PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team hits the court on Wednesday, squaring off against Carnegie Mellon in a 1 p.m. nonconference game at Skibo Gymnasium.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-3 Overall) at Carnegie Mellon Tartans (4-4 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—December 22, 2016 * Green Bay, Wis..: James Cullen (Western Springs, Ill.) knocked down three 3-pointers and scored a team-high nine points, but the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team could not slow down the high-octane offense of UW-Green Bay, as the NCAA Division I Phoenix dealt the Cardinals a 108-59 setback in an exhibition game at Resch Center | Recap
• Carnegie Mellon—December 7, 2016 * Erie, Pa.: Penn State-Behrend erupted for 51 second-half points, erasing a 14-point Tartan halftime lead in handing Carnegie Mellon a 76-65 setback at Junker Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Carnegie Mellon—Their Last Meeting:
• Thursday's game between the Cardinals and the Tartans is the first in program history.
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Monday, traveling to Hamline's Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. matchup against the Pipers.
• Carnegie Mellon: The Tartans hit the road on Friday, traveling to Lancaster, Pa., for a 5 p.m. (EST) contest against Franklin and Marshall.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Wednesday's nonconference game against Carnegie Mellon is the second of four straight road games for the Cardinals. Saint Mary's next home game is Jan. 11 against Augsburg. … Three of the Cardinals' four wins this season have come on their home court. … With their 75-73 win over Gustavus on Dec. 10, 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. … James Cullen (Western Springs, Ill.) scored a team-high nine points in the Cardinals' exhibition loss to NCAA Division I UW-Green Bay on Dec. 22. … Cullen has now knocked down seven 3-pointers in the Cardinals' two exhibition games this year—going 4-for-4 from behind the arc against Winona State on Nov. 21, and hitting 3 of 7 vs. UW-Green Bay on Dec. 22. … 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 Carnegie Mellon Tartans:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the Tartans' first home game since Nov. 26, having played their last three contests away from Skibo Gymnasium. … Carnegie Mellon enters its showdown with Saint Mary's having collected three of its four wins on the Tartans' home court. … After opening the season with four wins in their first six games—including a season-high three-game winning streak—the Tartans have dropped their last two contests. … Jack Serbin scored a team- and season-high 16 points in the Tartans' loss to Penn State-Behrend on Dec. 7. … Chris Shkil and Ryan Maha also scored in double figures against Penn State-Behrend, netting 15 and 12 points, respectively. … Serbin also posted a team-high 15 rebounds to record his sixth double-double in eight games this season. … Serbin enters Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's averaging a team-leading 17.5 ppg. Serbin is one of three Tartans averaging in double figures—Chris Shkil (13.5 ppg) and Maha (11.1 ppg) are the other two. … Serbin has hauled in a team-best 95 rebounds and is averaging a double-double through the team's first eight games (17.5 ppg and 11.9 rpg). … Carnegie Mellon is shooting 42 percent from the field (211-for-500), and has knocked down 44 3-pointers. … Maha owns a team-leading 16 3-pointers, while Serbin is second on the team with 11. … Colin McNeil is the team's assist (22) and steals (11) leader, with Serbin and Shkill sharing the Tartans' top spot with 15 blocks each. … Carnegie Mellon is averaging 70.9 ppg, while limiting its first eight opponents to a 66.1 ppg scoring average. … The Tartans have scored 70 or more points in three of their four wins—including a season-high 102-point effort in a 102-67 rout of Mt. Aloysius on Nov. 26. … The Tartans had all 15 players record at least one point in their 102-67 win over Mt. Aloysius. … With this win over Mt. Aloysius, Carnegie Mellon improved to 22-1 in program history when scoring 100 points in a contest. The lone loss came in a 102-100 setback to Westminster College in 2004.