Gaels top Broncos, run win streak to 9
Saying St. Mary’s is on a roll would be accurate but woefully understating the case.
The Gaels extended their winning streak to nine games and remained alone atop the WCC standings with a 77-58 thrashing of a good Santa Clara team in Moraga on Saturday.
“Our guys are pretty inspiring, how hard they played,” St. Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett said. “I was surprised we were able to separate from (Santa Clara) like that.”
St. Mary’s freshman guard Aidan Mahaney, he of the feathery jump shot and knack for finding ways to the hoop, led all scorers with 20 points. He went 8-for-15 from the floor, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.
The Gaels (18-4, 7-0) also got 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting from center Mitchell Saxen and 13 apiece from forward Alex Ducas (5-for-6 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from long range) and guard Logan Johnson.
Guard Carlos Stewart led the Broncos (16-6, 4-3) with 17 points. St. Mary’s, which entered Saturday fourth in the nation in fewest points allowed per game (57.1), held guard Brandin Podziemski to seven points on 3-for-9 shooting from the floor.
Podziemski came into Saturday fourth in the WCC in scoring at 18.6 points per game.
Bennett credited Johnson for doing “a lot of the heavy lifting” guarding Podziemski but said it was a team effort.
Ducas said “everyone buys in” to the team-defense concepts. “Guys are able to switch when we need ’em to switch. Everyone understands their role on defense and knows how to execute it to a high level. We don’t have any guys that take plays off. We try to play every possession as hard as we can, and I think it shows.”
On New Year’s Eve, the Gaels edged the Broncos 67-64 at the Leavey Center. That was the third win in this nine-game streak for St. Mary’s. Each of the Gaels’ ensuing six wins has come by at least 14 points.
St. Mary’s entered Saturday with a NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) ranking of 7 though it remained in
“Good teams can compartmentalize and stay focused. Not get caught up on rankings, where you stand, win, loss — just get better today.” Randy Bennett, St. Mary’s head coach
the “Others Receiving Votes” category in the Associated Press poll. The Gaels likely will be in the AP Top 25 when the next poll is revealed Monday.
“Good teams can compartmentalize and stay focused,” Bennett said. “Not get caught up on rankings, where you stand, win, loss — just get better today. That’s what these guys have been good at. Hopefully, we can keep doing it.”
St. Mary’s led by as many as nine in the first half, which ended with the Gaels in front 36-29. Johnson drove down the left side of the lane for a bucket with five seconds left in the half for that sevenpoint margin.
Early in the second half, the Gaels were up by six before they scored eight straight points. Johnson had a hand in all eight. First, he knifed down the lane for two.
He then drove the baseline and found Mahaney open in the left corner for a 3. Moments later, Johnson dished another assist for a left-corner trey, this one by Ducas. The Gaels were up 48-34 about 4½ minutes into the second half.
They maintained at least a 12-point edge the rest of the way and led by as many as 28.
It has been more than a month since the Gaels last lost, a 62-60 decision to Colorado State in Moraga on Dec. 18. Bennett was asked how much better his team can be by the end of February.
“I don’t know. I want to find out, though,” he said. “The teams that are playing in March are the teams that keep improving in December, January and February. And we did improve in December and we have improved in January, but the race isn’t over. You’ve got to keep improving.”
Briefly: Each team is off until next Saturday when the Broncos host Pacific and the Gaels play at BYU. … St. Mary’s had 12 assists and committed eight turnovers. Santa Clara had six assists and committed 14 turnovers.