Naar returns, Ford has double-double in romp
Before tipoff Thursday, St. Mary’s recognized senior guard Emmett Naar for recently becoming the program’s all-time assists leader.
More importantly for the Gaels, when their starting five took the floor, Naar was among them.
Naar, who injured his ankle Saturday in a win at Portland, returned Thursday night as No. 22 St. Mary’s defeated Pepperdine 75-61 at McKeon Pavilion.
The Gaels’ floor leader played just 14 minutes, recording six assists. Even that was notable. Until about 20 minutes before tip-off, head coach Randy Bennett said, he hadn’t expected Naar to play.
“He was going to warm up and see how it felt,” Bennett said. “He hadn’t done anything, hadn’t practiced with us or anything” since the injury.
After testing the ankle pregame and talking with a trainer, Bennett said, Naar opted to play.
“Once he said he wanted to go, I said, ‘Let’s see what he looks like,’ so at least I know where he’s at,” Bennett said. “I think he helped us, as much as anything, just confidence-wise.”
Naar played 11 first-half minutes as St. Mary’s seized an early lead over the Waves (4-25, 1-16 WCC). At one point, he floated a pass from the backcourt to senior Calvin Hermanson, who caught it under the basket and finished with a layup. Hermanson and sophomore Jordan Ford knocked down three-pointers on the Gaels’ next possessions to build a 19-6 lead.
In perhaps his most visible test of the ankle, Naar drove into traffic for a layup attempt late in the half and missed. He followed on the next possession by floating a pass inside to senior Jock Landale for an easy two-handed dunk.
St. Mary’s took a 46-26 lead into halftime and stretched it to 27 points in the second half. Naar was taken out for good less than three minutes into the half: Bennett said he didn’t think the senior was moving as well but probably could have re-entered the game had it become necessary.
It was a promising sign for the Gaels, who have one regular-season game left before they begin play in the WCC tournament March 3 in Las Vegas. After consecutive losses to Gonzaga and USF, the Gaels have won back-to-back games heading into Saturday’s home finale against Santa Clara.
“I think we definitely came up with a lot of energy tonight,” Hermanson said. “I think we’ve been a little slow a couple games, and we were kind of itching to get back on the court. And tonight, you could really tell right away — we were knocking down shots, moving the ball really well and playing well.”
Ford had 18 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for the Gaels, who shot 45 percent and made 13 of 27 three-point attempts. Hermanson scored 14 points, Landale had 10 points and six rebounds and sophomore Tanner Krebs added 12 points.
Ford and Cullen Neal ran the offense with Naar out. Hermanson and Landale joined Naar on the bench midway through the second half, but both checked back in after Pepperdine cut its deficit to 13 points.
“We could’ve closed it a little better, but we were able to rest Jock, rest Emmett, and Tanner and (Evan Fitzner) got some rest,” Bennett said. “For all the things we had going on, and Emmett obviously wasn’t 100 percent, I was pleased.”