COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — The Saint Mary’s University men’s basketball team, coming off a thrilling 78-75 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over visiting Gustavus at the SMU Gym Wednesday, hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Saint John’s for a 3 p.m. conference tilt against the Johnnies.
The Records:
Saint Mary’s Cardinals (5-8 MIAC / 7-11 Overall)
Saint John’s Johnnies (7-5 MIAC / 10-7 Overall)
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Last Action: The Cardinals got double-figure scoring from five different players, including a game-high 18 points from
Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.), as SMU built a four-point halftime lead and held off Gustavus
78-75 at the SMU Gym Wednesday evening. Saint John’s, meanwhile, has been off since last Saturday, when the Johnnies dropped an
84-68 decision at Carleton.
Last Meeting — January 2, 2010: Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) scored a team-high 17 points to lead three players in double figures, but the Cardinals could not shut down Saint John’s one-two combination of Sam Blank and Aaron Burtzel in falling to the Johnnies
69-62 at the SMU Gym.
Saint Mary’s Cardinal Notes: The Cardinals boasted five players in double figures in beating Gustavus for the first time in 17 years Wednesday. The win was SMU’s first over the Gusties since Feb. 13, 1993, when the Cardinals collected a 72-70 victory. … SMU’s five double-figure scorers were the most in one game since the Cardinals had five — Terrence Smith (19), Michael Batterman (12), Brensley Haywood (12), Dan Cormier (11) and John Gencius (10) — score 10 or more points vs. Northland on Dec. 30, 2005. … Wednesday’s win was also SMU’s second in its last three games and third in the Cardinals’ last five. …
Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) led the way for SMU vs. GAC Wednesday, scoring a game-high 18 points, while
Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.) finished with a career-best 17 points.
Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.),
Pat Freeman (Champlin Park, Minn.) and
Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.) also scored in double figures vs. Gustavus, netting 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively. … Holland enters today's game vs. the Johnnies needing 10 points to become the 26th Saint Mary's player to score 1,000 career points and will be the second current Cardinal to eclipse the 1,000-point mark, joining Wright who achieved the feat earlier this season. … With his 18 points vs. Gustavus, Wright now boasts 1,218 career points, leap-frogging over Willie Green and into the 13th spot in SMU career scoring. Next up for Wright is Ryan Rankin’s 1,232 points. … Wright has now scored in double figures in all 18 games this season and in 59 of his 64 collegiate games. … Palmer missed his fifth double-double of the season by one rebound against Bethel last Saturday, finishing with 24 points and nine boards against the Royals. … The Cardinals enter today’s game boasting three players averaging in double figures — Wright (17.6 ppg), Holland (14.9 ppg) and Palmer (14.4 ppg). … In their last two games — an 82-79 loss at Bethel and Wednesday’s 78-75 win over Gustavus — the Cardinals have put together two of their three highest offensive performances of the season.
Saint John’s Johnnies: After opening the 2010 portion of their schedule with four straight wins, the Johnnies have now dropped four of their last five games. … Today’s game vs. SMU is just the second home game in the last six for SJU. … Aaron Burtzel scored a team-high 21 points for the Johnnies vs. Carleton last Saturday. It was the second straight game in which he has led the team in scoring. … Burtzel also pulled down a team-best six boards vs. the Knights and has led the team in rebounding in nine straight contests and in 15 of SJU’s 17 games this season. … Burtzel enters today’s game vs. SMU averaging a double-double of 14.1 ppg and 10.3 rpg through 17 games. He also leads the team in assists (81) and steals (23). … Sam Blank is also averaging in double figures for the Johnnies at 10.6 ppg. … SJU has outscored its opponents 640-618 in the second half this season.