Game Summary / GameDay Preview

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.) missed out on his fifth straight double-double by one rebound, but the Saint Mary's University sophomore's effort was not quite enough, as Saint John's broke away from a three-point halftime advantage in handing the Cardinals an 84-68 MIAC setback Monday evening.

Palmer scored a team-high 24 points and tallied nine rebounds in the losing effort for the Cardinals, who also got 19 points from Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) and 10 points from Pat Freeman (Champlin, Minn.). Palmer was 6-for-12 from the field and a near-perfect 11-for-12 from the free throw line. Wright, meanwhile, went 6 of 14 from the field and 6-for-8 from the line, while Freeman buried two of the team's six 3-pointers to fuel his 10-point night.

The Cardinals shot 48 percent from the field in the game's opening 20 minutes — knocking down 13 of their 27 field goal attempts — but were left staring at a three-point, 42-39 deficit at the break.

Unfortunately for SMU, the second half was a different story, as the Cardinals managed to make just 5 of 24 attempts from the field — including an — 0-for-6 effort from behind the 3-point line.

Aaron Burtzel scored a game-high 26 points and hauled in eight rebounds to lead the way for Saint John's (3-6 MIAC, 7-7 overall), with Chris Schwartz and And Burns chipping in 15 and 13 points, respectively.

The Cardinals (3-6 MIAC, 8-6 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Augsburg for a 7:30 p.m. conference tilt.