WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary’s University men’s basketball coach Bob Biebel looks at the past two seasons as a learning experience for his Cardinals.

Now it’s time to see just how much the Cardinals have learned.

“We’re a very experienced team this year — not just in that we have five seniors on the roster, but also because we’ve got a number of younger players who have already seen a lot of minutes because of injuries, etc.,” said Biebel. “I think the best way to evaluate the last couple of years is as a big learning experience.”

And Biebel figures that, after two years of College Hoops 101, the Cardinals are ready to move on — and up.

“We have high expectations, no question about that,” admitted Biebel, whose team struggled to a 5-19 record a year ago. “As a coaching staff, we see that this group has the potential to do some really big things this year — and the players can sense it, too.”

In fact, Biebel is so confident in his team’s learning curve, that he’s not ruling out a spot in the conference’s post-season tournament.

“We want to get back to where we were three years ago,” said Biebel, whose 1999-2000 team went 11-9 in the MIAC and would have qualified for the six-team conference tournament. “We want to get back to being a force in the conference — and from what I’ve seen from our guys so far, I’d say that’s a very realistic expectation.”

Notice Biebel said “expectation,” not “goal.”

Because Biebel and the Cardinals aren’t hoping to reach the post-season, they are expecting to.

And with good reason.

Back — and healthy — is SMU’s leading scorer, Nick Michaels (Dyer, Ind. / 17 GP, 14.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg), who missed the last half of the season with a hand injury. Also returning are starters Ryan Wilt (Naperville, Ill. / 8.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and Lance Larson (Lakeville, Minn. / 25 GP, 7.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg) and regulars Todd Yankowski (Chicago, Ill. / 5.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg), Adam Kraemer (Oshkosh, Wis. / 4.1 ppg, 1.8 rpg) and Jon Skalski (Cary, Ill. / 3.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg).

“Our seniors have been providing some great leadership — both on and off the court,” said Biebel, whose team finally takes to the court — after nearly six weeks of practice — tonight vs. UW-La Crosse. “Everyone’s coming in this year knowing what their roles are, what it’s going to take to make this team better and their work ethic has been outstanding.

“Lance (Larson) and Nick (Michaels) have come in in great shape and their attitude has been so positive that it’s really drawing this team together.”

Despite what appears to be a perfect recipe for success, Biebel is also wary of the minefields that lay buried beneath the surface.

And he’s bound and determined to keep his players away from them.

“We have got to stay healthy, plain and simple,” said Biebel, who was forced to play without one or two starters for the majority of last season. “We were constantly shuffling our lineup last year because people were hurt.

“We’ve got to stay away from injuries.”

And prolonged losing streaks.

“One of our goals this year is to stay away from those long stretches where we play poorly,” said Biebel, whose team struggled through a six-game, and two five-game losing streaks last season. “We can’t throw in the towel the minute things don’t go our way. Instead of finger-pointing if we are to lose a couple games in a row, we need to refocus, regroup and get back at it.”

And if the Cardinals can do that, they will be right back where they want to be — in the thick of the MIAC title chase.