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 close out their regular-season schedule with a 3 p.m. contest against Saint John's at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-15 MIAC, 6-17 Overall) vs. Saint John's Johnnies (12-7 MIAC, 16-8 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program | Senior Salute
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—February 15, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team gave playoff-bound St. Thomas all it could handle—and then some. In fact, the Cardinals trailed by just four, 44-40 midway through the second half, and were within striking distance late in regulation—only to have Grant Shaeffer score 10 points in a 12-5 St. Thomas run that lifted the Tommies to a 65-57 victory at Schoenecker Arena | Recap
• Saint John's—February 15, 2017 * Collegeville, Minn.: The Johnnies held off Hamline 65-63 at Sexton Arena, locking up the No. 4 seed, and a home game, in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint John's—Earlier This Year:
• January 14, 2017 * Collegeville, Minn.: Saint Mary's put four players in double figures—led by Quashingm Smith-Pugh (St. Paul, Minn.) with 12—but the Cardinal offense could not match the firepower of Saint John's. The Johnnies shot 62 percent from the field—including draining 20 of 26 field goals in scoring 49 first-half points—as the Johnnies dealt the Cardinals a 94-74 Minnesota Intercollegiate setback at Sexton Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint John's—A Year Ago:
• January 2, 2016 * Collegeville, Minn.: Saint Mary's had the upper hand against Saint John's during the opening 20 minutes of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at Sexton Arena. In fact, when the Cardinals headed into the locker room at the break, they were enjoying an eight-point, 42-34 advantage. Unfortunately, the second half against the Johnnies wasn't nearly as kind, as SJU outscored Saint Mary's 47-26 over the final 20 minutes in handing the Cardinals an 81-68 setback | Recap
• February 6, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals erupted for 42 first-half points in its rematch against Saint John's, shooting 54 percent from the field and knocking down 5 of 9 3-pointers—and yet they trailed by 14. As good as the Cardinals were, Saint John's was even better, as the Johnnies missed just seven field goals attempts—and drained 9 of 11 3-pointers—in building a 56-42 halftime advantage. And despite a Herculean effort in the game's final 20 minutes, the Cardinals could not quite make up the deficit, falling to the Johnnies 89-80 at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: Saturday's game against the Johnnies' is the regular-season finale for the Cardinals.
• Saint John's: Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the regular-season finale for the Johnnies. Saint John's kicks of MIAC Playoff action on Tuesday, hosting the No. 5 seed (yet to be determined) in a 7 p.m. game at Sexton Arena in Collegeville, Minn.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Saturday's game against Saint John's is the final collegiate home game for Cardinal seniors Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.), Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.), Quashingm Smith-Pugh (St. Paul, Minn.), and Chad Schlosser (Stillwater, Minn.). … The Cardinals have recorded four of their six wins this season on their home court. … The Cardinals' last three wins have been decided by a combined nine points—75-70 over Hamline, 76-74 against Macalester, and 75-73 vs. Gustavus. … Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) led the Cardinals in scoring for the second game in a row in Wednesday's loss to defending national champion St. Thomas, netting 16 points. The senior also matched his career high with 13 rebounds en route to his fifth double-double of the season—and sixth of his collegiate career. Ferron also hauled 13 boards in the Cardinals' 75-73 win over Gustavus on Dec. 10. … Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill.) and Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.) also scored in double figures against the Tommies, finishing with 12 and 10 points, respectively. … Ferron has scored in double figures in 12 of the Cardinals' last 15 games—and in 18 of the team's 23 contests this season. … Ferron has scored a career-high 24 points twice this season—setting the career mark against Augsburg on Jan. 11, and matching that performance against Macalester on Jan. 30. … Eighteen of Ferron's 24 points vs. Macalester on Jan. 30 came in the first half. … Ferron owns a team-high four games of 20 or more points. Along with his 24-point efforts against Macalester and Augsburg, the senior also scored 22 points against Gustavus in the teams' first meeting on Dec. 10, and equaled that 22-point effort against St. Thomas on Jan. 18. … Quashingm Smith-Pugh (St. Paul, Minn.) scored 10 points and added a team-high 10 rebounds against Augsburg last Monday to record his team-leading sixth double-double of the season, and seventh of his Cardinal career. … Smith-Pugh has now notched 10 or more rebounds seven times this season—including three games with a career-high 11 