WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, as the Cardinals entertain Saint John's in a 3 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.

The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-9 MIAC | 7-12 Overall) vs. Saint John's Johnnies (10-5 MIAC | 15-5 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals got 16 points from Quashingm Smith-Pugh (St. Paul, Minn.) and 11 from Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill.), but it was not enough, as Illinois Institute of Technology scored the game's first five points and never relinquished the lead in handing Saint Mary's a 71-62 nonconference setback Tuesday in Chicago, Ill. | Recap
• Saint John's: The Johnnies shot a season-low 36 percent from the field—making just seven second-half field goals—but still managed to pull out a 65-59 MIAC win over Macalester Wednesday at Sexton Arena in Collegeville, Minn. | Recap

Saint Mary's vs. Saint John's—Earlier This Year:
• January 2, 2016 * Collegeville, Minn.: Connor Kaiser (Rockland, Wis.) scored a team-high 20 points, but the Johnnies used a 47-26 scoring advantage over the final 20 minutes to hand the Cardinals an 81-68 setback at Sexton Arena | Recap

Saint Mary's vs. Saint John's—A Year Ago:
• January 14, 2015 * Collegeville, Minn.: Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) carried the hot hand for Saint Mary's, as the Cardinal junior poured in a team-high 22 points—one point shy of his season high. Swiggum's individual effort, however, was not enough to carry the Cardinals, as Saint John's—sparked by a 26-7 second-half run—pulled way to hand Saint Mary's a 93-74 setback at Sexton Arena | Recap
• February 11, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: Connor Kaiser (Rockland, Wis.) was red-hot for the Cardinals, as the freshman poured in a team-best 19 points—including a perfect 4-for-4 showing from the 3-point line and an unblemished 3-for-3 effort from the free throw line. But good as Kaiser was, Saint John's Mitchell Kuck was even better. Kuck scored a game-high 25 points—including 12 points in just six minutes in the second half—leading the Johnnies to a 94-70 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over the Cardinals at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals head to Moorhead, Minn., on Monday, squaring off against Concordia in a 7 p.m. conference matchup at Memorial Auditorium.
• Saint John's: The Johnnies are back on the road on Monday, traveling to St. Thomas' Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference showdowon with the Tommies.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015-16 Roster | 2015-16 Statistics | 2015-16 Schedule
• Tuesday's game against the Scarlet Hawks was the final nonconference game of the season for the Cardinals. … Saint Mary's game against Illinois Tech on Tuesday was its third straight road contest. The Cardinals play four of their final six regular-season contests at home—beginning Saturday against Saint John's. … The Cardinals head into Saturday's matchup with the Johnnies owning a 7-11 overall record it's the most wins since the 2010-11 season, when the Cardinals finished 9-16. … Quashingm Smith-Pugh scored a team-high 16 points in Tuesday's 71-62 loss to Illinois Tech, while Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill.) chipped in a career-high 11. … Hill, who went 3-for-4 from behind the 3-point line against the Scarlet Hawks, became the eighth player to record a single-game career-high of 10 or more points this season, joining Connor Kaiser (Rockland, Wis. / 22), Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn. / 20), Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn. / 22), Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn. / 20), Smith-Pugh (19), Braden Walbeck (Fall Creek, Wis. / 14), and Kai Endahl (Mendota Heights, Minn. / 13). … Endahl scored a team-best 13 points in Saint Mary's 57-52 win over Carleton last Saturday, becoming the seventh different player to lead the team in scoring this season. … The Cardinals have had a player score 20 or more points in a game seven times this season. … Swiggum—who owns seven career games of 20 or more points—heads into Saturday's game at Illinois Institute of Technology with 989 career points, leaving him just 11 points shy of becoming the 26^th player in program history to score 1,000 points. … Swiggum owns a team-high two double-doubles—giving the Cardinal senior 10 for his collegiate career. … Smith-Pugh, who has scored 10 or more points 13 times this season, recorded his first collegiate double-double against Macalester on Jan. 23, scoring 16 points and adding a career-high 12 rebounds. … Ferron owns the Cardinals' other double-double this season with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Concordia on Jan. 13. … Ferron hauled in a career-high 11 boards against Bethel on Jan. 11. … Smith-Pugh and Kaiser head into Saturday's conference game against Saint John's averaging in double figures at 11.7 ppg and 11.1 ppg, respectively. … Swiggum is the team's rebounding leader with 143 (7.5 rpg), while Ferron has also eclipsed the 100-rebound plateau with 104. … Swiggum has had 10 or more rebounds in a game four times this season—including a season- and career-best 16-rebound effort against Martin Luther on Nov. 24. … The Cardinals have netted a season-high 10 3-pointers twice this season… Kaiser owns a team-high 22 3-pointers, one more than Romportl and Gleason. … Kaiser finished with a season-high five 3-pointers against Saint John's on Jan. 2. … Smith-Pugh leads the team in assists with 50 and Mark Schumacher (Perham, Minn.) is the team-leader in blocks with 13. … Romportl and Kaiser boast a team-best 13 steals, one more than Walbeck. … Saint Mary's equaled its season high with 24 made free throws against Hamline on Jan. 20. The Cardinals also drained 24 free throws against St. Olaf on Jan. 9. … Saint Mary's has scored 80 or more points in three of its seven wins this season—including a season-high 85-point effort in its 85-70 win over Macalester on Dec. 5. … The Cardinals' 85 points vs. the Scots marked the highest offensive output since Saint Mary's tossed in 87 in an 87-80 victory over Macalester on Dec. 4, 2010. … Saint Mary's is averaging 69.2 ppg. … Saint Mary's boasted a season-high five players in double figures in the Cardinals' first meeting against Macalester—an 85-70 win—on Dec. 5. … The Cardinals ended a pair of streaks with their 57-52 win over Carleton on Jan. 30—snapping a two-game losing streak and a six-game slide against the Knights—while also snapping an 11-game losing streak against Augsburg with their Dec. 9, 68-65 victory.
 
