By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team hits the road for a key conference game with MIAC Tournament implications, as the Cardinals head to Gustavus' Gus Young Court for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Gusties.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (9-9 MIAC, 12-11 Overall) at Gustavus Gusties (8-10 MIAC, 8-15 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — February 15, 2020 * Saint Mary's Gym * Winona, Minn.: Hamline knocked down 33 free throws — while the Cardinals hit only 13 — and the Pipers held off a late Saint Mary's charge in dealing SMU an 83-78 conference setback | Recap
• Gustavus — February 15, 2020 * Gus Young Court * St. Peter, Minn.: Gustavus committed 18 turnovers — which Bethel turned into 21 points — and the Royals held off the Gusties in dealing GAC a 65-58 MIAC loss | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus — Earlier This Year:
• January 8, 2020 * Saint Mary's Gym * Winona, Minn.: The Gusties used an 11-0 run as part of a half-ending 14-5 burst — and held off a furious Cardinal comeback late in the second half — in dealing Saint Mary's a 76-65 setback | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus — A Year Ago:
• December 8, 2018 * Gus Young Court * St. Peter, Minn.: The Cardinals ended a 35-game losing streak at Gustavus, as 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 — their first victory in St. Peter, Minn., since the 1982-83 season | Recap
• January 26, 2019 * Saint Mary's Gym * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals, who put a season-high five players in double figures, used an 11-1 game-ending run to pull away from Gustavus 79-64 — and in the process, Saint Mary's not only snapped its season-high eight-game losing streak, but the Cardinals also completed their first season sweep of the Gusties since beating GAC 86-78 and 91-81 during the 1979-80 season | Recap
  
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals close out the regular-season portion of their schedule on Saturday, heading to St. Thomas' Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference showdown against the nationally ranked Tommies.
• Gustavus: The Gusties close out their regular-season schedule on the road, heading to Augsburg's Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC matchup against the Auggies.
 
