GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team hits the court on Thursday, squaring off against NCAA Division I UW-Green Bay in a 7 p.m. exhibition game at the Resch Center.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-3 Overall) at UW-Green Bay Phoenix (5-6 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—December 10, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals snapped a 12-game losing streak against Gustavus, getting career-highs in points (22) and rebounds (13) from Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) in a 75-73 MIAC win over the Gusties at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• UW-Green Bay—December 19, 2016 * Green Bay, Wis.: Trevor Anderson scored a career-high 23 points and Kerem Kanter nailed a turnaround jump-hook with four seconds left in overtime to send Green Bay to a 94-92 win over SIU-Edwardsville at Resch Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-Green Bay—Their Last Meeting:
• Thursday's game between the Cardinals and the Phoenix is the first in program history.
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are now off until Dec. 28, when they travel to Pittsburgh, Pa., for a 2 p.m. (EST) nonconference game against Carnegie Mellon.
• UW-Green Bay: The Phoenix do not play again until Dec. 29, when they head to Cleveland, Ohio, for a 6 p.m. matchup against Cleveland State.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Thursday's exhibition game against UW-Green Bay is the first of four straight road games for the Cardinals. Saint Mary's next home game is Jan. 11 against Augsburg. … Two of the Cardinals' three wins this season have come on their home court. … With their 75-73 win over Gustavus, the Cardinals snapped their two-game losing streak, while also putting an end to a 12-game slide against the Gusties that dated back to a 78-75 win on Jan. 27, 2010. … Three of the Cardinals' four wins this season—including their 75-73 win over Gustavus on Dec. 10—have come on their home court. … Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) scored 22 points and hauled in 13 rebounds—both career highs—in the Cardinals' 75-73 win over Gustavus on Dec. 10. … Ferron, who owns three double-doubles this season and four for his collegiate career, was one of three Cardinals to score in double figures against the Gusties—Quashingm Smith-Pugh (St. Paul, Minn.) and Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.) chipped in 17 and 16 points, respectively. … Smith-Pugh also added 10 rebounds in posting his fourth double-double this season—and fifth as a Cardinal. … Smith-Pugh poured in a season-high 23 points in the Cardinals' loss to Bethel on Dec. 7. The 23 points were one shy of Smith-Pugh's career high—a 24-point effort against Saint John's on Feb. 6, 2016. … Smith-Pugh became the first Cardinal this season to score more than 20 points in a game. … The Cardinals put a season-high five players in double figures in their 74-67 win over Carleton on Nov. 30. … Saint Mary's—which also had five players score in double figures once last season—has had four or more players score in double figures in four of its seven games this season. … The Cardinals drained a season-high 12 3-pointers in their win against Carleton on Nov. 30—it was the most 3-pointers since Saint Mary's rained in 13 against Bethel on Jan. 19, 2008. … Saint Mary's has had four different players lead the team in scoring through seven games. … In his first game in a Cardinal uniform, Cole Kruger (Hayfield, Minn.) scored a team- and game-high 17 points against Martin Luther on Nov. 15. … The Cardinals enter their exhibition game against UW-Green Bay on Thursday boasting four players averaging in double figures—Ferron (14.3 ppg), Smith-Pugh (14.1 ppg), Gleason (10.7 ppg), and Kruger (10.1 ppg). … Smith-Pugh leads the team in rebounds with 62 (8.9 rpg), two more than Ferron (60, 8.6 rpg). … Smith-Pugh also leads the Cardinals in assists with 19, while Ferron owns a team-high eight steals. … Saint Mary's has knocked down 59 3-pointers in its first seven games—including 10 or more three times. … Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.) leads the way with 13 3-pointers, one more than Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill.) and two in front of Gleason. … Saint Mary's has gotten at least one 3-pointer from 12 different players this season. … As a team, the Cardinals are averaging 74.6 ppg, while limiting their first seven opponents to just 73.6 ppg. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 266-257 in the first half, while being outscored by just two, 258-256, after halftime. … The Cardinals' 82 points in their 99-82 loss to Bethel on Dec. 7 marked the second time this season they have eclipsed the 80-point barrier. Saint Mary's netted a season-best 84 points in its season-opening 84-50 win over Martin Luther on Nov. 15. … The Cardinals' 84 points against Martin Luther were one shy of the Cardinals' season-high from a year ago. Saint Mary's, which netted 80 or more points five times last season, scored a season-high 85-point effort in its 85-70 win over Macalester on Dec. 5. That 85-point performance 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 UW-Green Bay Phoenix:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Thursday's game against Saint Mary's is the third straight home game for the Phoenix, who are 2-1 at Resch Center this year. … The Phoenix's game vs. Saint Mary's is their second in the last four days—UW-Green Bay beat SIU-Edwardsville 94-92 in overtime on Monday. … UW-GB's win over SIU-Edwardsville on Monday snapped the Phoenix's two-game losing streak. … UW-Green Bay's six losses this season have come via three, two-game losing streaks. The Phoenix have won back-to-back games just once this year. … UW-Green Bay's win over SIU-Edwardsville was its second overtime game of the season—the Phoenix also beat Toledo 78-77 on Dec. 3. … Both UW-GB overtime wins snapped two-game losing streaks. … Trevor Anderson led three Phoenix in double figures against SIU-Edwardsville on Monday, scoring 23 points. Kareem Kanter chipped in 17 points and Jamar Hurdle added 16. … Anderson's 23 points were a career high. … Anderson and Charles Cooper enter Thursday's game against Saint Mary's as the team's scoring leaders, averaging 12.3 ppg. … Khalil Small is also averaging in double figures at 11.5 ppg. … Small is the team's rebounding leader with 60 (5.5 rpg). Small is one of four Phoenix with 50 or more rebounds through 11 games. … Anderson owns a team-leading 29 assists, seven in front of Tevin Findlay, while Warren Jones and Coopers lead the way with 12 and 11 steals, respectively. … UW-Green Bay, which is averaging 77.9 ppg, has scored 90 or more points three times this season—including a season-high 97-point effort in a 107-97 loss to Central Michigan on Dec. 6. … The Phoenix are shooting 43 percent from the field (297-for-689) and have knocked down 76 3-pointers. … Anderson (25) and Turner Botz (18) have accounted for 43 of the team's 76 treys. … The Phoenix are coming off a 23-13 season a year ago, in which they reached the NCAA Tournament, falling to Texas A&M 92-65 in the opening round.