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Cardinal Roster
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Cardinal Statistics
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Cardinal Schedule
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MIAC Standings
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MIAC Statistics
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| 2006-2007 Records: 0-0 MIAC / 0-0 Overall |
| Last Week's Results: Northern Illinois 86, SMU 69 (exhib.) / Details |
| Upcoming Games: Fri., Nov. 24: SMU at Winona State, 7 p.m. Sat., Nov. 25: Eau Claire at SMU, 7:30 p.m. |
| Cardinal News and Notes: SMU's game vs. Northern Illinolis last Wednesday marked the first time Saint Mary’s has faced an NCAA Division I team since the 1985-86 season, when the Cardinals traveled to California to take on the University of San Francisco and Saint Mary’s College. SMU lost to USF 80-60 and to SMC 82-62. … Alex Washington (Hillside, Ill.) scored a team-high 13 points in the loss to NIU. … The Cardinals' nine wins last season were the most in a season since SMU went 11-13 during the 1999-2000 season. … Seven of the Cardinals' nine wins last season came on their home floor. The Cardinals finished the season with a 2-12 record on the road. … After going 9-9 through the first 18 games of the season a year ago, the Cardinals dropped their final seven contests. … Terrence Smith (Broadview, Ill.) and Brensley Haywood (Joliet, Ill.) earned honorable-mention All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors a year ago. … Smith, who closed out the season with a team-best 12.0 ppg average, scored 10 or more points in 19 of the Cardinals’ 25 games. … Haywood (11.3 ppg) and Michael Batterman (Fond du Lac, Wis. / 10.9 ppg) also closed out the season averaging in double figures. … The Cardinals scored 80 or more points five times a year ago, including a season-high 87 points in an 87-87-81 win over Northland on Dec. 30. … SMU was also held under 50 points three times — twice vs. Gustavus, in which the Cardinals lost 78-42 and 82-42. … Haywood boasted SMU’s top two individual offensive performances last season, netting 26 against Bethel and 24 vs. St. Thomas. |
Cardinals' exhibition loss vs. NCAA Division I NIU
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Alex
Washington 13 points vs. No. Illinois |
And his team lost by 15 points, 86-69.
"The guys went out and played hard from start to finish — I was very happy with what I saw," said Trewick, whose team is coming off a nine-win season a year ago, the most wins by an SMU team since the Cardinals went 11-13 during the 1999-2000 season. "I didn't really know what to expect heading into this game — about the only negative I can even think of is the fact that we lost."
Sort of.
Since Wednesday's game against the Huskies was an exhibition game for the Cardinals, the 15-point loss won't count against SMU's record — but Trewick is confident the lessons learned will pay huge dividends.
"We showed a lot of character," said Trewick, who got a team-high 13 points from Alex Washington (Hillside, Ill.) and12 from Michael Rohr (Bloomingdale, Ill.) "Being able to play a game like this is a great learning experience — and I think we learned a lot tonight."
NIU jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first minute of play and never looked back. After Saint Mary's cut the lead to 6-2 on Washington's first basket of the game, Northern Illinois quickly extended its lead to 18-6 at the 16-minute mark and the Cardinals would get no closer than seven points the rest of the game.
The Huskies led 48-35 at halftime as Mike McKinney scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the first half. Northern Illinois extended its lead to 21 points twice in the second half, but Saint Mary's got hot from beyond the 3-point line to get as close as 12 points before falling by the final margin of 15.
"We struggled a bit early on, but when you are playing in an atmosphere like this — in your season opener — that's to be expected," said Trewick, whose team will "officially" kick off its season on Friday, Nov. 24 at Winona State. "If we play with the intensity we did (vs. NIU) every time we step on the court, we are going to win a lot of games this season."