By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — After three straight road games, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team returns home on Saturday, as the Cardinals host Gustavus in a 3 p.m. MIAC matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-11 MIAC, 6-12 Overall) vs. Gustavus Gusties (5-8 MIAC, 8-10 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—January 23, 2019 * Collegeville, Minn.: Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) scored a team-high 17 points, but the Cardinals could not cool off the hot-shooting Johnnies, as Saint John's dealt Saint Mary's an 89-58 MIAC loss to Sexton Arena | Recap
• Gustavus—January 23, 2019 * St. Peter, Minn.: The Gusties outscored St. Olaf 40-21 in the first half and were never challenged, as Gustavus rolled to an 82-70 conference win at Gus Young Court | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus — Earlier This Year:
• December 8, 2018 * St. Peter, Minn.: Saint Mary's rode the lethal one-two punch of Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill.) and Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) to an 86-81 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win — snapping a 35-game losing streak on the Gusties' home floor | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus — A Year Ago:
• November 29, 2017 * St. Peter, Minn.: Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill.) enjoyed a career night in his first MIAC appearance, pouring in a team-leading 16 points. Unfortunately, the Cardinal freshman's effort — not to mention a season-high 10 3-pointers — was not enough, as Gustavus handed Saint Mary's an 85-65 setback in the teams' conference-opener at Gus Young Court | Recap
• January 10, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals entered their conference showdown against Gustavus on the heels of a nail-biting, 67-64 loss to Concordia. And Saint Mary's was in for more nail biting against the Gusties. Gustavus knocked down four free throws in the game's final 35 seconds and held off a furious final seconds in dealing Saint Mary's a 69-62 setback at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back on the road next Wednesday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference tilt against St. Olaf.
• Gustavus: The Gusties return to Gus Young Court in St. Peter, Minn., on Wednesday, entertaining Hamline in a 7 p.m. MIAC matchup.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Wednesday's game at Saint John's was 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 No. 13 Saint John's was the second straight game against a nationally ranked opponent for the Cardinals, who dropped an 87-64 decision to then-No. 11 St. Thomas last Saturday. … Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) scored a team-high 19 points against Saint John's on Wednesday, while Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) chipped in 11. … Cave, who has now led the team in scoring in each of their last three games — and 12 times this season — has now scored 10 or more points in 17 of the Cardinals' 18 contests this season — including five games of 20 or more points. … 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), Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn. / 22), Anthony-Bello (21), Caden Freetly (Farmington, Minn. / 19), Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wis. / 19), David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn. / 19), Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill. / 18), Jacob Chilson (Eau Claire, Wis. / 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 against Gustavus 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 9.6 ppg, followed by Rosner (9.0 ppg) and Freetly (8.0 ppg). … Along with his 18.1 ppg scoring average, Cave — who owns a team-leading three double-doubles — also leads the team in rebounds (124, 6.9 rpg) and assists (62). … Freetly (79, 4.4 rpg) and Rosner (57, 3.6 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 Rosner leads the Cardinals with 14 steals, two more than Freetly and Lindstrand. … As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 41.8 percent from the field (443-for-1060) and are 166-for-237 (70.0 percent) from the free throw line. … Saint Mary's has drained 163 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 (33), Rosner (28), Freetly (26), Cave (22), 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 67.5 ppg, while the Cardinals' opponents are scoring at a 75.3 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 Gustavus Gusties:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Gustavus is in the midst of playing four of five games on their home court — the lone exception, Saturday's game at Saint Mary's. … Gustavus' 83-64 loss to Bethel on Jan. 21 snapped the Gusties' two-game winning streak — it was the only time this season GAC had won back-to-back games. … Spencer Tollefson scored a team-leading 15 points for the Gusties against St. Olaf on Wednesday, while Riley Sharbono and Isaac Douglas also finished in double figures, scoring 11 points each. … Tollefson becomes the third different leading scorer in the Gusties' last three contests. … Sharbono enters Saturday's game at Saint Mary's as the Gusties' leading scorer, averaging 13.5 ppg. Nolan Malo is second at 9.8 ppg, followed by Logan Rezac (7.9 ppg) and Vannis Smith (7.2 ppg). … Gustavus has had a player score 20 or more points in a game three times this season — Sharbono has done it once (22 points vs. Buena Vista) and Malo has done it twice (23 points vs. Macalester and a season-high 24 in the team's first meeting with Saint Mary's). … C.J. Woda has amassed a team-leading 91 rebounds (5.1 rpg), while Malo (86, 4.8 rpg) and Rezac (73, 4.1 rpg) have also collected 70 or more boards through 18 games. … Woda owns GAC's only double-double this season, scoring 15 points and adding 11 rebounds against UM-Morris on Dec. 29. … Gustavus boasts three players — Tollefson (45), Rezac (42), and Douglas (41) — with 40 or more assists, while Rezac owns a team-best 18 steals. … As a team, the Gusties are shooting 46.3 percent from the field (472-for-1019) and have hit on 200 of their 280 free throw attempts (71.4 percent). … Gustavus has drained 142 3-pointers, led by Sharbono with 28 and Douglas with 19. … The Gusties head into Saturday's game at Saint Mary's averaging 71.4 ppg, while their opponents are averaging 76.9 ppg. … Gustavus has scored 80 or more points five times this season — posting 81-point efforts against Central-Iowa, Saint Mary's, and Macalester; delivering an 82-point effort against St. Olaf; and netted a season-high 87 in beating Macalester 87-50 on Dec. 5.