By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team hits the road on Saturday, as the Cardinals travel to St. Thomas' Schoenecker Arena for a 3 p.m. conference matchup against the 11th-ranked Tommies.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-9 MIAC, 6-10 Overall) at St. Thomas Tommies (9-0 MIAC, 13-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—January 16, 2019 * Moorhead, Minn.: Concordia raced out to a 14-point halftime lead — and held off a furious Cardinals second-half rally in dealing the Cardinals a 67-60 setback at Memorial Auditorium | Recap
• St. Thomas—January 16, 2019 * Arden Hills, Minn.: Connor Baier recorded his fourth consecutive 20-plus point scoring game in leading the Tommies to an 86-75 conference victory over Bethel at Robertson Center Gym | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
• January 29, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: St. Thomas erupted for 59 second-half points — while limiting the Cardinals to just 19 — in handing Saint Mary's a 100-48 conference setback at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• February 14, 2018 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals — who surrendered 100 points to the high-powered Tommies in the teams' first meeting just 16 days ago — made life miserable for St. Thomas all evening in the rematch, grabbing a five-point, 41-36 halftime advantage. Over the final 20 minutes, however, St. Thomas found its rhythm, outscoring Saint Mary's 34-20 in recording the hard-earned 70-61 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win at Schoenecker Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back on the road for a third straight game on Wednesday, heading to Saint John's Sexton Arena in Collegeville, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference matchup against the nationally Johnnies.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies are back on their home court on Monday, entertaining nationally ranked Saint John's in a 7 p.m. MIAC contest at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Saturday's game against St. Thomas is the second of three straight road games for the Cardinals, who are 4-4 in their eight road games this season. … With Wednesday's 67-60 loss to Concordia, the Cardinals' last three games have been decided by a combined 11 points — Saint Mary's dropped a 74-71 decision to Carleton last Wednesday, before falling in the game's final 0.7 seconds in a 75-74 setback against Macalester three days later. … Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) scored a team-high 23 points in the Cardinals' loss to Concordia Wednesday. … Cave's 23-point effort marked the second straight game in which the Cardinals boasted a 20-point scorer — Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.) poured in a career-high 22 points against Macalester last Saturday. … Jacob Chilson (Eau Claire, Wis.) also scored in double figures against Concordia Wednesday, equaling his career-high with 15 points. … Cave was held to six points against Carleton on Jan. 9, marking the only time this season that the sophomore has not scored in double figures. Cave, who owns a team-leading three double-doubles, has posted 15 games of 10 or more points — including 20 or more points five times. … Cave poured in a season- and career-high 35 points in the Cardinals' nonconference win over Martin Luther on Nov. 17. … Cave's 35-point effort was the highest single-game performance since Michael Burfeind netted 38 against Concordia on Dec. 7, 2011. … Cave and Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill.) each eclipsed the 20-point barrier against Gustavus on Dec. 8 — Cave tossed in a game-high 29 points, while Anthony-Bello chipped in a career-best 21. It's the lone time this season the Cardinals have put two players over the 20-point barrier in the same game. … Cave scored 27 of his 29 points against Gustavus after halftime, while Anthony-Bello netted 17 of his 21 in the game's opening 20 minutes. … The Cardinals boast 10 players who have posted single-game career-highs of 10 or more points this season — Cave (35), Gleason (22), Anthony-Bello (21), Freetly (19), Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wis. / 19), David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn. / 19), Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill. / 18), Chilson (15), Nicolas Seaton (Lansing, Ill. / 12), and Brady Stevens (St. James, Minn. / 12). … Rosner scored 15 points and added a career-best 12 rebounds against North Park on Dec. 29 en route to his first collegiate double-double. … Anthony-Bello corralled a career-best 13 rebounds against Luther on Nov. 24. … Saint Mary's has put four players in double figures in a game six times this season. … Cave heads into Saturday's conference matchup at St. Thomas averaging a team-best 18.1 ppg — ranking the sophomore No. 3 in scoring in the MIAC. … Gleason is second on the team in scoring at 10.1 ppg, followed by Rosner (8.9 ppg) and Freetly (8.6 ppg). … Along with his 18.1 ppg scoring average, Cave