WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team kicks off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as the Cardinals entertain Carleton in a 7 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0 MIAC, 2-1 Overall) vs. Carleton Knights (0-0 MIAC, 2-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—November 28, 2016 * Indianola, Iowa: The Cardinals put four players in double figures—including a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double from Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.)—but it was not enough, as Simpson got 40 points from Sam Amsbaugh and pulled away in the second half in dealing Saint Mary's an 82-66 nonconference setback | Recap
• Carleton—November 25-26, 2016 * Laie, Hawaii: The Knights went 1-1 during their biennial trip to the Hawaiian Islands last weekend, falling to NCAA Division II Hawaii Pacific 79-70 last Friday, before rebounding with a 68-59 win over BYU-Hawaii—also an NCAA Division II team—a day later | Hawaii Pacific Recap * BYU-Hawaii Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Carleton—A Year Ago:
• December 16, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: No matter what Saint Mary's tried, they could not find a way to cool off hot-shooting Carleton. The Knights shot a blistering 52 percent from the field—and knocked down eight of their 14 3-point attempts—in handing the Cardinals a 71-48 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• January 30, 2016 * Northfield, Minn.: It was a streak-snapping kind of day for the Cardinals. Kai Endahl (Mendota Heights, Minn.) led a trio of Cardinal players with a career-high 13 points, as Saint Mary's put an end to a two-game losing streak—and a six-game slide against Carleton—with a 57-52 victory over the Knights at West Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home to the Saint Mary's Gym on Saturday, hosting Concordia in a 3 p.m. MIAC matchup.
• Carleton: The Knights take to the road on Saturday, traveling to Saint John's Sexton Arena in Collegeville, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference showdown with the Johnnies.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Wednesday's game against Carleton is the first of back-to-back home games for the Cardinals, who play three of their next four contests at the Saint Mary's Gym. … Monday's 82-66 loss at Simpson snapped the Cardinals' season-opening two-game winning streak. … The Cardinals' season-opening two-game winning streak was their second in as many seasons—Saint Mary's opened last year with an 84-50 win over Crossroads and an 80-60 victory against Martin Luther. … The Cardinals put four players in double figures against Simpson on Monday—led by Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) and Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.) with 12 points each. Quashingm Smith-Pugh (St. Paul, Minn.) chipped in 11 points and Cole Kruger (Hayfield, Minn.) added 10. … Saint Mary's has now had four players score in double figures in two of its three games this season—the Cardinals also had four players net 10 or more points in their season-opening win over Martin Luther on Nov. 15. … The Cardinals have now had a different player lead them in scoring in each of their three contests this season. … Ferron hauled in a team-best 10 rebounds against the Storm Monday en route to his second double-double this season. … Smith-Pugh has also put together two double-doubles through the Cardinals' first three games—scoring 11 points and adding 11 rebounds against Martin Luther on Nov. 15, and adding 17 points and 11 boards vs. Luther last Saturday. … Ferron now owns four double-doubles in his collegiate career, while Smith-Pugh has three. … Smith-Pugh's 11 rebounds against both Martin Luther and Luther were one shy of his career high. … Smith-Pugh has now scored in double figures in all three of Saint Mary's games this season—and 19 times in his two years as a Cardinal. … In his first game in a Cardinal uniform, Kruger scored a team- and game-high 17 points against Martin Luther on Nov. 15. … The Cardinals enter Wednesday's game against Carleton boasting three players averaging in double figures—Ferron (13.7 ppg), Smith-Pugh (12.7 ppg), and Kruger (12.0 ppg). … Smith-Pugh also leads the team in rebounds with 31 (10.3 rpg), four more than Ferron (9.0 rpg). … Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.) is the team's assist lead with nine—one more than both Ferron and Smith-Pugh—while Kruger leads the team in steals with four. … Saint Mary's knocked down seven 3-pointers against Simpson on Monday and have now poured in 27 treys in three games. … The Cardinals netted a season-high 10 3-pointers in each of their first two games. The 10 3-pointers are one shy of last season's single-game high of 11, posted against Saint John's on Feb. 6. … Romportl, Kruger, and Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill.) lead the team with six 3-pointers each, two more than Gleason. … As a team, the Cardinals are averaging 74.7 ppg, while limiting their first three opponents to just 64.7 ppg. … Saint Mary's owns a 22-point scoring edge over the game's final 20 minutes, outscoring its opponents 116-94 in that span. … Saint Mary's 84 points against Martin Luther in its season-opening 84-50 win on Nov. 15 were one shy of the Cardinals' season-high from a year ago. Saint Mary's, which eclipsed the 80-point barrier five times last season, scored a season-high 85-point effort in its 85-70 win over Macalester on Dec. 5. … The Cardinals' 85 points vs. the Scots a year ago marked the highest offensive output since Saint Mary's tossed in 87 in an 87-80 victory over Macalester on Dec. 4, 2010.  … The Cardinals closed out the season with nine wins a year ago—the most since the 2010-11 campaign, when Saint Mary's finished 9-16. The Cardinals' seven conference wins, meanwhile, are the most since going 7-13 in 2009-10.
 
Scouting The Carleton Knights:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• The Knights head into Wednesday's conference opener having sandwiched wins against Bethany Lutheran (84-64) and BYU-Hawaii (68-59) around a 79-70 loss to Hawaii Pacific. … Two of Carleton's first three opponents—Hawaii Pacific and BYU-Hawaii—are NCAA Division II schools. … Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the third straight road contest for the Knights, who return home to West Gym in Northfield, Minn., on Saturday for the first of six straight home games. … Mitchell Biewen scored 21 points and Freddie Gillespie added 17 points and 11 rebounds in Carleton's loss to Hawaii Pacific last Friday, while Kevin Grow posted 19 points and 13 rebounds in the Knights' win over BYU-Hawaii a day later. … Gillespie's 17 points and 11 rebounds last Friday against Hawaii Pacific were both career highs. … Grow has now led the team in scoring in two of the Knights' first three games this season, while three different players have led the team in rebounding. … Carleton has had a player record 10 or more rebounds in all three games this season—Ryan Casperson (17) against Bethany Lutheran, Gillespie (11) vs. Hawaii Pacific, and Grow (13) against BYU-Hawaii. … Grow heads into Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's averaging a team-best 16.0 ppg. He is one of three Knights averaging in double figures—Biewen (15.3 ppg) and Beau Smit (11.0 ppg) are the other two. … Carleton has knocked down 18 3-pointers through three games, with Biewen accounting for 11 of them. … Quinn Johnson has dished out a team-best 15 assists, five more than Peter Bakker-Arkema, while Bakker-Arkema, Smit, and Biewen own a team-high three steals each. … As a team, the Knights—who are averaging 74.0 ppg—are shooting 49 percent from the field (81-for-166), including an 18-for-46 effort from behind the 3-point line. … Carleton has outscored its first three opponents 222-202, including 104-87 in the first half. … The Knights scored a season-high 84 points in their season-opening 84-64 win over Bethany Lutheran on Nov. 15.