WINONA, Minn. — Before the season even began, when first-year Saint Mary's University men's basketball coach Mike Trewick looked at the team's upcoming schedule, he wanted nothing more than to post a win in the Cardinals' 11th game of the season.

Not that Trewick's lucky number is 11, but the opponent scheduled to face the Cardinals that Saturday afternoon was St. John's University — a team Trewick may know better than his very own.

Trewick was formerly a standout point guard for the Johnnies, helping the team to a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title in 1993, and he spent nine seasons on the SJU coaching staff before coming to Saint Mary's.

But after the final buzzer sounded at the SMU Gymnasium Saturday, Trewick put his pride aside as the Johnnies handed SMU a 83-71 loss, giving the Cardinals their third straight loss of the new year.

"We played horrible defense — we let them shoot whatever they wanted and most times it went in," Trewick said, noting the Johnnies ended with a 56 percent field goal shooting effort on the game. "We need to listen better — the guys weren't doing a good job of translating what they were told."

Four athletes ended in double figures for SJU (3-3 MIAC, 5-6 overall), including a team-high 25 points from Matt Ohme, who had already accumulated 14 points at the half, Paul Henrichs added 17 points, Craig Schafer put in 16 points and Jon Kaus added 13 points.

Dan Kloak (Elmwood Park, Ill.) recorded a double-double for the Cardinals (0-6, 1-10) with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Jeff Tendall (LeClaire, Iowa), in his first game back from injury, posted 12 points and Michael Batterman (Fond du Lac, Wis.) added 11 points.

"It was definitely nice to have Tendall back on the offensive end, but right now we're just not clicking well defensively," Trewick said. "Considering my past with St. John's, I knew exactly what kind of play to expect, and we just didn't react like we had hoped to."

The Cardinals continue MIAC play Wednesday when they travel to Hamline for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.