MIAC Tournament Picture:
• Saint Mary's (9-9), Gustavus (8-10), and St. Olaf (8-10) are all battling for one of the two remaining MIAC Tournament slots. A Cardinal win over the Gusties on Wednesday will assure Saint Mary's one of the six invitations. Saint John's (18-1), St. Thomas (17-1), Augsburg (13-5), and Bethel (12-6) have already punched their tickets to the post-season dance.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Last Saturday's game against Hamline was the final regular-season home game for the Cardinals and their three graduating seniors — Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.), Kristjan Meitz (Waukesha, Wis.), and student assistant coach Jason Timm (Brillion, Wis.). … The Cardinals closed out the season with a 6-5 record on their home court, while owning a 6-6 mark away from the Saint Mary's Gym. … The Cardinals head into Wednesday's game at Gustavus having won two of their last three and four of their last six. … Saint Mary's 12 wins this season are the most since going 13-12 during the 1986-87 season. Saint Mary's nine MIAC wins are also the most since going 11-9 in conference play in 1999-2000. … Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) scored 21 points in the Cardinals' 83-78 loss to Hamline last Saturday, while Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 17 points and Kareem Anthony-Bello added 14. … Cave — who recorded his first double-double of the season and seventh of his collegiate career with 13 points and 13 rebounds against No. 9 St. Thomas on Jan. 18 — has now scored 10 or more points in all 23 games this season, and has netted 20 or more points 11 times this season and 21 times in his collegiate career. … With his 19th point against Augsburg on Feb. 5 — a jumper with 11 minutes remaining in the second half — Cave became the 29th player in program history to reach the 1,000-career point mark. Cave enters Wednesday's matchup against Gustavus with 1,063 career points. … Anthony poured in a career-high 29 points against Augsburg on Feb. 5, while Cave chipped in 25. It was the third time this season the Cardinals have had two players score 20 or more points in the same game. Cave scored 27 points and Anthony-Bello chipped in 20 in the Cardinals' 78-62 win over Concordia on Feb. 1, while Cave (27) and Anthony (26) achieved the feat against Luther on Nov. 30. … Cave scored a season-high 32 points against Augsburg on Jan. 6. The 32-point effort was just four points shy of his career-high — a 36-point showing against Macalester on Feb. 9, 2019 — and marked the third time in his Saint Mary's career that he has eclipsed the 30-point barrier. … Cave's 13 rebounds — including 11 in the first half — against St. Thomas on Jan. 18 were a career high. … Anthony-Bello's 20-point effort against Concordia on Feb. 1 was a season-high, and one point shy of his career-best. … Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) scored a season-high 21 points in the Cardinals' 87-73 win over Hamline in their first meeting on Jan. 11. Rosner's effort marked the third time in his career that he has eclipsed the 20-point barrier and was just three points shy of his career high. … Rosner scored 14 points and added 10 rebounds against the University of Dubuque on Dec. 31. It was his first double-double of the season and third of his collegiate career. … Anthony — who, along with his career-high 26 points, posted a career-best 11 rebounds in recording his first collegiate double-double against Luther on Nov. 30 — owns two of the Cardinals' four double-doubles this season. … The Cardinals boast three players who have scored single-game career-highs of 10 of more points this season — Anthony (29 v. Augsburg on Feb. 5), Shawn Pickford (Minneapolis, Minn. / 17 points vs. Gustavus on Jan. 8), and Greg Martin (Oklahoma City, Okla. / 14 points v. St. Olaf on Jan. 25 and v. U. of Dubuque on Dec. 31). … Rosner enters this week's final two games a perfect 32-for-32 from the free throw line. … Cave — who has now led or shared the team lead in in scoring in 18 of the team's 23 games — enters Wednesday's game at Gustavus leading the team in scoring, averaging 19.5 ppg, followed by Anthony (11.2 ppg), Anthony-Bello (9.5 ppg), Rosner (8.8 ppg), and Gleason (6.9 ppg). … Cave also owns the team lead in rebounds (125, 5.4 rpg), assists (69), steals (38), and blocked shots (20). … Anthony-Bello and Anthony have also eclipsed the 100-rebound plateau with 115 and 109 boards, respectively. … The Cardinals knocked down 13 3-pointers against Concordia on Feb. 1, marking the eighth time this season they have netted 10 or more treys in a game. … Saint Mary's equaled the program's single-game school record with 14 3-pointers against Hamline on Jan. 11. … Saint Mary's, which drained a single-season school record 233 3-pointers a year ago has netted 174 3-pointers this season. … Gleason owns a team-best 36 3-pointers, followed by Cave (35), Anthony-Bello (35), Rosner (33), and Pickford (11). … As a team, Saint Mary's is 621-for-1399 (.444) from the field — including 174-for-512 (.340) from behind the arc — and is 265-for-385 (.688) from the free throw line. … Saint Mary's went 25-for-30 from the free throw line against Martin Luther on Dec. 19 — both season highs. On the flip side, the Cardinals attempted just five free throws — making all five — against Carleton last Wednesday. … The Cardinals' 103-point effort in beating Luther 103-97 on Nov. 30 was their highest single-game offensive output since pouring in 106 points in a 111-106 overtime loss to Augsburg on Jan. 11, 2017. … The Cardinals have put five players in double figures three times this season. … The Cardinals have scored 80 or more points in a game five times this season — and 11 times in the last two seasons. … Saint Mary's two-point win over Carleton on Jan. 20 was its first overtime game of the season — and first since falling to St. Olaf 90-85 on Jan. 31, 2019. … The Cardinals have played just four overtime games in the last seven seasons. … The Cardinals' 63-59 win over Bethel on Feb. 8 snapped a 14-game losing streak against the Royals, dating back to Jan. 12, 2013. … With its 80-74 win over St. Olaf in the teams' first meeting on Nov. 23, 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. … The Cardinals' 77-67 loss to Wheaton on Dec. 30 snapped their season-high four-game winning streak, while their 87-73 win over Hamline on Jan. 11 ended their season-high five-game losing streak. … Saint Mary's got scoring from 15 different players in its 93-61 win over Martin Luther on Dec. 19. … The Cardinals' 6-1 start to the season was their best start since 2010-11, when they opened the year 8-1. … 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. … Thanks to its 68-52 win over Crown on Nov. 15, Saint Mary's is now 6-0 in its last six season-openers.

Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the final home game of the season for the Gusties, who are 5-5 on their home court this year, while going just 3-10 away from Gus Young Court. … Gustavus' 65-58 loss to Bethel pushed the Gusties' current losing streak to a season-high six straight. The Gusties have not won since beating Hamline 83-69 on Jan. 22. … Nolan Malo and Jake Guse both scored in double figures for the Gusties against Bethel last Saturday, finishing with 17 and 16 points, respectively. … Kaleb Feahn enters heads into Wednesday's matchup against Saint Mary's leading the team with a 13.9 ppg scoring average. Feahn is one of three Gusties averaging in double figures in scoring this season, being joined by Logan Rezac (12.2 ppg) and Malo (10.1 ppg). … Rezac is the team's rebounding leader with 147 (6.4 ppg), while Guse has also hauled in more than 100 boards this season, sitting at 132 (6.0 rpg). … Rezac has dished out a team-leading 81 assists, followed by Isaac Douglas with 73, while Douglas also leads the team with 19 steals. … Guse has amassed a team-high 47 of the team's 97 blocked shots. … Gustavus has poured in 184 3-pointers through 23 games this season, led by Douglas with 47. Feahn (34), Rezac (29), Malo (27), Benji Lundberg (16), Peter Lundquist (14), and Leif Engen (12) have also netted 10 or more treys this season. … Gustavus is 632-for-1394 (.453) from the field — including 184-for-505 (.364) from behind the 3-point line — and 245-for-346 (.708) from the free throw line. … Gustavus is averaging 73.6 ppg, while the Gusties' opponents are scoring at a 78.7 ppg clip. … Gustavus has scored 80 or more points six times this season — including three games of 90 points or more. On the flip side, GAC has allowed 80 or more points eight times — including surrendering 100 or more points twice in losses to St. Thomas (106-67) and Pomona-Pitzer (110-91).