WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary’s University men’s basketball team, which dropped a hard-fought 66-55 decision to Saint John’s in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest in Collegeville, Minn., Saturday, is back in action Monday, playing host to league-leading St. Thomas at the SMU Gym.
The Records:
Saint Mary’s Cardinals (5-9 MIAC / 7-12 Overall)
St. Thomas Tommies (13-1 MIAC / 17-2 Overall)
GameDay On The Web:
Live Stats /
Listen Live /
Coach Landrum Preview /
GameDay Program
Last Action: Saint John’s scored 19 of the game’s final 29 points, pulling away to beat the Cardinals
66-55 in Collegeville, Minn., Saturday. St. Thomas, meanwhile, had little trouble in its road game at Macalester Saturday, rolling to an
86-51 conference win.
Last Meeting — January 11, 2010: St. Thomas outscored the Cardinals 14-7 down the stretch, turning a two-point game into a
77-68 UST victory in the teams’ first meeting this season in St. Paul, Minn.
Saint Mary’s Cardinal Notes: Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.) scored a game-high 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Cardinals’ vs. Saint John’s Saturday. It was the fifth time this season the Cardinal freshman has missed a double-double by one rebound. … Palmer, who boasts four double-doubles this season, has now scored in double figures in nine straight games and 16 times through the Cardinals’ first 19 games. …
Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 11 points vs. the Johnnies Saturday. It was the 60th time in 64 collegiate games that the Cardinal junior has scored 10 or more points. … Wright, who has scored 10 or more points in every game this season, now boasts 1,229 career points, moving him within three points of Ryan Rankin for 12th all-time. …
Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) scored nine points against the Johnnies Saturday, leaving him one point shy of 1,000 for his career. … 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. … The Cardinals enter today’s game boasting three players averaging in double figures — Wright (17.3 ppg), Holland (14.6 ppg) and Palmer (14.6 ppg). … Four of the Cardinals’ seven wins have come on their home floor.
St. Thomas Tommie Notes: Over the last two seasons, St. Thomas has the second-best winning percentage among 1,000 NCAA men's basketball teams. … Coach Steve Fritz has guided St. Thomas to a Division III-best 47-3 record over the last two seasons. The Tommies went 30-1 last season and are off to a 17-2 start thus far in 2009-2010. … UST closed last season ranked No. 3 in the national poll and is currently ranked sixth this season. … The Toms, looking to secure the school's fifth consecutive MIAC championship, hold a two-game lead in the conference race with seven games remaining. … Alex Healy scored 21 points on 8 of 9 shooting to lead the Tommies past Macalester Saturday. The Tommies are now 19-0 when Healy scores 10 or more points. … With Saturday’s win, UST closed out January with a 10-1 record. … St. Thomas drained 15 of its first 16 shots vs. the Scots Saturday. … UST got 40 points from its bench vs. Macalester. … St. Thomas, winners of five straight, enters tonight’s game boasting three players averaging in double figures — Tyler Nicolai (15.6 ppg), Joe Scott (10.8 ppg) and Healy (10.5 ppg). …