STARTING FIVE
1)Â Â The Bethel University men's basketball team looks to avenge Wednesday's loss at Saint Mary's hosting the Cardinals in the backend of a home-and-home series. Saturday's game starts a stretch of three games over the next week. BU has a quick turnaround hosting Concordia Monday at 7 p.m. before traveling to Collegeville Saturday taking on the Johnnies.
2)Â Â Freshman
Joey Kidder has put in series work in his rookie season averaging 38.2 minutes per game which ranks second in Division III. His impact has been felt on the defensive end where he has a team-leading three steals, all of which came at Saint Mary's, and 23 boards with 18 coming on the defensive end. Kidder averages 5.3 points per game shooting 6-of-11 (54.4 percent).
3)Â Â Isaiah Carver-Bagley has found a rhythm from behind the arc shooting 44.8 percent from long distance. Averaging 4.3 treys a game, which ranks fifth nationally and third in the conference, Carver-Bagley has a team-leading 13 makes. For just the second time in his career he cashed in on seven threes against Augsburg on Feb. 11, bring his career 3-point shooting percentage to 40.7 percent.
4)Â Â The Royals overcame a 21-point deficit en route to an 85-79 overtime victory over Augsburg on Feb. 11, making it the largest comeback victory in the
Doug Novak era. Augsburg held a 56-35 lead with 12:45 reamining before a 3-pointer by
Chandler Wellman at the 6:18 marked sparked an 18-0 run forcing overtime.
5)Â Â On Wednesday, Saint Mary's took the series opener 57-48 for the Cardinals third straight win over Bethel. In all three of those wins, SMU has kept Bethel to under 60 points. Eli Cave from SMU led all players with 24 points while Bethel had four different players score a team-high eight points. The Royals struggled from behind the arc shooting 21.1 percent (4-of-19) while turning it over 15 times. Bethel forced Saint Mary's into 13 turnovers converting it into 12 points.
» Complete Bethel men's basketball game notes
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