By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, as the Cardinals travel to Saint John's Sexton Arena for a 1 p.m. matchup against the Johnnies
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-5 MIAC, 1-9 Overall) at Saint John's Johnnies (5-0 MIAC, 9-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—December 29-30, 2017 * Wisconsin Dells, Wis.: The Cardinals dropped both of their games at the JustAGame Classic, falling to fourth-ranked UW-Oshkosh 87-50 and to UW-Platteville (84-60) | UWO Recap * UWP Recap
• Saint John's—January 3, 2018 * Moorhead, Minn.: The Johnnies converted 17 Concordia turnovers into 15 points, as Saint John's rolled to a 72-55 win over the Cobbers at Memorial Auditorium | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint John's—A Year Ago:
• 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
• February 18, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) and Quashingm Smith-Pugh (St. Paul, Minn.) did everything in their power to give themselves—and fellow seniors Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.) and Chad Schlosser (Stillwater, Minn.)—the perfect senior send-off Saturday afternoon. Saint John's Patrick Strom, however, had to rain on their parade. Ferron and Smith-Pugh provided an explosive 1-2 offensive combination—scoring 22 and 16 points, respectively—but Strom proved to boast the knockout punch, scoring a game-high 30 points in lifting Saint John's to a 76-65 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over the Cardinals at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Monday, as Saint Mary's entertains Concordia in a 7 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.
• Saint John's: The Johnnies hit the road on Monday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference showdown against Carleton.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• Saturday's game at Saint John's is the fourth straight road game for the Cardinals. … The Cardinals have collected five of their last seven wins on their home court. … Christian Oliveras (Bolingbrook, Ill.) and James Cullen (Western Springs, Ill.) led the team in scoring in the Cardinals' two games at the JustAGame Classic last weekend. Oliveras scored a career-high 11 points against fourth-ranked UW-Oshkosh on Dec. 29, while Cullen poured in a team-best 16 points against UW-Platteville the final day. … Oliveras became the fourth different player to lead or share the team lead in scoring. Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill.) leads the way, having led or shared the team lead five times this season. … Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wis.) equaled his career high with 11 points against Bethel on Dec. 9. The Cardinal freshman has now reached the 11-point mark three times this season. … Saint Mary's has had eight players record single-game career highs of 10 or more points this season—Cullen (24), Anthony-Bello (16), David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn. / 15), Nate Urell (Fountain City, Wis. / 14), Oliveras (11), Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis. / 12), Bailey (11), and Kristjan Meitz (Waukesha, Wis. / 10). … 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. … Anthony-Bello and Cullen enter Saturday's MIAC game against Saint John's leading the team in scoring with 9.9 ppg and 9.7 ppg averages, respectively, while Rosner (8.5 ppg), Lindstrand (8.4 ppg) and Bailey (8.2 ppg) are all averaging more than eight points per game. … Anthony-Bello is the team's rebounding leader with 46 (4.6 rpg), eight more than Bailey (38, 3.8 rpg) … Lindstrand boasts a team-high 19 assists. He is one of four players with 10 or more assists through 10 games—Cullen (15), Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill. / 15), and Bailey (14) are the others. … Anthony-Bello owns a team-high 15 steals, two more than Lindstrand. … The Cardinals have drained 66 3-pointers through 10 games—including a season-high 10 against Gustavus on Nov. 29. … Cullen leads the team with 19 3-pointers, while Anthony-Bello is second with 14. … As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 39 percent from the field (221-for-567), while knocking down 112 of their 156 free throws (72 percent). … 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 Saint John's Johnnies:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• The Johnnies enter Saturday's matchup against Saint Mary's ranked No. 16 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25. SJU—the only MIAC team among this week's Top 25—is also ranked No. 2 in the Division III Massey Ratings, which takes into consideration a team's offensive and defensive statistics, as well as strength of schedule and other metrics. … With their 72-55 win over Concordia on Wednesday, the Johnnies pushed their winning streak to a season-high seven straight. SJU's lone loss this season came in its third game of the year—a two-point, 65-63 setback against UW-La Crosse on Nov. 22. … The Johnnies boasted four players in double figures in Wednesday's win at Concordia—led by Patrick Storm and Tyler Weiss with 18 points each. David Stockman chipped in 14 points and Jubie Alade added 10. … With his 18 points against Concordia, Weiss moved into the No. 23 spot in SJU career scoring with 1,104 points. Weiss needs just 17 points to move into the Johnnies' Top 20. … Along with his 18 points, Weiss also recorded 11 rebounds vs. Concordia en route to his fourth double-double of the season and 14^th of his career. … Storm knocked down six 3-pointers in posting his 18-point effort against the Cobbers Wednesday, Storm is the Johnnies' all-time 3-point leader with 187 made treys. … Weiss enters Saturday's game against Saint Mary's averaging a team-best 17.4 ppg, while Stokman (13.1 ppg) and Alade (11.4 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. … SJU has had a player score 20 or more points in a game seven times through 10 games. Weiss has scored 20 points four times this season, while Stokman (28, 20), Lucas Walford (25), and Alade (22) are the others. … Walford leads the Johnnies with 88 rebounds (8.8 rpg), with Weiss second with 72 (7.2 rpg). … Garrett Goetz has amassed a team-high 61 assists, while Walford is the team's leader in blocked shots with 19. … The Johnnies lead all of NCAA Division III in field goal percentage, shooting 55 percent from the field (302-for-554). … SJU has knocked down 95 3-pointers through 10 games, led by Strom with 27 and Stokman with 22. … The Johnnies are averaging 84.3 ppg, while limiting their opponents to just 68.3 ppg. … SJU has scored 90 or more points three times this season—including a pair of games with more than 100 points. The Johnnies routed UM-Morris 110-79 on Nov. 29, while pouring in a season-high 114 points in a 114-96 victory over Macalester on Dec. 6.