WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University men's basketball coach Mark Lovelace can accept a loss — if his Cardinals play up to their abilities.

Case in point, the Cardinals' 77-57 loss to Cal Lutheran just before the Christmas break. Sure, SMU was beaten by 20 points, but according to Lovelace, the Cardinals battled the entire way — they played tough, hard basketball for 40 minutes.

And, with a couple of weeks of rest, the SMU first-year head coach expected a similar effort — and hopefully a better outcome — when the Cardinals returned from their break against St. John's last Saturday.

He didn't get it.

St. John's led from start to finish, building a first-half lead as big as 14 points and never looked back en route to an 81-67 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win.

"We did not play well," admitted Lovelace, whose team falls to 0-5 in the MIAC and 1-8 overall. "There was no intensity, no emotion — we just didn't have that fire we've had the last several games.

"I was surprised by the way we played," continued Lovelace. "Honestly, that was probably the most disappointing performance we've had this season."

Jeff Tendall's (LeClaire, Iowa) 3-pointer five minutes into the first half gave SMU its final lead, 11-10, as SJU scored 23 of the next 31 points to lead 33-19 with 5:39 remaining in the first half. The Johnnies settled for a 44-31 halftime advantage, then outscored SMU 37-36 over the final 20 minutes to ice the win.

Tendall finished with 12 points to lead three SMU players in double figures while Matt Ohme netted a game-high 20 points for the Johnnies.

"St. John's is a very good team," Lovelace said. "They're very good — but they're not unbeatable good.

"It was one of those games where we didn't do anything all that well," continued Lovelace, whose team returns to action Monday, playing host to Carleton. "We were not ready to play — and in this league, if you don't step on the court ready to give 100 percent, you are going to get beat.

"We weren't ready, and we got beat."