by Michael Vernetti

Tyler Robertson, a 6’6″ guard-forward from Melbourne, Australia, is Portland’s best player — leading scorer (14.1 PPG this year, 15.3 PPG last year) and top assist-maker (5.4 APG). He initiates their offense and keeps it flowing with excellent ball distribution skills. He was injured half-way through Portland’s 92-72 loss to Loyola-Marymount and also sat out their 71-58 loss to BYU.

He was back for Saturday’s game against Saint Mary’s, won by the Gaels by an outlandish 42 points, 85-43, and a reunion with two of his former Aussie pals, Kyle Bowen and Alex Ducas who play for the Gaels (new Gael Aussies Harry Wessels and Rory Hawke have come aboard after Robinson’s time in Oz.) He may wish he had rested his twisted ankle for another game.

To say that Bowen, Saint Mary’s senior defensive star, shut down Robertson is a gross understatement. Following up on his two previous WCC games against San Diego and Santa Clara, in which he dominated the boards for 28 rebounds, Bowen had his defensive chops ready for Robinson.

Bowen held Robertson without a score until halfway through the second half, when he scored on a put-back while Bowen sat on the bench, bringing Portland to within 30 points of the Gaels at 58-28. Robertson added two more free throws to bring his total for the evening to four.

Bowen hounded Robertson from the opening tip-off, stripping him twice on entry passes in the early going, and harassing him into six turnovers by halftime, when Portland had scored four field goals in falling behind by 41-14. That’s right, Saint Mary’s scored 41 points and Portland scored 14, six of them from the free-throw line.

Bowen on a roll

The Portland game was Bowen’s third dominating performance since the Gaels opened WCC play with a 27-point rout of San Diego and followed that up with a gritty three-point win over Santa Clara on the Broncos’ court. It was remarked here that Bowen seemed to take it upon himself to ensure that his teammates don’t suffer the same letdown that led them to four avoidable losses in the pre-conference season.

The shaggy-haired Aussie from Western Australia showed his versatility against Portland, conceding the rebounding edge to center Mitchell Saxen after the two double-digit efforts against San Diego and Santa Clara, and a similar 15-rebound effort against D-2 opponent Academy of Art last Tuesday. Bowen corralled only four rebounds against Portland against Saxen’s 14 boards and 15 points, as Saxen counted his fourth double-double of the season.

Bowen upped his offense against Portland, scoring nine points including a three-pointer, and adding a signature high-emotion moment off a miss under the basket. Misfiring on a bunny, Bowen battled the Portland bigs for the rebound, snatched it from them and put the ball back in the bucket to push the Gaels’ early lead to 14-2. He reacted in his usual calm, reflective manner, screaming and thrusting his chest into a teammates’.

Bowen, of course, didn’t defeat Portland single-handedly, as five Gaels scored in double figures, led by Saxen and Aidan Mahaney with 15 each, freshman big man Wessels with a (short) career-best 12 points, the emerging Augustus Marciulionis with 11 points and Ducas with 10 points in a breezy 21-minute appearance.

The Gaels shot a mediocre 10-29 (34.5 per cent) on three-pointers, but that reflected a comeback after an early drought led by Ducas, Bowen and Logan Johnson. Ducas bounced back to sink 2-6 from distance, Mahaney was the sole of consistency at 3-6, and Marciulionis gave the Gaels a big second-half boost by sinking three-three-pointers in the last seven minutes of the game. By gaining confidence in his distance shooting, Marciulionis is continuing to build his game into a source of power for the Gaels.

Defense shines again

Defense was the watchword against Portland, however, as the Gaels battled every possession fiercely, grabbing 11 steals and forcing the Pilots into 16 turnovers. On the efficiency side, Saint Mary’s suffered only seven turnovers against 13 assists, and shot a tidy 9-12 from the free-throw line. Irritated Gael fans do not need reminding that turnovers and shoddy free-throw shooting were the main culprits in several of their four losses.

Defense will undoubtedly continue to be the key as Saint Mary’s takes on Loyola Marymount at home next Thursday (Jan. 12) and San Francisco on the road next Saturday. Both teams have been the souls of inconsistency, as LMU sits at 2-2 in the WCC and San Francisco at 1-3. LMU raised eyebrows among WCC followers by beating Georgetown and Wake Forest in a pre-conference tournament in Jamaica, then opened WCC play with a 92-72 win over a weakened Portland squad playing with out Robertson and fellow high-flyer Moses Wood.

The Lions then lost to a supposedly rebuilding Pacific, beat BYU at home and lost to San Francisco Saturday in a game the Dons desperately needed. After notching impressive pre-conference victories itself over Wichita State, UNLV and Arizona State, San Francisco lost its first three WCC games to Santa Clara, San Diego and Gonzaga by one point, 77-76, in a game that it led all the way until it didn’t.

Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga sit atop the WCC at 3-0, followed by BYU and Pacific at 3-1, and LMU and San Francisco see beating the Gaels as the way to get back on track for the ’22-23 season. All they have to do is get by Bowen and the rest of the Gael defense.

Kyle Bowen, shown above from a game last year, has become a demon for the Gaels on the boards and in the trenches, and has been a major factor in their 3-0 WCC start. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

This is the new normal for Saint Mary’s as evidenced by Saturday’s 67-64 win over Santa Clara in Broncoland:

— defense that ruthlessly stifles the opposition

— ferocious rebounding, especially on the offensive end

— dogged adherence to the offensive plan despite early problems

What’s new about that, you say? It’s a matter of degree, as if the sleepwalking effort against Colorado State stuck in the collective throats of the Gaels and they decided they didn’t like the taste of it. For three games since then — wins against Wyoming, San Diego and Santa Clara — Saint Mary’s has held opponents to an average of 58 PPG and out-rebounded them on the offensive end by a margin of 43-27.

Kyle Bowen has been the avatar of the Gael resurgence, upping his game from stalwart defender to super-rebounder and spiritual leader. His two-game total of 28 rebounds against San Diego and Santa Clara was the hallmark of those two wins. It is as if in his senior year Bowen is refusing to accept mediocrity, and has taken it upon himself to lead his teammates back to the NCAA Tournament.

Turning point

A huge play by Bowen at the 15-minute mark of the second half against Santa Clara epitomized what the shaggy-haired Aussie has become for the Gaels. After trailing most of the game, Saint Mary’s took the lead 37-36 on a lay-up by the brilliant Aidan Mahaney. They followed that up with one of only two pick-and-roll successes (by my count) in the game, a nifty dime from Logan Johnson to Mitchell Saxen that pushed the lead to 39-36.

On their next possession, they stumbled into a desperation three-point attempt by Johnson to avoid a shot-clock violation. As with nearly everything he tossed up yesterday (2-13), Johnson missed badly, but an alert Alex Ducas swatted the miss back to Bowen, who stormed the rim for a dramatic follow-up bucket that increased the Saint Mary’s lead to 41-36 — and he was fouled.

Bowen sank the and-one to give saint Mary’s a six-point lead, 42-36, which they quickly increased to 14 points, 55-41, with a little less than eight minutes left in the game. Bowen’s put-back was the emotional and actual turning point of the game. Santa Clara Coach Herb Sendek, looking glum during a post-game interview, lamented the second-chance points manufactured by Saint Mary’s, and it wouldn’t be a wild guess that he had the Bowen play in mind.

Offense follows defense

Except for an 85-point explosion against a defensively-challenged San Diego squad, Saint Mary’s has not shown indications that it has overcome a season-long malaise on offense. The beginning of the Santa Clara game looked like a contest between grade school teams — the score at the first media time out was 2-2!

But it seems as if Gael Coach Randy Bennett has convinced his charges not to let early lapses diminish their adherence to the game plan. Can’t get the ball into Saxen in the post? Keep churning and someone else will pop open. Can’t hit three-pointers? Same advice. The Gaels don’t seem to care that Saxen has up and down games (I know, I know, 20 points against San Diego, but it was San Diego) and that the pick-and-roll is an anomaly these days.

Mahaney, who led all scorers yesterday with 18 points on 8-16 shooting, doesn’t even look at Saxen as the big man begins the roll part of the P&R. He uses Saxen’s rolling to the hoop as a distraction for the defense to worry about and heads elsewhere to find weaknesses to exploit.

The overall offensive plan is attrition: Bennett seems convinced — and his team has bought in to the idea — that if the Gaels continue to pound the ball inside when they can, continue to keep the ball moving, continue to look for driving lanes for Johnson, Mahaney and the improving Augustus Marciulionis, they will take control of games sometime in the second half. Their opponents, weary from competing against the Gaels’ ruthless defense, inevitably tire as the game wears on and loosen up their guarding of Gael shooters.

The road ahead

The WCC season is only two games old and already has produced a bunch of surprises. Portland, showing signs of resurgence last year under Shantay Legans, was the darling of prognosticators tired of the Gonzaga-Saint Mary’s dominance of league play. To the prognosticators’ chagrin, the Pilots limped to two losses against Loyola Marymount and BYU in the first week of conference play after a pre-season highlighted by a win over Villanova and a one-point loss to Michigan State.

