By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team hits the road to close out the regular season on Saturday, as the Cardinals travel to St. Thomas' Schoenecker Arena for a 1 p.m. MIAC matchup against the Tommies.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (10-9 MIAC, 13-11 Overall) at #3 St. Thomas Tommies (18-1 MIAC, 22-2 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — February 19, 2020 * Gus Young Court * St. Peter, Minn.: The Cardinals locked up their first MIAC post-season berth in 35 years, holding off a late Gustavus charge to post a 71-63 victory | Recap
• St. Thomas — February 19, 2020 * Skoglund Center * Northfield, Minn.: The third-ranked Tommies picked up their second straight road victory in a four-day span, outscoring St. Olaf 9-4 in the game's final minutes to secure a 76-69 conference victory | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas — Earlier This Year:
• January 18, 2020 * Saint Mary's Gym * Winona, Minn.: St. Thomas knocked down 12 second-half 3-pointers — including eight in a span of seven minutes — as the Tommies pulled away for an 81-64 conference win over the Cardinals | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
• January 19, 2019 * Schoenecker Arena * St. Paul, Minn.: Throughout much of the season, Saint Mary's has enjoyed success away from the friendly confines of its home court at Saint Mary's Gym. And after a slow start against host St. Thomas, Saint Mary's started to look more and more comfortable. In the end, however, the 11th-ranked Tommies proved to be too much, as they topped the Cardinals 87-64 | Recap
• February 16, 2019 * Saint Mary's Gym * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals gave the sixth-ranked Tommies all they could handle in the teams' MIAC showdown, before UST slowly pulled away in the final minutes in deal SMU a 94-81 setback | Recap
78 and 91-81 during the 1979-80 season | Recap
  
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals will open MIAC Tournament play on the road on Tuesday, traveling to either Augsburg or Bethel for a 7 p.m. quarterfinal matchup.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies have locked up either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the six-team MIAC Tournament and will open play on their home court with a 7 p.m. semifinal matchup on Thursday.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• With their 71-63 win over Gustavus on Wednesday, the Cardinals locked up their first MIAC Tournament berth in 35 years. The Cardinals have not been in post-season play since the 1984-85 season, when they lost to Hamline 64-56. … The Cardinals' win over Gustavus Wednesday was their 13th overall and 10th in conference play. It's the most overall wins since going 13-12 during the 1986-87 campaign, and the most MIAC victories since going 11-9 during the 1999-2000 season. … The Cardinals head into their regular-season finale against No. 3 St. Thomas having won three of their last four and five of their last seven. … Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) scored 20 points and Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 10 in the Cardinals' 71-63 win over Gustavus last Wednesday. It was the second straight game — and 12th time this season — that Cave has netted 20 or more points in a game. … 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 24 games this season, and has netted 20 or more points 22 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 1,083 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. … Kareem Anthony-Bello's (Chicago, Ill.) 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 weekend's final regular-season game a perfect 32-for-32 from the free throw line. … Cave — who has now led or shared the team lead in scoring in 19 of the team's 23 games — enters Saturday's game at St. Thomas leading the team in scoring, averaging 19.5 ppg, followed by Anthony (11.2 ppg), Anthony-Bello (9.3 ppg), Rosner (8.8 ppg), and Gleason (7.0 ppg). … The Cardinals boast four players with 100 or more rebounds — Cave (132, 5.5 rpg), Anthony-Bello (122, 5.1 rpg), Anthony (115, 6.1 rpg), and Rosner (100, 4.2 rpg). … Cave also leads the team in steals with 39, three more than Anthony-Bello, and blocked shots with 20. … 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 180 3-pointers this season. … Gleason owns a team-best 36 3-pointers, followed by Cave (36), Anthony-Bello (36), Rosner (35), and Pickford (11). … As a team, Saint Mary's is 648-for-1459 (.444) from the field — including 180-for-527 (.342) from behind the arc — and is 276-for-399 (.692) 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 on Feb. 12. … 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 St. Thomas Tommies:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• The Tommies head into Saturday's regular-season finale against Saint Mary's riding an 11-game winning streak. UST has not lost since dropping an 87-70 decision to Saint John's in the teams' first meeting on Jan. 11. UST's other loss this season was an 85-64 setback at the hands of Whitworth on Nov. 16. … St. Thomas is currently ranked No. 3 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25. The No. 3 ranking is the program's highest since March 2016, when the Tommies won the national championship and reigned at No. 1. … St. Thomas and Saint John's are currently tied for the conference lead in the race for the regular-season title. If both the Tommies and Johnnies win on Saturday, a coin flip will be used (fifth tiebreaker criteria) to determine who is the No. 1 seed and who is the No. 2 seed. … St. Thomas' 71-66 win over then-No. 2 Saint John's last Saturday marked the fifth time in the last five seasons that the Tommies have beaten a Top 5-ranked Division III team. All five of those marquee victories have come away from Schoenecker Arena. … St. Thomas will take the court on Saturday boasting three players who are averaging in double figures in scoring — Anders Nelson (16.2 ppg), Elijah Hannah (11.7 ppg), and Tommy Anderson (10.9 ppg). … Burt Hedstrom owns a team-high 101 rebounds (4.2 rpg), followed by Nelson (93, 3.0 rpg) and Hannah (85, 3.6 rpg). … Riley Miller has amassed a team-best 70 assists, 10 in front of Nelson, who also owns a team-leading 36 steals. … AS a team, St. Thomas has knocked down 268 3-pointers — and boasts six players with 30 or more treys. Nelson and Ryan Lindberg lead the UST sharpshooters with 39 3-pointers each, followed by Miller (37), Zach Theisen (33), Hedstrom (32), and Anderson (30). … Fifteen of the 18 Tommie players had netted at least one 3-pointer this season. … As a team, the Tommies are 707-for-1442 (49.0 percent) from the field — including 268-for-671 (39.9 percent) from behind the 3-point line — and are 308 of 417 from the free throw line. … The Tommies are averaging 83.0 ppg, while limiting their opponents to just 65.7 ppg. … St. Thomas has scored 90 or more points five times this season — including three games of 100 or more points. UST netted 101 points in beating Augsburg 101-60 on Jan. 29, tallied 106 points in a 106-67 win over Gustavus on Feb. 1 and delivered a season-high 110 points in routing St. Scholastica 110-64 on Nov. 20.