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-Schmitt & Smith (1:06)

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's took advantage of a fast start to the game in a 68-57 win over Saint Mary's in the Johnnies' conference opener on Saturday, Dec. 7, in Collegeville.

SJU (3-2, 1-0 MIAC) made seven of its first 10 shots and led by as much as 19, 29-10, with 6:42 left in the first half. SMU (1-5, 0-2 MIAC), however, rode a 16-6 run into halftime to trail by only nine (35-26).

The Cardinals trailed by only six (47-41) with 9:37 remaining in the game, but sophomore Alex Schmitt (Chaska, Minn./Waconia) sparked SJU to a 15-6 run to bring the Johnnies' lead back to 15 with five minutes left. Schmitt tallied all 13 of his points in a 4:10 span.

Junior Blake Maslonkowski (St. Joseph, Minn./St. Cloud Apollo) led five Johnnies in double figures with 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first double-double as a Johnnie. Senior Jack Wittenborg (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) added 11 points, while senior Patrick Butcher (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) and sophomore Joe Risinger (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) added 10 points apiece.

Senior Kevin McKenzie (De Pere, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) tied his career-high of eight assists, set in SJU's last game (Nov. 23 vs. Wisconsin-River Falls), with eight in the first half alone Saturday and finished with 12 for the game. The 12 assists is the most for a Johnnie since Feb. 19, 2002 (12 by Ryan Keating vs. Macalester). McKenzie now has 171 assists in 83 career games (52 starts), 58 behind Corey Jackson (1992-96) for 10th on SJU's all-time list.

Evan Pederson led four Cardinals in double figures with a game-high 21 points on 10-for-15 shooting and added six assists. He entered the contest averaging 5.2 points per game and shooting 24.4 percent from the field.

SJU head coach Jim Smith earned career win No. 758 (758-537) with the victory and is one away from tying Ed Diddle (Western Kentucky, 1923-64) for 17th on college basketball's all-divisions win list. Smith is now 78-21 all-time (.788) against Saint Mary's, including a 49-1 record at home. The Johnnies have won 44 consecutive meetings against SMU in Collegeville. The lone home loss for Smith against the Cardinals was an 80-77 decision in overtime in 1968, when SJU still played in the Old Gym.

SJU travels to face Hamline for a 7:30 p.m. game on Monday, Dec. 9, in St. Paul.