By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Tuesday, as the Cardinals welcome nationally ranked Saint John's to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 5:30 p.m. matchup
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-0 MIAC, 2-0 Overall) vs. No. 14 Saint John's Johnnies (1-0 MIAC, 3-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — November 23, 2019 * Saint Mary's Gym * Winona, Minn.: Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) scored 21 points to lead five players in double figures, as the Cardinals snapped a 12-game losing streak against St. Olaf with an 80-74 victory in the teams' conference-opener | Recap
• Saint John's — November 20, 2019 * Sexton Arena * Collegeville, Minn.: Jubie Alade scored a game-high 26 points, as the nationally ranked Johnnies rolled to a 79-60 win over Carleton in the teams' conference-opener | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint John's — A Year Ago:
• December 12, 2019 * Saint Mary's Gym * Winona, Minn.: The Johnnies knocked down 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 | Recap
• January 23, 2019 * Sexton Arena * Collegeville, Minn.: Saint John's outscored the Cardinals 21-7 over the final eight minutes of the opening half — turning a three-point game into a 17-point halftime advantage — and the Johnnies never took their foot off the accelerator, rolling to an 89-58 conference victory over Saint Mary's | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals step out of conference play on Saturday, heading to Decorah, Iowa, for a 3 p.m. matchup against Luther.
• Saint John's: The Johnnies are now off until Dec. 4, when they return to Sexton Arena in Collegeville, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference showdown with Concordia.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Tuesday's showdown with nationally ranked Saint John's is the third straight home game for the Cardinals, who have beaten Crown (68-52) and St. Olaf (80-74) in their first two home contests this season. … With last Saturday's win over St. Olaf, Saint Mary's snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Oles. It was the Cardinals' first win over St. Olaf since Jan. 16, 2013, when Saint Mary's posted a 66-57 victory. … Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) — a Second-Team All-MIAC selection a year ago — scored a team- and game-high 21 points in the Cardinals' 80-74 win over St. Olaf last Saturday. It was the fifth straight game in which the junior has eclipsed the 20-point barrier — having netted 24 points against Crown on Nov. 15, and closing out the 2018-19 season scoring 29, 36, and 23 points. … Cave has eclipsed the 20-point barrier 12 times in his collegiate career. … Cave's 36-point effort against Macalester on Feb. 9, 2019 was a career-high and the highest single-game performance since Chris Palmer scored 37 against Bethel on Dec. 6, 2010. … Cave was one of five Cardinals to score 10 or more points against St. Olaf last Saturday, being joined by Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn. / 14), Shawn Pickford (Minneapolis, Minn. / 11), Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.), and Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis. / 10). … Cave enters Tuesday's showdown against Saint John's leading the team in scoring, averaging 22.5 ppg — tops in the MIAC. … Pickford (11.5 ppg) and Rosner (11.0 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. … Along with his league-leading 22.5 ppg scoring average, Cave also leads the team in rebounds with 13 (6.5 rpg) — including 12 on the defensive end — assists with nine and steals with six. … Anthony is second to Cave with 11 boards (5.5 rpg). … Saint Mary's, which drained a single-season school record 233 3-pointers last season — including a single-game school-record 14 against Gustavus on Dec. 5 — knocked down 10 3-pointers against St. Olaf last Saturday and have now connected on 10 or more 3-pointers in a game 15 times in the last two seasons. … Cave owns a team-best seven 3-pointers, followed by Rosner and Gleason with four each. … As a team, Saint Mary's is 57-for-126 (.452) from the field — including 21-for-55 (.382) from behind the arc — and is 13-for-20 (.650) from the free throw line. … The Cardinals' 80-point effort against St. Olaf last Saturday was a season high, and the seventh time in the last two seasons they have netted 80 or more points in a game. … With their 68-52 win over Crown Nov. 15, the Cardinals have now beaten Crown in their season-opener in back-to-back years — Saint Mary's season-opening win over Crown a year ago was the first collegiate coaching victory for Joe Fano. … With its 68-52 win over Crown on Nov. 15, Saint Mary's is now 6-0 in its last six season-openers.
 
Scouting The Saint John's Johnnies:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• The Johnnies enter Tuesday's road game at Saint Mary's ranked No. 14 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25. … SJU kicked off its conference schedule with a 79-60 win over Carleton in the Johnnies' home opener. The Johnnies set a program record for home wins with 15 (15-1 record) last year and have won 26 consecutive home regular-season contests since late in the 2016-17 campaign. … Saint John's plays eight of its first 10 games on the road this season. … After opening the season with a 78-56 loss to eighth-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan, the Johnnies have rattled off three straight wins. … Jubie Alade scored a game-high 26 points in the Johnnies' win over Carleton last Wednesday. … Alade — who missed the Johnnies' first two games due to injury — enters Tuesday's game against Saint Mary's averaging a team-high 29.0 ppg — having added a 32-point effort against UM-Morris to last Wednesday's 26-point effort in his two games this season. … With his 58 points in his first two games this season, Alade is 29 points from becoming the 38th Johnnie to reach 1,000 for a career. … Lucas Walford is also averaging in double figures at 10.8 ppg. … Walford was limited to just two points and two rebounds in 13 minutes, snapping his streak of three straight double-doubles. … Walford owns a team-high 42 rebounds (10.5 rpg), and is the only Johnnies with more than 14 boards through four games. … Colton Codute is the team's assist leader with 12, one more than Oakley Baker, while Alade boasts at team-high five steals and Walford has amassed a team-best 11 blocks. … As a team, SJU is shooting 49.8 percent from the field (112-for-225) and 68.5 percent from the free throw line (37-for-54). … The Johnnies have knocked down 31 3-pointers in four games — led by Baker with eight, Sean Ryan with six, and Codute with five. … Saint John's, which is averaging 73.0 ppg, scored a season-high 86 poits in beating UM-Morris 86-80 on Nov. 13.