Scouting The Saint John's Johnnies:
2015-16 Roster | 2015-16 Statistics | 2015-16 Schedule
• Saturday's game at Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back road games for the Johnnies, who play four of their final five games away from Sexton Arena. … Wednesday's 65-59 win over Macalester as SJU's second in its last three games—and fifth in the Johnnies' last seven. … The Johnnies, who entered Wednesday's game against Macalester shooting 50 percent from the field, shot a season-low 36 percent (18-for-50) against the Scots. The last time SJU shot 36 percent, or below, from the floor and won came on Feb. 22, 2012, when the Johnnies dropped Augsburg 47-45 in the MIAC Playoff quarterfinals. … The Johnnies' troubles from the field against the Scots came on the heels of an 8-for-27 showing in the first half of last Saturday's overtime loss to Bethel. … Joe Risinger scored a team-best 15 points against the Scots Wednesday, leaving three SJU players in double figures. Mitchell Kuck and Patrick Strom chipped in 14 and 11 points, respectively. … Risinger's effort vs. Macalester marked just the second time in SJU's 20 games that Alex Schmitt or Kuck did not lead the team in scoring. … Schmitt, who recorded his ninth 20-point game of the season—and 20^th of his career—with 26 points in SJU's overtime loss to Bethel last Saturday, heads into the Johnnies' showdown with Saint Mary's averaging a team-leading 17.9 ppg. Kuck (16.7 ppg), Tyler Weiss (11.9 ppg), and Risinger (11.9 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. … Weis has hauled in a team-leading 156 rebounds (7.8 rpg), while Risinger is second with 115 (5.8 rpg)—103 of which have come on the defensive end. … Kuck is the Johnnies' leader in both assists (97) and steals (36), while Weiss and Risinger have amassed 16 and 14 blocks, respectively. … Saint John's has knocked down 166 3-pointers through 20 games, and boasts three players—Schmitt (50), Strom (41), and Kuck (40)—with 40 of more treys. … SJU, which is averaging 78.4 ppg, has netted 80 or more points 11 times this season—including a pair of 91-point efforts in wins over Hamline and Augsburg. … The Johnnies have played a pair of overtime games this season—beating Bethel (89-78) and falling to Carleton (75-72). … SJU has put together winning streaks of three, four, and six games, while losing back-to-back games just once.