boards and four more with 10. … Smith-Pugh scored a career-high 30 points in the Cardinals' 111-106 overtime loss to Augsburg on Jan. 11. … Smith-Pugh's 30-point effort was the highest single-game performance since Will Wright poured in 30—also against Augsburg—on Feb. 19, 2010. … The Cardinals boast nine players who have recorded single-game career highs of 10 points or more this season—Smith-Pugh (30), Ferron (24), Romportl (22), James Cullen (Western Springs, Ill. / 22), Cole Kruger (Hayfield, Wis. / 17), Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn. / 15), Jason Timm (Brillion, Wis. / 12), David Lindstrand (Euclid, Minn. / 10), and Liam Gorman (Orland Park, Ill. / 10). … The Cardinals have posted five players scoring in double figures twice this season—achieving the feat in a 74-67 win over Carleton on Nov. 30 and in an 89-86 loss to Hamline on Jan. 2. … The Cardinals enter their regular-season finale against Saint John's Saturday boasting three players averaging in double figures—Ferron (13.7 ppg), Romportl (11.3 ppg), and Smith-Pugh (11.0 ppg). … Ferron and Smith-Pugh are also the team's rebounding leaders with 162 (7.0 rpg) and 150 (6.5 rpg) rebounds, respectively. … Smith-Pugh leads the team in assists with 61. He is one of seven Cardinals with 20 or more assists—Kruger (48), Romportl (46), Lindstrand (40), Ferron (35), Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn. / 31), and Cave (20) are the others. … Ferron is the team's steals leader with 23. … Saint Mary's shot a season-best 51 percent (32-for-63) from the field against Hamline on Jan. 2. … The Cardinals, who are shooting 43 percent from the field (588-for-1356) through 23 games, have knocked down 179 3-pointers—including 10 or more six times. … The Cardinals—who are 10 3-pointers shy of the school record of 189 set during the 1995-96 season—equaled their season high with 13 3-pointers against Saint John's on Jan. 14—it was the second time this season Saint Mary's has hit 13 treys in a game, and the most since raining in 13 against Bethel on Jan. 19, 2008. … Romportl leads the way with 50 3-pointers. … Saint Mary's has gotten at least one 3-pointer from all 15 players this season. … As a team, the Cardinals are averaging 72.0 ppg, while their opponents are scoring at an 80.4 ppg clip. … The Cardinals erupted for 106 points in their 111-106 loss to Augsburg in the team's first meeting 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 have scored 80 or more points four times this season. … Saint Mary's game against Augsburg on Jan. 11 was its first overtime contest of the season—and the first since beating Crown 86-81 on Nov. 23, 2013. … The Cardinals' 78-76 loss to Macalester on Jan. 30 marked the second straight meeting between the two teams that was decided by two points. Saint Mary's beat the Scots 76-74 in their first meeting on Jan. 4. … With their 75-73 win over Gustavus on Dec. 10, the Cardinals put an end to a 12-game slide against the Gusties that dated back to a 78-75 win on Jan. 27, 2010.
 
Scouting The Saint John's Johnnies:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• The Johnnies enter Saturday's regular-season finale against Saint Mary's having won two of their last three, sandwiching victories over Gustavus (90-65) and Hamline (65-63) around a 100-97 overtime loss to Macalester. … The Johnnies' 65-63 win over Hamline on Wednesday was its 12^th win in the last 13 meetings with the Pipers on SJU's home court. … Saint John's had three players score in double figures against Hamline Wednesday, led by Patrick Strom with 19. Tyler Weiss and Garrett Goetz each chipped in 10 points for the Johnnies. … Strom also fell one rebound short of his first career double-double, finishing with a team-best nine boards. … The Johnnies head into Saturday's matchup against Saint Mary's boasting four players who are averaging in double figures—Tyler Weiss (17.5 ppg), David Stokman (17.3 ppg), Jubie Alade (12.5 ppg), and Strom (11.1 ppg). … Saint John's has had a player score 20 or more points in a game 18 times this season—including four games of 30 or more points. Alade netted 30 against Augsburg on Feb. 8, while Stokman has put together games of 31 (vs. UW-Superior), 33 (vs. Concordia and Bethel), and a season-high 37 (vs. Macalester). …  Weis has also hauled in a team-leading 149 rebounds (6.2 rpg). … Garrett Goetz owns a team-high 91 assists, three more than Stokman, while Shareif Bailey is the team's steals leader with 22. … Weiss has amassed a team-high 20 blocked shots, with John Oliver second with 11. … Saint John's is shooting 50 percent from the field (669-for-1335), and has knocked down 198 3-pointers—including 15 against Gustavus on Feb. 11 and a season-high 17 against UM-Morris on Nov. 19. … Saint John's boasts five players with 10 or more 3-pointers, led by Stokman with 74 and Strom with 55. … Saint John's is averaging 79.6 ppg, its opponents are scoring at a 73.5 ppg clip. … SJU has scored 70 or more points in 19 of its 24 games—including five games of 80 or more points and five others in which the Johnnies have netted 90-plus points. … Saint John's scored a season-high 97 points in its 100-97 overtime loss to Macalester on Monday.