Saint Mary’s got into the AP Top 25 just in time for its busiest stretch of the season. The newly ranked No. 22 Gaels will get an immediate challenge on Tuesday night when they make the short trip south through the Bay Area to visit Santa Clara.
Saint Mary’s (19-4, 7-1 West Coast Conference) has won seven straight games since dropping its conference opener at BYU on Jan. 8. Its best victory in that span was arguably a come-from-behind 72-70 win at San Francisco on Jan. 27, a game in which the Gaels trailed by 17 at halftime and got a 27-point, 12-rebound double-double from Matthias Tass.
But the Gaels are far from a one-man show, as they proved Saturday in a 71-60 home win over Loyola Marymount. Alex Ducas hit five 3-pointers and finished with 25 points on just 14 shot attempts, and Logan Johnson stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists while playing the full 40 minutes.
“We had a great week of practice and the guys were telling me, ‘When you’re open, shoot the ball,'” Ducas said afterward. “That’s what I did tonight, and they happened to fall, so I can’t complain.”
Tass leads a balanced offense with 13.2 points per game and is shooting 57.2 percent from the field. Ducas averages 11.1 points, thanks largely to 39.4 percent 3-point shooting, and Johnson averages 10.7 points.
This has been a typical Randy Bennett team, one that plays a slow pace and grinds up opponents. Saint Mary’s is ranked 15th in defensive efficiency per kenpom.com, allowing only 90.8 points per 100 possessions, and is 59th in offensive efficiency at 109.9.
That’s almost the complete opposite of Santa Clara (16-8, 6-3), which plays one of the fastest tempos in Division I under former North Carolina State coach Herb Sendek. The Broncos average 71.6 possessions per game, 26th-quickest in Division I, and boast the 36th-most efficient offense with 111.8 points per 100 possessions.
Santa Clara is coming off a 79-66 win Saturday at San Diego that featured 19 points from Jalen Williams, the team’s leading scorer at 18.1 ppg, and 18 from Josip Vrankic. His fifth year at Santa Clara has been perhaps his best; he’s averaging 14.9 points and 5.4 rebounds as well as a career-high 3.3 assists per game.
The Broncos established a 48-29 halftime lead at San Diego, a margin that was more than enough to make up for a second half that saw them outscored by six points.
“Obviously, the first half was really good for us,” Sendek said. “We played our sixth game in 13 days, which is essentially a game every other day, and now we’re going to catch our breath and get ready for a really good Saint Mary’s team.”
The teams played on Jan. 20 in Moraga, Calif., with the Gaels winning 73-65 as Tommy Kuhse came off the bench to score 17 points.
Saint Mary’s has won 10 of the past 12 games between the teams.
–Field Level Media