Landale helps Gaels remain undefeated

LAS VEGAS — Jock Landale missed two of his 11 field-goal attempts Sunday. Yes, it has become bigger news when the St. Mary’s center misses a shot than when he makes one.

The junior from Australia led the 15th-ranked Gaels with 20 points — including a threepointer — as St. Mary’s improved to 5-0 with a 76-63 victory over Alabama-Birmingham on Sunday.

Landale is 45-for-59 (76.3 percent) from the floor this season. He credits his unselfish teammates for his success.

“We get along so well on and off the court and I think that adds to our trust factor,” Landale said. “We never really doubt each other to make the shot or an open play. We just get how each one of us operates individually and it makes things a lot easier.”

Emmett Naar, Stefan Gonzalez (4-for-6 from beyond the arc) and Calvin Hermanson each scored 12 points for the Gaels. Naar and fellow guard Joe Rahon each had seven assists against two turnovers.

Rahon and Naar each played all 40 minutes.

The Gaels were typically accurate: They went 27-for-52 (51.9 percent) from the floor, including 13-for-26 from long range. They also hit all nine of their free-throw attempts.

Chris Cokley went 10-for-13 from the floor as he led the Blazers (3-3) with 20 points.

St. Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett was completely sold on his team’s defense.

“We probably had 25 minutes of what I thought was good defense,” Bennett said. “That’s got to be closer to 37 or 38 minutes; that’s where we need to get. We were closer to that last year and we have to get back there.”

The Gaels face Stanford at Maples Pavilion on Wednesday night. Chronicle staff writer Steve Kroner

contributed to this report.