NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Jeremy Sutherland knocked down a 3-pointer less than two minutes into the first half, and Carleton never looked back, as the Knights raced out to a 44-31 halftime advantage and rolled to a 80-60 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Saint Mary’s University men’s basketball team Wednesday evening.
Once Sutherland’s trey got the Knights’ offense jump-started, Carleton hit on all cylinders, tossing in 18 first-half field goals — including seven from behind the 3-point line — en route to its 13-point halftime advantage.
And, unfortunately for SMU, it was more of the same in the second half.
Carleton expanded its lead to 22, 60-38 with a 16-7 run in the opening seven minutes and never let the Cardinals get their offense on track, as SMU managed just 29 second-half points in falling to 5-11 in the MIAC and 7-14 overall.
Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) scored a team-high 20 points, while
Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.) collected his team-leading fifth double-double of the season, scoring 14 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.
Sutherland led the way for the Knights, finishing with a game-high 30 points, while Seth Junker and Scott Theisen also scored in double figures, scoring 15 and 12 points, respectively.
The Cardinals are now off until next Wednesday, when they play host to Hamline in a 7:30 p.m. conference contest at the SMU Gym.