The West Coast Conference tournament is set to begin on Thursday, March 7th with a matchup between Pepperdine and Pacific in Las Vegas, Nevada. For one Saint Mary’s Gaels team, they can wait until Monday, March 11th to play as the team earned the WCC regular season title. Thus, they have the one seed during the conference tournament in Las Vegas.
It is the second straight year the Gaels have won the West Coast Conference as they split the regular season title last season with Gonzaga. However, this is the first time Saint Mary’s has solely won the WCC since the 2011-12 season.
According to the KenPom metric, the Saint Mary’s Gaels are 21st overall and are ranked 48th overall in offensive efficiency while having a top 20 efficient defense at 17th overall. The defense has been exceptional as they have held opponents to 60 points or less in 15 games. There have been highly impressive-looking defensive performances from this team as well. In games against Middle Tennessee and Pacific, the Gaels held those opponents to 34 and 28 points for an entire game.
By no means are Middle Tennessee and Pacific incredible basketball teams, but holding division one team to that point total in a game shows what a headache they can be. They rank first in the West Coast Conference in defensive rating and hold opponents to shoot under 40% from the field per game.
Defense has just been the mantra for head coach Randy Bennett who has been with the program since the 2001-02 season. This season, he was named WCC coach of the year which he has now won six times.
Underneath Bennett, the Gaels have now had 16 consecutive 20-win seasons and are almost guaranteed to make the NCAA tournament for the 17th straight season. The long-term success Bennett has had continued this season.
Saint Mary’s Has Been Great in Conference Play
The most impressive outlook for the Gaels this season seemed to be their elite conference record of 15-1 which really helped their overall 24-7 record after a rough start at the very beginning of the season. In their first eight games, Saint Mary’s started 3-5 with all of those being at home at the University Credit Union Pavilion.
The 15-1 stretch in WCC play included winning those 15 games consecutively throughout the Gaels winning 21 of the last 22 games before the most recent loss against Gonzaga. The stretch of big wins and a conference title has the Gaels ranked 23rd now in the country and as of March 5th, ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi has them as a 7th seed.
One of the big-name players Saint Mary’s has is the junior guard from Lithuania Augustas Marciulionis. He has been the main gear in Coach Bennett’s machine during the 2023-24 season averaging 12.4 points and 5.1 assists per game. He is the team’s leading passer and is second in the conference in assists per game and assists/turnover ratio behind Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard.
Marciulionis was also named to the WCC all-first team and was the player of the year in the conference as well.
Introducing your @WCCsports Player of the Year: 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬 🔥#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/3B2666Ztyq
— Saint Mary's Hoops (@saintmaryshoops) March 5, 2024
Although the Saint Mary’s star is the catalyst for getting the offense going, he is not the only player who can put up points for the Gaels. Aidan Mahaney is the points per game leader for the team at 13.7. He has been in double figures in 5 of the last 6 games which includes a 16-point outing in the recent loss against Gonzaga.
WCC defensive player of the year Mitchell Saxen and standout sophomore big man Joshua Jefferson also average points in the double figures at 11.5 and 10.2 respectively.
As a team, the Gaels rank 3rd in the West Coast Conference in team shooting at 46.7% from the field. This makes them only one of four teams that have a team field goal percentage above 45% along with Gonzaga, San Fransisco, and Santa Clara.
When it comes to March, Saint Mary’s defense will be key as it can rattle many opponents when it comes to their shooting. If they get teams to miss shots like they have all year, they can then look to one of their four main scorers for production on offense. Opposing teams should not want to get into a low-scoring, physical battle with the Gaels, especially when they have been winning as often as they have.
Saint Mary’s next game will be in the semifinal of the WCC tournament in Las Vegas on March 11th.