By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team is back on the road on Wednesday, as the Cardinals head to Augsburg's Si Melby Hall for a 7 p.m. conference showdown against the Auggies.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-7 MIAC, 10-9 Overall) at Augsburg Auggies (10-4 MIAC, 14-5 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — February 1, 2020 * Memorial Auditorium * Moorhead, Minn.: The Cardinals got 27 points from Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) and 20 from Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill.) en route to a 78-62 conference road win over Concordia | Recap
• Augsburg — February 1, 2020 * West Gym * Northfield, Minn.: Booker Coplin scored a season-best 40 points, as the Auggies outlasted Carleton 93-89 | Recap 
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg — Earlier This Year:
• January 6, 2020 * Saint Mary's Gym * Winona, Minn.: Augsburg  held off the hard-charging Cardinals — and survived Eli Cave's (St. Paul, Minn.) 32-point performance — in dealing Saint Mary's an 86-79 conference setback | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg — A Year Ago:
• January 5, 2019 * Saint Mary's Gym * Winona, Minn.: Augsburg drained seven first-half 3-pointers — while holding Saint Mary's to just 1 of 10 from behind the arc in the game's opening 20 minutes — and rolled to an 88-56 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Cardinals | Recap
• February 2, 2019 * Si Melby Hall * Minneapolis, Minn.: Martin Mitchell came off the bench to score a career-high 30 points — including eight 3-pointers — as the Auggies held off a late Saint Mary's charge to deal the Cardinals a 90-80 conference setback | Recap
  
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home on Saturday, as Saint Mary's entertains Bethel in a 1 p.m. conference contest at the Saint Mary's Gym.
• Augsburg: The Auggies are back on their home court at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn., on Saturday, playing host to nationally ranked Saint John's in a 1 p.m. MIAC matchup.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• With last Saturday's win over Concordia — the first of back-to-back road games for the Cardinals — Saint Mary's improved to 6-5 on the road this season. The Cardinals are 4-4 at the Saint Mary's Gym this season. … Last Saturday's 78-62 win over Concordia was the Cardinals' 10th win of the season — the most by a Saint Mary's squad since going 11-13 during the 1999-2000 season. The Cardinals' seven conference wins — already three more than last season — are the most since collecting seven during the 2015-16 year, when the Cardinals went 7-13 in MIAC play. … The Cardinals enter Wednesday's matchup against Augsburg having won two straight and three of their last four. … Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) scored 27 points and Kareem Anthony-Bello chipped in 20 in the Cardinals' 78-62 win over Concordia last Saturday. It was the second straight game in which Cave and Anthony-Bello led the team in scoring — having netted 22 and 17 points, respectively in beating Macalester on Jan. 29. … The Cardinals have now had two players score 20 or more points in a game twice this season — Cave (27) and Anthony-Bello (20) against Concordia last Saturday, and Cave (27) and Raheem Anthony (26) against Luther on Nov. 30. … 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 19 games this season, and has netted 20 or more points nine times this season and 19 times in his collegiate career. … 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 last Saturday 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 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 four players who have scored single-game career-highs of 10 of more points this season — Anthony (26 v. Luther on Nov. 17), Shawn Pickford (Minneapolis, Minn. / 17 points vs. Gustavus on Jan. 8), Greg Martin (Oklahoma City, Okla. / 14 points v. St. Olaf on Jan. 25 and v. U. of Dubuque on Dec. 31), and James Connolly (Round Lake Park, Ill. / 11 v. Martin Luther on Dec. 19). … Cave enters Wednesday's game against Augsburg leading the team in scoring, averaging 19.3 ppg, followed by Anthony (9.6 ppg), Anthony-Bello (9.3 ppg), Rosner (8.7 ppg), and Gleason (7.2 ppg). … Cave also owns the team lead in rebounds (108, 5.7 rpg), assists (64), and blocked shots (17). … Anthony-Bello owns a team-high 34 steals, one more than Cave. … The Cardinals knocked down 13 3-pointers against Concordia last Saturday, 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 153 3-pointers this season. … Gleason owns a team-best 34 3-pointers, followed by Cave (31), Anthony-Bello (29), Rosner (27), and Martin (10). … As a team, Saint Mary's is 509-for-1160 (.439) from the field — including 153-for-431 (.355) from behind the arc — and is 215-for-317 (.678) 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. … 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 four times this season — and 10 times in the last two seasons. … The Cardinals' 79-77 OT win over Carleton on Jan. 20 snapped their two-game losing streak, with both losses coming against teams ranked in the D3hoops.com Top 10 — No. 4 Saint John's and No. 9 St. Thomas. … 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. … 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 Augsburg Auggies:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back home games for the Auggies, who have lost just once in eight home contests this season. … Augsburg enters Wednesday's matchup with the Cardinals having won four of its last five — the lone loss a 101-60 setback at the hands of nationally ranked St. Thomas. … Booker Coplin scored a season-high 40 points to lead four players in double figures in last Saturday's win over Carleton. Joe Palmer chipped in 15 points, while Matt Carik and Martin Mitchell each added 13. … Coplin went 15-for-29 from the field with six 3-pointers en route to his 40-point effort against Carleton last Saturday. It was Coplin's third 40-plus-point scoring effort of his Auggie -- the other two efforts coming against St. Olaf on Feb. 16, 2019 (43 points) and against Saint John's on Feb. 23, 2019 (46 points). … Coplin enters Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's leading the league in scoring with a 22.8 ppg average. … Coplin is one of three Auggies in double figures in scoring, being joined by Carik (13.2 ppg) and Henry Mulligan (10.3 ppg). … Along with his 22.8 ppg scoring average, Coplin also boasts a team-high 151 rebounds (8.1 rpg), while Carik is one board shy of 100. … Carik owns a team-best 75 assists, with Coplin boasting a team-leading 26 steals, two in front of Carik. … The Auggies have knocked down 192 3-pointers this season, led by Coplin with 45. Mulligan (42), Carik (39), Mitchell (24), and Palmer (21) have also drained 20 or more treys this season. … As a team, Augsburg is shooting 48.3 percent from the field (571-for-1182) — including hitting 192 of 508 3-point attempts — while adding a 217-for-285 showing from the free throw line. … The Auggies are averaging 81.6 ppg, with Augsburg's opponents scoring at a 73.2 ppg clip. … Augsburg has scored 90 or more points six times this season — including three times in their last five games. Augsburg netted a season-high 102 points in dropping Northland 102-54 on Nov. 13.