Than came Wednesday night.
The Cardinals shot 17 percent from the field in the first half, making just 4 of 23 field goal attempts, and scored just 17 points in the game's opening 20 minutes of Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Hamline.
To make matters worse, the Pipers shot a sizzling 68 percent from the field in the first half, jumping out to a commanding 45-17 halftime advantage — and Hamline never looked back, dropping SMU 79-61 at the SMU Gym.
"What can I say? Obviously, we did not play very well in the first half," said Trewick, whose team dropped its fifth straight in falling to 3-14 in the MIAC and 4-18 overall. "It was just one of those things — like a stone rolling down a hill, once it gets going, it just keeps picking up speed. Hamline got on a roll, and we just couldn't stop them."
SMU did turn things around a bit in the second half, outscoring the Pipers 44-34, but that first-half deficit was just too great.
"I give our guys a lot of credit, they battled right to the very end," said Trewick, who got a team-high 13 points from Jeff Tendall (LeClaire, Iowa). "We cut the lead to 15 with 10 minutes to go, but then we struggled to get the ball across halfcourt, and before you know it, the lead's 20 again.
"I was pleased with the way we executed in the second half – and that's what we have to focus on," continued Trewick. "If we can execute with that type of consistency for 40 minutes, we're going to win our share of ball games.
"The problem is, right now we aren't at that level for the entire 40 minutes."
HAMLINE UNIVERSITY 79, SAINT MARY'S 61 HAMLINE UNIVERSITY (6-11 MIAC, 8-14) Jesse Hendricks 6-11 0-0 16; Sam Wiener 4-8 3-4 13; Brandon Aukes 5-6 2-2 13; Charley Good 6-6 0-3 12; Ryan Montgomery 2-5 3-4 7; Kyle Foster 2-4 2-2 6; Ayan Hargrove 1-4 2-2 4; Paul Muenchow 2-5 0-0 4; Adam Hakanson 2-3 0-0 4; Brandon Hayes 0-0 0-0 0; Jon Viemeister 0-0 0-0 0; Brandon Hayes 0-0 0-0 0; Nick Novak 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-52 12-17 79. SAINT MARY'S (3-14 MIAC, 4-18) Michael Batterman 5-9 2-3 14; Jeff Tendall 4-10 2-2 13; Mike O'Hara 3-5 0-0 8; John Gencius 2-4 2-2 8; Eric Lear 2-6 1-2 6; Dan Cormier 1-2 0-0 3; Michael Rohr 1-3 1-2 3; Fiore Buccieri 0-4 2-2 2; Jason Washington 1-2 0-3 2; Dan Kloak 0-4 2-4 2; Ryan Walker 0-1 0-0 0; Alex Walker 0-0 0-0 0; Josh Heim 0-1 0-0 0; Josh Kearns 0-0 0-0 0; Eustice Kesseh 0-0 0-0 0; Brensley Haywood 0-1 0-0 0; Kyle Hubbard 0-0 0-0 0; David Shaw 0-1 0-0 0; Dan Lewis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-53 12-20 61. Hamline University............ 45 34 - 79 Saint Mary's.................. 17 44 - 61 3-point goals-Hamline University 7-17 (Jesse Hendricks 4-7; Sam Wiener 2-4; Brandon Aukes 1-1; Kyle Foster 0-1; Ayan Hargrove 0-1; Ryan Montgomery 0-3), Saint Mary's 11-28 (Jeff Tendall 3-7; John Gencius 2-4; Michael Batterman 2-3; Mike O'Hara 2-4; Dan Cormier 1-2; Eric Lear 1-3; Ryan Walker 0-1; Brensley Haywood 0-1; Jason Washington 0-1; Fiore Buccieri 0-2). Fouled out--Hamline University-None, Saint Mary's-None. Rebounds-Hamline University 32 (Charley Good 5; Brandon Aukes 5; Paul Muenchow 5), Saint Mary's 34 (Dan Kloak 5). Assists-Hamline University 17 (Sam Wiener 4), Saint Mary's 10 (Jeff Tendall 5). Total fouls-Hamline University 19, Saint Mary's 14. A-286