St. Mary’s moves to No. 15 in AP poll

Two significant victories last week extended St. Mary’s winning streak to 12 games. On Monday, those wins earned the Gaels a bump in the national rankings and brought WCC recognition to two of head coach Randy Bennett’s players.

Bennett earned career win No. 500 in a 68-59 decision over USF on Thursday night and then the Gaels came from eight points down with 6½ minutes to go in regulation to knock off Gonzaga 78-70 in overtime Saturday night.

On Monday, the Gaels (21-4, 10-0 WCC) were ranked 15th in the Associated Press poll, up three spots from last week. The Zags (19-5, 8-2) were ranked 16th on Monday, down four spots from last week.

Junior center Mitchell Saxen was named the WCC Player of the Week as he had double-doubles in both games: 10 points and 10 rebounds against the Dons, 15 points and 11 boards against the Zags.

And in perhaps the least surprising news of 2023, guard Aidan Mahaney was named the conference’s Freshman of the Week. It’s the sixth straight week he has earned the award and he has won it nine of a possible 13 times.

The Campolindo-Moraga alum scored 17 points and hit the go-ahead shot with 3½ minutes remaining in the win over USF. Against the Zags, Mahaney went 1-for-10 and had two points in the first 33 minutes. He responded by finishing with a team-high 18 points and scoring or assisting on 19 of 21 St. Mary’s points in the final five minutes of regulation and the first 2½ minutes of OT.

After the win Saturday night, Mahaney pointed to his preparation in explaining his success.

“I’m here 2 hours and 5 minutes, exactly, before every single game, just trying to get my shots up,” Mahaney said. “I try to conduct myself like a pro, so everything I do, I’m trying to get better.”

Even with an extra five minutes, the Gaels held the nation’s top scoring team 16 points below its average. With its deliberate offense and strong defense, St. Mary’s is fourth in the nation in fewest points allowed per game at 57.7.

“We think this is the best way for us to win at St. Mary’s,” Bennett said. “So when we play Gonzaga, it’s not, ‘Hey, we’ve got to do this.’ It’s, ‘We do what we do.’

“People think we try to slow ’em down. Yeah, we try to slow ’em down, just like we do everybody else.”

The Gaels, who owned a NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) ranking of No. 6 as of Monday morning, play their next three games on the road, beginning Thursday night against Loyola Marymount.