San Francisco, another alternative choice for Gonzaga-Saint Mary’s haters, joined Portland at the bottom of league standings after losing to Santa Clara and a revenge-seeking San Diego Torero squad that didn’t take well to a 27-point loss handed it by the Gaels on Thursday. It helped that San Diego had one of its two starters back who didn’t play against Saint Mary’s, guard Jase Townsend who went for 22 points against San Francisco.

LMU was a brief darling after upsetting Portland in the league-opener, but gave way to Pacific as the Tigers took them down in the second game. So, WCC standings look eerily familiar after the first week, with Saint Mary’s and BYU in front with 2-0 marks, Gonzaga in third only because it played just one game — beating Pepperdine handily — and Santa Clara, LMU, San Diego and Pacific tied at 1-1. The more things change…

The Gaels have a mid-week practice game against Academy of Art Institute — no, they aren’t expecting a draw — before returning to WCC play against Portland on Jan.7, followed by LMU on the 12th, both in Moraga. The grind continues.

Aidan Mahaney, shown above in an earlier game this season, continues to have a freshman season for the record books, leading the Gaels in scoring against Santa Clara with 18 points. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

The San Diego Torreros who lost to Saint Mary’s by 27 points (85-58) Thursday in Moraga were not the team new coach Steve Lavin envisioned when he took over the Torreros in April.

Lavin, a well-respected former coach at UCLA and St. John’s, hit the ground running, rescuing prize guard Wayne McKinney III from the transfer portal, and landing Pac-12 standouts Jaiden DeLaire from Stanford and Eric Williams Jr. from Oregon. With that nucleus joining holdover Torreros Jase Townsend, Marcellus Earlington and Sigu Sisal Jawara, Lavin was set to compete in the constantly-improving West Coast Conference.

The Toreros started strong, winning four of five against so-so competition — Sonoma State and San Diego Christian included — before the wheels fell off with a disastrous trip to Las Vegas and losses to New Mexico State and Nicholls. Blowout losses to UNLV and Arizona State followed, and that was before San Diego lost DeLaire and Townsend to injuries. Without those two starters, Lavin’s lads limped into Moraga to face a well-rested and motivated Saint Mary’s squad, which has suffered its own ups and downs in an 11-4 season.

Mystery team

The Gaels have been a mystery throughout the non-conference portion of their season, disposing of well-respected opponents such as Oral Roberts, North Texas State and Vermont with ease, but stumbling over Washington of the Pac-12 and New Mexico of the Mountain West Conference.

After reassuring their fans that they were, indeed, a potential NCAA Tournament team by beating nemesis San Diego State on a neutral court and handling New Mexico State easily at home, the Gaels sleep-walked to a 62-60 loss to a good-but-not-great Colorado State squad in Moraga to rekindle the doubts. An up-and-down win over Wyoming (66-54) last Wednesday didn’t answer all questions about the Gaels, so last night’s opener of the West Coast Conference season was a crucial test.

And Saint Mary’s passed, holding a high-scoring but defensively challenged Torero squad to its lowest point total of the year and posting 85 points of its own — the highest total so far this season. So, is it Easy Street from here on in for the Gaels? Hardly.

On the plus side was a dominating effort from center Mitchell Saxen. the junior who has faced the challenge of replacing rock-solid Matthias Tass in the post with checkered success. Saxen went 8-11 from the field against a smallish San Diego front line, cashing in on a barrage of drop-off buckets supplied by his teammates, who tallied 16 assists on 32 made baskets.

Saxen, who had fallen below 50 per cent shooting from the free-throw line, managed to sink 4-7 of his free throw attempts, and added 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the year, along with three assists, two blocks and two steals. A solid night’s work, following a similar effort against Wyoming — 19 points and nine rebounds. The Gaels need a stellar effort from Saxen every night to make their in-and-out offense work .

Ducas is back

The game also featured the return of Alex Ducas, the sometimes magnificent wing man with the silky-smooth three-point shot, who managed to score not a single point against Wyoming. Ducas was one of the main recipients of the Toreros’ casual approach to defense, finding himself so alone on two of his three-pointers that he couldn’t find anyone to chat with. He finished with 13 points on 5-10 shooting, and seemingly could have had many more if Gael Coach Randy Bennett hadn’t emptied his bench.

The Gael guard threesome, Aidan Mahaney, Logan Johnson and Augustus Marciulionis was efficient, totaling 33 points on 13-28 shooting. Marciulionis started out as if he were going to have a scoring breakthrough, racking up eight points by halftime on aggressive drives to the rock and his now-patented stop-and-twist floater, but made just one free throw in the second half to end up with nine.

Johnson also had nine points, but he can be forgiven after his 28-points against Wyoming saved the Gaels’s bacon in that one. Mahaney played only seven minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls, but returned with a 10-point flourish in the second half to finish with 15. Mahaney made only one of two there-point attempts, penetrating to the rim on several occasions and hitting his unstoppable, 15-foot jumper seemingly as he wished.

