Gaels out to prove their worth
SALT LAKE CITY — There is the normal abnormal NCAA Tournament excitement, and then there is another level — like with St. Mary’s on Thursday. Call it the need-to-proveyourself level.
The Gaels have arguably their best team ever, were ranked in the Top 25 all season, and yet have largely been under the radar. To be accurate, they were shoved off the radar by conference rival (and West Region No. 1 seed) Gonzaga, which beat St. Mary’s three times this season.
Still, the seventh-seeded Gaels are an impressive 28-4, and they play No. 10 VCU at 4:20 Thursday in a first-round West Region game at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
The fans there will be asking the same question: How good is St. Mary’s?
“We only lost to two teams all year,” Gaels head coach Randy Bennett said, with a semi-anguished grin.
The other was Texas Arlington, in December. St. Mary’s tore through the rest of its schedule, winning by an average of 19.8 points. Only twice did the Gaels win by less than 10.
The Gaels looked loose at Wednesday’s practice, but Bennett doesn’t really know how his players will react Thursday. While this is his sixth NCAA Tournament appearance, it is the first for this group of players.
“It’s a concern because playing in an NCAA Tournament is unique,” Bennett said, “There’s nothing like it. I can try and tell them this is what it’s like, and I have … (but) media sessions, your 40 minutes on the court. All those things are different. Nothing like it. Excitement — you’re hearing about it every day at school, the brackets. It’s one of the biggest sporting events in the country.”
So he tries to keep things as normal as possible, scouting the opponent while focusing on things the Gaels do well, particularly offensive spacing, transition defense and rebounding.
Bennett does drive one point home again and again: relax and have fun ... but don’t actually relax.
“We have to be ready to compete,” he said. “You can’t go to the NCAA Tournament just to play. If you do, you’ll be going home after the first day.”
VCU (26-8) may not be as talented as previous editions, but the Rams do compete. They like to apply defensive pressure, and they hit the boards hard. Point guard JeQuan Lewis averages 14.7 points and 4.6 assists, and 6-foot-7 forward Justin Tillman is active inside, with 12.4 points and 8.8 rebounds a game.
“They’re good,” St. Mary’s guard Joe Rahon said. “Defensively, they’re really good. They get after you a little bit. Mix it up, fullcourt press, man to man, 2-2-1, they’ll pressure you man in the halfcourt or they’ll play zone.
“For us offensively, it’s going to be taking care of the ball, moving it, do what we do. There’s jitters every game, but against them especially it’s going to be important.”
VCU doesn’t have anyone to match up with St. Mary’s 6-11 center Jock Landale (16.8 points, 9.3 rebounds per game), and that worries Rams head coach Will Wade.
“They’re able to kind of grind you into submission a lot of the time with what they do,” Wade said. “They have tremendous, tremendous spacing. They’ve got great shooting. They’ve got three or four guys who shoot 44 percent from three. And then they’ve got a big guy who’s going to make a lot of money professionally playing basketball.
“If you’ve got a good big guy and you’ve got good shooters, and good spacing, that’s usually a really, really good offense. That’s what they have.”
Gaels forward Evan Fitzner leads the way from outside, making three-point shots at a 44 percent clip, while guard Emmett Naar and forward Calvin Hermanson are just behind him, shooting from beyond the arc at 43.9 and 43.7 percent, respectively.
And the Gaels are patient, sometimes setting six ball screens on one possession.
“It’s going to be who can impose their will,” Wade said. “If we get the game going faster, that’s obviously an advantage VCU. If they get it going at their pace, it’s going to be a long night for VCU.”