Gaels get up early in Vegas
in our league, going at it for the championship.”
St. Mary’s won its two regular-season meetings with BYU by a combined 26 points. The Cougars would have been happy to keep this one that close.
The Gaels didn’t trail and led by as many as 35 points, displaying their acclaimed defense (second in the country before Monday).
St. Mary’s limited BYU, which averages 81.3 points per game, to a season low in points on 31.7 percent shooting. The Gaels forced 10 turnovers and allowed only five assists.
Cougars sophomore center Eric Mika, who averages 20.4 points on 53 percent shooting, was held to 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting. All-league guard T.J. Haws scored a team-high 13 points, but it took him 14 shots to get there.
The Gaels had four players in double-figure scoring, shot 55.8 percent from the floor and made 13 of 25 three-point attempts. Jock Landale paced St. Mary’s with 22 points and 10 rebounds, Calvin Hermanson had 14 points and six rebounds, Emmett Naar put up 12 points and 11 assists to two turnovers, and Tanner Krebs added 11 points in 15 minutes.
“We feel like we can shoot from every single position on the floor,” Landale said. “It makes everything a lot easier.”
St. Mary’s forced BYU into missing 11 of its first 12 shots and was ahead 12-2 before the fans got settled into their seats. Landale led the Gaels with 12 firsthalf points, but they got plenty from the perimeter, too.
St. Mary’s went 5-of-12 from three-point range in the first half to lead 36-19 with a minute left, then hit three more from distance in the opening three minutes of the second half to boost the margin to 51-24. Three Landale baskets, including two dunks, pushed the lead to 57-24 with 12:13 left.
The Gaels made eight threepointers in the second half and shot 71.8 percent from the floor.
“That’s an absurd number,” Bennett said.