By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team closes out its 2018-19 season on Saturday, as the Cardinals entertain nationally ranked St. Thomas in a 3 p.m. conference matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-15 MIAC, 8-16 Overall) vs. St. Thomas Tommies (17-2 MIAC, 21-3 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | Senior Salute: Web * PDF
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—February 9, 2019 * St. Paul, Minn.: Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) scored a career-high 36 points, and the Cardinals outscored Macalester 46-26 in the second half en route to an 86-69 win at Leonard Center | Recap
• St. Thomas—February 13, 2019 * Collegeville, Minn.: After rattling off 21 straight wins, the Tommies suffered their second straight loss against the 15^th-ranked Johnnies, as Saint John's shot 64 percent from the field in the second half in rolling to a 94-75 win over UST at Sexton Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas — Earlier This Year:
• January 19, 2019 * St. Paul, Minn.: Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) scored a team-high 19 points and David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn.) added 10, but in the end, the 11th-ranked Tommies proved to be too much on their home floor, as St. Thomas topped the Cardinals 87-64 at Schoenecker Arena | 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: Saturday's game against St. Thomas is the final game of the 2018-19 season for the Cardinals.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies have already locked up one of the top two seeds in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs and will host one of the two semifinal games on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. 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 final collegiate game for Saint Mary's lone senior, Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill.). … Last Saturday's 86-69 win over Macalester snapped the Cardinals' four-game losing streak. … With their win at Macalester last Saturday, the Cardinals have now picked up five of their eight wins on the road this season. … Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) scored a career-high 36 points — including 21 in the first half — in the Cardinals' 86-69 win over Macalester last Saturday. Cave has now scored 30 or more points twice this season, having netted a then-career-high 35 points against Martin Luther on Nov. 17. … In his last two outings, Cave has scored 29 and 36 points — including 40 in the game's opening 20 minutes. … Cave's 36-point effort against Macalester is the highest single-game performance since Chris Palmer scored 37 against Bethel on Dec. 6, 2010. … Cave has led or shared the team lead in scoring 16 times this season. … Cave has scored 10 or more points in 23 of the team's 24 contests this season — including nine games of 20 or more points. … Cave corralled 12 rebounds to go with his 36 points against Macalester last Saturday for his team-leading fourth double-double, while Rosner and Freetly each own a pair of double-doubles. … The Cardinals have now had a player score a career-high of 10 or more points in four of their last five games. Along with Cave's career-high 36 points against Macalester last Saturday, Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill.) tossed in a career-best 19 points against Augsburg on Feb. 2, while Rosner poured in a career-high 24 points against St. Olaf on Jan. 31. … The Cardinals boast 11 players who have posted single-game career-highs of 10 or more points this season — Cave (36), Rosner (24), Freetly (21), Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn. / 22), Anthony-Bello (21), Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wis. / 19), David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn. / 19), Hill (19), Jacob Chilson (Eau Claire, Wis. / 15), Nicolas Seaton (Lansing, Ill. / 12), and Brady Stevens (St. James, Minn. / 12). … Saint Mary's has had two players score 20 or more points in the same game three times this season — including twice in the last five games. Cave netted 23 and Caden Freetly (Farmington, Minn.) added a career-best 21 against Hamline on Feb. 4; Cave and Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) each finished with 24 points against St. Olaf on Jan. 24; and Cave and Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill.) recorded 29 and 21 points, respectively, against Gustavus on Dec. 8. … Cave heads into Saturday's season finale against nationally ranked St. Thomas averaging a team-best 19.4 ppg — ranking the sophomore No. 2 in scoring in the MIAC. … Rosner is second on the team in scoring at 10.0 ppg, followed by Freetly (9.7 ppg) and Gleason (9.3 ppg). … Along with his 19.4 ppg scoring average, Cave also leads the team in rebounds (167, 7.0 rpg) and assists (85). … Freetly (131, 5.5 rpg) and Rosner (96, 4.4 rpg) have also collected 90 or more rebounds this season. … Freetly boasts a team-best 21 blocked shots and also leads the team in steals with 21, three more than both Cave and Rosner. … As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 43.2 percent from the field (617-for-1428) and are 238-for-322 (73.9 percent) from the free throw line. … The Cardinals were a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line against Bethel on Feb. 6, marking the second time this season Saint Mary's has not missed in 13 chances this season — SMU was also 13-for-13 against Concordia on Jan. 16. … The Cardinals posted season-highs with 23 free throws in 26 attempts against Macalester last Saturday. … Saint Mary's has drained a single-season school record 221 3-pointers — including a single-game school-record 14 against Gustavus on Dec. 5. The 221 treys are 21 more than the previous record of 189, set during the 1995-96 season. … The Cardinals have knocked down 10 or more 3-pointers in a game 12 times this season. … Saint Mary's has eight players with 10 or more 3-pointers this season — Gleason (40), Rosner (40), Freetly (43), Cave (31), Hill (20), Anthony-Bello (12), Lindstrand (10), and Bailey (10). … Saint Mary's is averaging 70.5 ppg, while the Cardinals' opponents are scoring at a 76.0 ppg clip … After scoring more than 80 points just once in their first 19 games, the Cardinals have scored 85, 80, 83, and 86 points in four of their last five contests. … The Cardinals have scored 70 or more points in each of their eight wins this season — including a season-high 86 points against both Gustavus on Dec. 8 and Macalester last Saturday. … Saint Mary's put a season-high five players in double figures against Gustavus on Jan. 26. … Ten of the Cardinals' 16 losses this season have decided by 10 points or less, including three of their last four decided by five points or less — a five-point 90-85 overtime loss to St. Olaf on Jan. 31, a three-point, 68-65 loss to Hamline on Monday and a five-point, 88-83 setback vs. Bethel on Wednesday. … The Cardinals' 90-85 loss to St. Olaf on Jan. 31 was their first overtime game of the season — and first since dropping a 111-106 OT decision to Augsburg on Jan. 11, 2017. … The Cardinals put to rest another pair of long streaks with their 79-64 win over Gustavus on Jan. 26. Not only did Saint Mary's snap its season-high eight-game losing streak, but the Cardinals also completed the two-game MIAC sweep of the Gusties — something they had not done since the 1979-80 season, when SMU beat GAC 86-78 and 91-81. … Earlier this year, the Cardinals snapped a 19-game road losing streak with their season-opening 76-71 win at Crown on Nov. 10. Saint Mary's also 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
• St. Thomas heads into Saturday's regular-season final against Saint Mary's ranked No. 6 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25. … St. Thomas' 94-75 loss to No. 15 Saint John's Wednesday was the Tommies' second straight loss, after rattling off 21 straight wins. UST had its 21-game losing streak snapped with an 88-86 loss to Augsburg last Monday. … Prior to Monday's loss to Augsburg, the Tommies had not lost since opening the season with a one-point, 78-77 loss to Brooklyn on Nov. 15. … St. Thomas heads into Saturday's game against Saint Mary's have already locked up a share of the MIAC regular-season title, holding a one-game lead over SJU with one game to play. A win over Saint Mary's gives the Tommies the regular-season crown outright. … Connor Bair scored a team-high 15 points and Anders Nelson added 14 for the Tommies against Saint John's Wednesday. … 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. … Nelson enters Saturday's regular-season finale against Saint Mary's averaging a team-leading 15.2 ppg, while Bair is also averaging in double figures at 14.0 ppg. … Bair (117, 4.9 rpg) and Nelson (116, 4.8 rpg) are the team's rebounding leaders, with Nelson also owning the team lead in assists (106) and steals (44). … Bair has amassed a team-high 25 blocked shots. … 
The Tommies are shooting 49 percent from the field (747-for-1512) and have hit on 287 of 388 free throw attempts (74.0 percent). … St. Thomas has drained 271 3-pointers through 24 games — including 15 games with 10 or more 3-pointers. … St. Thomas tossed in a season-high 18 3-pointers against Hamline on Feb. 2 and also own two games with 17 treys. … The Tommies — who have averaging 85.5 ppg — have scored 90 or more points five times this season — beating Gustavus 97-53, St. Scholastica 98-72, Carleton 99-50, and Macalester (94-61) while delivering season-highs of 108 points in a 108-58 victory over Hamline on Feb. 2 and 112 points in their 112-105 triple-overtime win over Augsburg on Jan. 12.