also leads the team in rebounds (115, 7.2 rpg) and assists (55). … Freetly (74, 4.6 rpg), Rosner (54, 3.9 rpg), and Anthony-Bello (45 / 5.0 rpg) have also collected 40 or more rebounds this season. … Bailey boasts a team-best 11 blocked shots — including a season-high three against Saint John's on Dec. 12 — while Freetly and Lindstrand share the team lead in steals with 12, one more than Chilson and Rosner. … As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 42.0 percent from the field (399-for-949) and are 148-for-215 (68.8 percent) from the free throw line. … Saint Mary's has drained 147 3-pointers through 15 games — including a single-game school-record 14 against Gustavus on Dec. 5. … The Cardinals have knocked down 10 or more 3-pointers in a game eight times this season. … Saint Mary's has six players with 10 or more 3-pointers this season — Gleason (32), Freetly (25), Rosner (23), Cave (20), Anthony-Bello (12), and Bailey (10). … Saint Mary's set single-game season-highs in points (86), FGM (32), FGA (72), 3FGM (14), 3FGA (37), assists (22) and steals (9) against Gustavus on Dec. 8. … Saint Mary's is averaging 68.3 ppg, while the Cardinals' opponents are scoring at a 73.8 ppg clip … The Cardinals have scored 70 or more points in each of their six wins this season — including a season-high 86 points against Gustavus on Dec. 8. … The Cardinals have put an end to three lengthy losing streaks already this season. The Cardinals snapped a 19-game road losing streak with their season-opening 76-71 win at Crown on Nov. 10. Saint Mary's ended a 27-game conference losing streak with a 71-64 win over Concordia on Dec. 5, and, three days later, SMU halted a 35-game road losing streak against Gustavus, beating the Gusties 86-81. It was Saint Mary's first win in St. Peter, since beating GAC 86-82 in overtime during the 1982-83 season. … With their 76-67 win over North Park on Dec. 29, the Cardinals closed out the nonconference portion of their schedule with a 4-1 mark — the lone loss, a 70-60 setback against UW-La Crosse on Nov. 11. … Saint Mary's 3-1 start to the season was its best since the 2010-11 season, when the Cardinals opened 8-1. … With their 76-71 win over Crown on Nov. 10, the Cardinals have now won their season-opener in each of their last five seasons. … Saint Mary's season-opening win over Crown on Nov. 10 was the first collegiate coaching victory for Cardinal head coach Joe Fano.
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the first of three straight home games for the Tommies, who are a perfect 8-0 at Schoenecker Arena this season. … St. Thomas enters Saturday's matchup with the Cardinals ranked No. 11 in the latest D3hoops.com Poll. … The Tommies pushed their winning streak to 13 straight with Wednesday's 86-75 win over Bethel. St. Thomas has not lost since opening the season with a one-point, 78-77 loss to Brooklyn on Nov. 15. … Connor Baier recorded his fourth straight 20-plus point performance against Bethel Wednesday, scoring 21 points and adding seven rebounds. Anders Nelson also scored 21 points against the Royals Wednesday — including a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the game's final 67 seconds. … Nelson scored a career-high 37 points — including 35 after halftime — in the Tommies three-overtime 112-105 win over Augsburg on Jan. 12. Nelson's 37-point effort is believed to be the most points ever scored by a St. Thomas freshman player. … Fueled by his career-high showing against Augsburg — not to mention his 21-point effort against Bethel — Nelson enters Saturday's game against Saint Mary's leading the Tommies in scoring, averaging 17.6 ppg. Bair — who has scored 110 points in his last four games — is also averaging in double figures at 16.1 ppg. … G.T. Johnson is the team's rebounding leader, owning 68 boards (4.9 rpg), while Bair (67, 4.8 rpg) and Nelson (65, 4.6 rpg) are close behind. … The Tommies boast nine players who have dished out 10 or more assists, led by Nelson with 73. … Nelson also owns a team-leading 35 steals, while Bair is the team-leader with 20 blocked shots. … As a team, the Tommies are shooting 49.6 percent from the field (439-for-885), while hitting 177 of 231 free throw attempts (76.6 percent). … Michael Hannon sank both of his free-throw attempts Wednesday against Bethel and has made 32 consecutive at the line, dating back to last February — including all 26 this season. Nelson, meanwhile, is 20-for-20 from the line in his last two games and has made 25 in a row dating back to the Dec. 12 win at Concordia. … St. Thomas has rained in 154 3-pointers — and boast seven players with 10 or more treys. Hannon leads the Tommie long-range bombers with 26, followed by Nelson (25), and Burt Hedstrom (21). … As a team, St. Thomas is scoring at an 86.4 ppg clip, while limiting its opponents to just 68.2 ppg. … The Tommies have scored 90 or more points four times this season — beating Gustavus 97-53, St. Scholastica 98-72 and Carleton 99-50, while delivering a season-high 112 points in last Saturday's 112-105 triple-overtime win over Augsburg.