By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team is back on the road on Wednesday, as the Cardinals head to Saint John's Sexton Arena for a 7 p.m. conference matchup against the nationally ranked Johnnies.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-10 MIAC, 6-11 Overall) at No. 13 Saint John's Johnnies (9-2 MIAC, 13-3 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—January 19, 2019 * St. Paul, Minn.: St. Thomas jumped out to a nine-point halftime lead, then outscored the Cardinals 46-32 over the game's final 20 minutes in dealing Saint Mary's an 87-64 setback at Schoenecker Arena | Recap
• Saint John's—January 21, 2019 * St. Paul, Minn.: St. Thomas outscored the Johnnies 5-1 over the final 48 seconds of overtime, as the seventh-ranked Tommies handed No. 12 SJU a 74-72 setback at Schoenecker Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint John's — Earlier This Year:
• December 12, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: The Johnnies hit 20 of their final 27 first-half field goal attempts, and the Cardinals could not keep pace, falling to 19th-ranked Saint John's 87-70 at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint John's — A Year Ago:
• January 6, 2018 * Collegeville, Minn.: Saint John's shot 54 percent from the field — including a sizzling 63 percent in the second half — in dealing the Cardinals an 82-52 conference setback at Sexton Arena | Recap
• February 5, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: The fourth-ranked Johnnies, coming off just their second loss of the season against St. Olaf, took out their frustrations on the Cardinals, rolling past Saint Mary's 79-46 at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: After three straight road games, the Cardinals return home to the Saint Mary's Gym on Saturday, hosting Gustavus in a 3 p.m. conference contest.
• Saint John's: The Johnnies take to the road on Saturday, heading to Hamline's Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 3 p.m. MIAC showdown against the Pipers.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Wednesday's game at Saint John's is the third straight road game for the Cardinals, who have picked up four of their six wins away from the Saint Mary's Gym this season. … Wednesday's showdown against Saint John's is the second straight game against a nationally ranked opponent for the Cardinals, who dropped an 87-64 decision to No. 11 St. Thomas last Saturday. … Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) — coming off a 23-point showing against Concordia last Wednesday — scored a team-high 19 points against No. 11 St. Thomas Saturday. David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn.) also scored in double figures against the Tommies, finishing with 10 points. … Cave's 23-point effort against Concordia last Wednesday 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 on Jan. 12. … Jacob Chilson (Eau Claire, Wis.) equaled his career-high with 15 points against Concordia last Wednesday. … 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 16 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), Lindstrand (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 Wednesday's conference matchup at Saint John's averaging a team-best 18.1 ppg — ranking the sophomore No. 4 in scoring in the MIAC. … Gleason is second on the team in scoring at 9.9 ppg, followed by Rosner (8.9 ppg) and Freetly (8.1 ppg). … Along with his 18.1 ppg scoring average, Cave also leads the team in rebounds (120, 7.1 rpg) and assists (60). … Freetly (79, 4.8 rpg) and Rosner (56, 3.7 rpg) have also collected 50 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, Lindstrand, and Rosner share the team lead in steals with 12. … As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 42.2 percent from the field (423-for-1003) and are 157-for-225 (69.8 percent) from the free throw line. … Saint Mary's has drained 154 3-pointers — 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 (25), Cave (21), 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 68.0 ppg, while the Cardinals' opponents are scoring at a 74.5 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 Saint John's Johnnies:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• The Johnnies are in the midst of playing four of five games on the road — the lone exception, Wednesday's matchup against Saint Mary's. … Saint John's is ranked No. 13 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25. … After putting together a season-high 12-game winning streak, the Johnnies head into Wednesday's game against the Cardinals have dropped two straight — by a combined five points. SJU dropped a 66-63 decision to Carleton last Saturday, before falling to No. 7 St. Thomas 84-72 in OT two days later. … The Johnnies put four players in double figures
against St. Thomas Monday, led by David Stokman and Zach Hanson with 17 points each. Jubie Alade chipped in 14 points and Lucas Walford added 12. … Stokman enters Wednesday's showdown against Saint Mary's leading the team in scoring with a 15.3 ppg scoring average. Stockman is one of four Johnnies averaging in double figures through 16 games — he is joined by Alade (12.0 ppg), Walford (11.3 ppg), and Hanson (10.4 ppg). … SJU has had a player score 22 or more points in a game six times — Stokman has done it three times (22, 22, 23), Walford once (23), Alade once (23), and Ethan Novacinski once (29). … Walford has hauled in a team-high 145 rebounds (9.1 rpg). … SJU boasts seven players with 20 or more assists, led by Stokman (57), Alade (44), and Colton Codute (41). … Stokman has also amassed a team-best 23 steals, while Walford is the team's blocked shot leader with 29. … SJU currently leads NCAA Division III in rebound margin (+15.0 rpg.), is second in shooting percentage (.557), third in scoring defense (61.8 ppg.), fourth in both scoring margin (+22.6 ppg.) and three-point percentage (.422), and eighth in shooting percentage defense (.379). … The Johnnies have put together five games or 90 or more points — including 94 against UW-Superior on Dec. 29, and a season-high 95 against UM-Morris on Nov. 12.