win over Macalester on Feb. 3, the Cardinals completed their two-game conference sweep of the Scots. SMU gave coach Jamison Rusthoven his first MIAC coaching win with its 67-51 win over Macalester in their first meeting on Jan. 2. … SMU's 86-81 win against Crown was the Cardinals' first overtime contest since Dec. 29, 2010, when the Cardinals outlasted Millikin 66-59 in double-OT. … SMU's 86 points against the Storm on Nov. 23 were the most since netting 87 points in an 87-80 win over Macalester on Dec. 4, 2010. … SMU's 86-81 OT win over Crown on Nov. 23 was coach Rusthoven's first collegiate head coaching victory.

Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
With their win over Bethel on Wednesday, the Tommies — ranked 14th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 — pushed their winning streak to five straight, while improving to a perfect 9-0 on their home court this season. … Wednesday's win was also UST's 30th consecutive home win. The Tommies are 46-3 on campus since the construction of the Anderson Athletics and Recreation Complex. … St. Thomas heads into the final two weeks of the regular-season holding a one-game lead over St. Olaf atop the MIAC standings. The Tommies, who beat the Oles 62-61 in their first meeting on Jan. 8, travel to Northfield, Minn., for the teams' rematch on Wednesday. … UST enters Saturday's game against Saint Mary's boasting a trio of players who are averaging in double figures — Zach Riedeman (12.6 ppg), Conner Nord (11.8 ppg) and Marcus Alipate (10.7 ppg). … Nord also owns the team lead in rebounds, averaging 7.4 rpg. … As a team, UST is scoring at a league-leading 76.0 ppg clip, while limiting its opponents to just 60.5 ppg. … St. Thomas has drained 140 3-pointers through 20 games, led by Alipate with 38. … St. Thomas has secured the program's 15th consecutive MIAC playoff berth and is closing in on its ninth 20-win season in a row. … St. Thomas posted an 8-1 record in January, and has started 3-0 in February. … St. Thomas has six second-half comeback wins this season. … UST boasts three seniors who were members of the 2011 NCAA title team, and 13 players who played on last winter's 30-2 Final Four squad. … In three seasons under head coach John Tauer, St. Thomas is 68-12, including victories in 42 of their last 44 games against MIAC opponents — the lone blemishes 77-69 loss at Saint John's on Jan. 20, and a 54-52 loss to Concordia last January in Moorhead, Minn. … St. Thomas has won an MIAC-record eight consecutive regular-season conference championships. … UST also already clinched a spot in the MIAC post-season tournament, meaning the Tommies have reached the MIAC tournament 26 times in the 27-year history of the format, boasting an all-time 30-14 record with 12 tournament titles — including seven of the last eight. … St. Thomas' 152 victories in the last six seasons combined lead Division III. UST's 152-20 record in that span includes a 112-11 record against conference opponents.