By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team returns to 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 (0-2 MIAC, 1-4 Overall) vs. Carleton Knights (1-0 MIAC, 3-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—December 2, 2017 * Minneapolis, Minn.: David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn.) scored a career-high 15 points, but the Cardinals could not overcome Augsburg's 52-point first half in falling to the Auggies 93-74 in an MIAC contest at Si Melby Hall | Recap
• Carleton—December 2, 2017 * River Falls, Wis.: Kevin Grow scored a game-high 29 points, but the Knights were unable to knock off 10^th-ranked UW-River Falls, falling to the Falcons 72-69 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Carleton—A Year Ago:
• November 30, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's buried 12 3-pointers—including nine in the first half—and held off a late Carleton charge to beat the Knights 74-67 at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• January 25, 2017 * Northfield, Minn.: Saint Mary's ran into a buzz-saw in its rematch with Carleton, as the Knights shot a blistering 60 percent from the field in handing the Cardinals an 86-55 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at West Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday, returning to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 1 p.m. conference matchup against Bethel.
• Carleton: The Knights hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Macalester's Leonard Center in St. Paul, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference matchup against the Scots.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• After five straight road games—including an exhibition contest against NCAA Division II Winona State—Wednesday's game against Carleton is the first of back-to-back home games for the Cardinals, who have collected five of their last seven wins on their home court. … David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn.) scored a career-high 15 points to lead the Cardinals' offense in last Saturday's 93-74 loss to Augsburg. … Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wis.) also scored in double figures against the Auggies last Saturday, equaling his career high with 11 points. … Lindstrand, Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill.) and James Cullen (Western Springs, Ill.) have all led or shared the team lead in scoring twice this season. … Saint Mary's has now had seven players record single-game career highs of 10 or more points this season—Cullen (24), Anthony-Bello (16), Lindstrand (15), Nate Urell (Fountain City, Wis. / 14), Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis. / 12), Bailey (11), and Kristjan Meitz (Waukesha, Wis. / 10). … Cullen was held to seven points against the Auggies last Saturday. It was just the second time in the Cardinals' first five games that the senior has been held under 10 points. … The Cardinals put a season-high five players in double figures in their 86-76 loss to Concordia-Chicago on Nov. 25. … Along with his 14 points against Concordia-Chicago on Nov. 25, Anthony-Bello also hauled in a career-best 11 rebounds en route to his first collegiate double-double—and the Cardinals' first double-double of the season. … Saint Mary's enters Wednesday's conference showdown against Carleton boasting three players—Cullen (11.8 ppg), Anthony-Bello (10.8 ppg), and Lindstrand (10.4 ppg)—averaging in double figures. … Anthony-Bello is the team's rebounding leader with 30 (6.0 rpg). … Lindstrand boasts a team-high 11 assists, while Lindstrand and Anthony-Bello share the team lead with eight steals. … The Cardinals have drained 36 3-pointers through five games—including a season-high 10 against Gustavus last Wednesday. … Cullen leads the team with 11 3-pointers. … With their 89-75 win over Martin Luther on Nov. 15, the Cardinals have now opened their season with a win in each of their last four seasons—including back-to-back years with season-opening victories over the Knights. … The Cardinals' 89 points vs. Martin Luther on Nov. 15 marked their highest offensive performance of the season, and the most points scored since erupting for 106 points in a 111-106 loss to Augsburg on Jan. 11. The 106 points were just four shy of the school-record 110 points, set against UM-Duluth during the 1952-53 season. … The Cardinals scored 80 or more points four times last season.
 
Scouting The Carleton Knights:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the second of three straight road contests for the Knights, who are 2-1 away from West Gym this season. … Carleton's 72-69 loss to 10^th-ranked UW-River Falls last Saturday snapped its season-opening three-game winning streak. … Kevin Grow scored a game- and season-high 29 points in the Knights' three-point loss to No. 10 UW-River Falls last Saturday. The 29-point effort was one shy of his career high. … Grow's 29 points marked the 10^th time in his collegiate career that the senior has netted 20 or more points. … Along with his 29 points, Grow also hauled in 12 rebounds en route to his fourth straight double-double—not the mention his 36^th career double-double, which ranks fourth among active NCAA Division III players. … Now with 773 career rebounds, Grow moved past Bryan Rosett and into third place on the Knights' all-time list. Grow also climbed over Seth Jonker and into 24th place on Carleton's career scoring list with 1,057 points. … Joh Farmer recorded a season-best 11 points, and Ryan Casperson chipped in 10 points and nine boards in the Knights' loss to UW-River Falls last Saturday. … With his team-leading 29 points against UW-River Falls last Saturday, Grow became the third different player to lead the team in scoring through four games. … Carleton has had a 20-point scorer in three of its four games—Matthew Stritzel netted 22 against UW-Platteville on Nov. 24, while Kent Hanson poured in 29 against Hamline on Nov. 29 and Grow equaled that performance against UW-River Falls last Saturday. … Grow enters Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's averaging a double-double (21.0 ppg, 12.8 rpg). … Grow is one of three Knights who are averaging 10 or more points through four games—Hanson (16.3 ppg) and Stritzel (13.0 ppg) are the others. … Henry Bensen is the team's assist leader with 18, seven more than Quinn Johnson, while Hanson owns a team-leading seven steals. … Carleton is shooting 52 percent from the field (109-for-209) and have knocked down 21 of 60 3-point attempts (.25 percent). … Stritzel has accounted for 12 of the Knights' 21 3-pointers. … As a team, the Knights are averaging 74.6 ppg, while limiting their opponents to a 67.0 ppg average. … Carleton scored a season-high 84 points in an 84-71 win over UW-Platteville on Nov. 24. On the flip side, UW-River Falls' 72 points in last Saturday's 72-69 win were the most allowed the Knights this season.