SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team travels to Winona, Minn. on Wednesday looking to pick up its first road win of the season, taking on Saint Mary’s for a 7 p.m. contest. The Gusties enter 4-8 overall and 4-3 in the MIAC, while the Cardinals are 6-5 overall and 3-3 in league play.
The Series: Tonight’s contest marks the 178th all-time meeting between the two teams with Gustavus holding a 125-52 edge. Saint Mary’s was able to take both contests last year, winning 86-81 in Saint Peter on Dec. 6 before winning in Winona on Jan. 26, 79-64.
Scouting the Gusties: Gustavus comes into the contest riding its best offensive performance of the season, defeating Carleton 93-82 Monday. In the victory, the Gusties notched 27 assists, the most since Feb. 13, 2010 when they dished out 28 in an 86-52 win over Bethel. Kaleb Feahn and Logan Rezac have been strong offensively of late, both averaging 16.3 points over the team’s last four contests. The Gusties have also been strong in the post, with Nolan Malo averaging 10.3 points to go along with 3.8 boards, while Jake Guse leads the MIAC and ranks 14th in the nation with 30 total blocks to go along with 8.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
Scouting the Cardinals: Saint Mary’s is most recently coming off an 86-79 loss to Augsburg Monday. The Cardinals are led by Eli Cave, who ranks second in the conference in points with 19.8 per game and adds 5.4 rebounds and a team-best 3.3 assists. Raheem Anthony has also been strong, averaging 10.1 points to go along with a team-most 7.4 rebounds per game. The Cardinals have swarmed opponents on the defensive end, notching a MIAC-high 9.5 steals per contest.