ST. MARY’S
draw. “That’s one place I’m really excited about. I’ve never been there before.”
Reminded that Albany is more than a stone’s throw from Manhattan, Ducas replied, “Someone told me that it’s a bit far away. It’s somewhere away from the West Coast, so we’ll take it.”
One thing that does work in the Gaels’ favor is that it is a Friday game. As a No. 11 seed, Saint Mary’s played a late afternoon Thursday game in 2019 at Hartford, losing to Villanova, 61-57.
“That helps on the East Coast thing,” Bennett said of playing Friday, “so you have a little time to get ready, get your schedule, get some practices in and then head on out.”
Saint Mary’s (26-7) is making a postseason appearance for the 15th consecutive season (nine NCAAS, six NITS), excluding 2020, when all tournaments were canceled because of COVID -19.
The Gaels have played in the shadow of Gonzaga, which has won or shared the past WCC 11 regularseason titles. Saint Mary’s was the top seed via tiebreakers in this month’s WCC Tournament but was drubbed by Gonzaga in the championship game, 77-51.
On the CBS selection show Sunday night, studio analyst Seth Davis immediately picked Saint Mary’s to lose its opening-round game to VCU.
“We love being doubted,” Gaels fifth-year senior Logan Johnson said. “We love being the odd man. A lot of people don’t think we’ll do anything. A lot of people don’t even think we’d be a five seed again and be in this position. We’re just looking forward to proving a lot of people wrong.”
The Gaels were ranked as high as 15th in the weekly Associated Press poll — they are seeded 19th in the NCAA — but stumbled a bit near the end. They lost twice to Gonzaga in their past three games by a combined 35 points and also fell to WCC foe Loyola Marymount in overtime.
They are led by three senior starters: Johnson (14.7 points per game), a 6-2 guard voted the WCC Defensive Player of the Year; Ducas (12.5), a 6-7 guard/forward, and Kyle Bowen (5.3 ppg, 7.2 rebounds), a 6-8 forward from Australia. Junior Mitchell Saxen (11.6 ppg, team-best 7.8 rpg), a 6-10 center, also starts.
The second-leading scorer, guard Aidan Mahaney (14.2), was the WCC Freshman of the Year. Mahaney and Saxen were voted onto the all-wcc first team, although that honor is somewhat diluted because 10 players were named. The five starters consumed 80 percent of the court time for the Gaels.
Surrounded by upperclassmen in the starting lineup, Mahaney, four-star recruit from nearby Lafayette, Calif., shouldn’t be in awe of the NCAA environment, according to Bennett.
“He’s seen the smoke,” Bennett said. “He’s seen the best guys all the way up. He knows what this means. I don’t even have to explain it to him.
“The only thing that will be different for him is he hasn’t seen the NCAA Tournament. He doesn’t know about all the interviews and practices in front of the public. It matters to have experience, but he knows what it means to compete. He’s sharp enough to know that whoever we play in this tournament is pretty good. There are no bums in the NCAA Tournament.”
Pete Dougherty is a freelance writer. He can be reached at pete.dougherty7 @gmail.com.