Bowen is everywhere

Kyle Bowen, the Gaels’s defensive lockdown artist, made only one bucket against San Diego — a three-pointer at the game’s outset — but may have been the most dominating force on the floor. Bowen began the game by blocking Earlington’s first shot of the game, made two more blocks on the evening and grabbed 13 rebounds to go along with a steal. He even led a fast-break, finding Saxen out front after a long rebound and feeding the big man perfectly for a lay-up and score.

Bowen may have excited Gael fans by his 16-point outburst against New Mexico State two games ago, but that is not his strength. He has worked his way to respectable three-point shooting success, which he demonstrates occasionally, but does not try to be an offensive threat. He proves his worth by defending the opponents’ best front-line weapon and grabbing every rebound in his vicinity. If Ducas, Mahaney and Johnson are doing their jobs offensively, the Gaels don’t need double-digit scoring from Bowen to be successful

Reserves shine

Saint Mary’s has not ben universally successful inserting reserves during comfortable wins, as the second-teamers have shown themselves prone to turnovers and defensive lapses. Coach Bennett, who has only 10 players available, has doggedly stuck to his plans to get everyone involved, however, and did so against San Diego as the Gael lead ballooned to 30 points in the second half. And the reserves did well!

Most impressive was Joshua Jefferson, the chiseled 6’8″ freshman power forward from Henderson, NV. Jefferson has shone for moments — his two jump shots against Washington were rare examples of the Gaels handling Washington’s zone defense — but has seemed often on the brink of showing himself to be a star of the future. He had his best game of the season against San Diego, dishing off two sweet assists to Saxen and sinking two three-pointers in two attempts — his first long-range goals of the year.

Almost anyone would pale in comparison to Bowen’s defensive prowess, but Jefferson is working hard to become an acceptable replacement even in non-blowout situations. Bowen is a senior and Australian players don’t often stick around after four years even given Covid allowances, so Jefferson may be the heir apparent at power forward. His obvious offensive abilities compared to Bowen are intriguing, and if he continues to improve defensively he could prove to ba a worthy successor.

Saint Mary’s travels down 680-880 on New Year’s Eve (Saturday) to play the 13-3 Santa Clara Broncos, who opened their WCC season by handling a strong San Francisco team by 79-67. If any Bronco-haters among the Gael faithful think Herb Sendek’s Broncos are quavering over the prospect of facing the hot-and-cold Gaels, they haven’t been paying attention to the new WCC. This will be the test Saint Mary’s did not receive from San Diego.

Mitchell Saxen, shown above shooting a free throw against San Diego, led all scorers with 20 points and added 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the year. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

It was not only the satisfaction of beating 22nd-ranked San Diego State, as Saint Mary’s did Saturday afternoon in Phoenix, AZ, by 69-61, but it was also the relief of breaking a two-game losing streak to the Aztecs that made it a particularly satisfying day.

After losing to SDSU by 10 points last year in the same tournament as this (63-53), and losing by a much greater margin, 74-49, the year before, Saint Mary’s had had enough of the defensive-minded, hard-nosed team from the Mountain West Conference. Moreover, after three straight losses to strong teams in Washington, New Mexico and Houston, the Gaels needed a signature win to keep the NCAA Tournament watchdogs in a positive frame of mind.

They accomplished that objective by forging nine-point leads in each half and then watching their opponent scratch and claw to make up the difference, instead of coming from behind in spirited but unsuccessful bids as happened in the three losses. The Gaels will gladly attest that it is better to be in the driver’s seat against a talented foe than hanging from the side door.

This year’s SDSU team is similar to the one Saint Mary’s played last year, with a nucleus of Matt Bradley, the former Cal standout and all-Mountain West selection, Nathan Mensah, the 6’10” shot-blocking ace who has particularly plagued the Gaels, and Keshad Johnson, the rugged forward who has played four years for the Aztecs. The biggest change is at guard, where Lamont Butler replaced the departed Trey Pulliam and Adam Seiko has been replaced as a starter by transfer Darrion Trammell.

It should be noted that Pulliam scorched the Gaels for 15 points last year, and Seiko sank 4-4 three-pointers to add 12. Butler and Trammell totaled 18 points between them Saturday, while Seiko, playing only 16 minutes, took only two shots and missed them both for a goose egg on the day.

Coming out firing

It was refreshing to see the Gaels come out of the blocks firing against San Diego, instead of tip-toeing into the game as has been its wont against talented opponents. Senior forward Alex Ducas was particularly aggressive, stripping San Diego’s Micah Parrish and making a lay-up and free throw to bring Saint Mary’s into a 12-12 tie early on. Ducas then sank a step-back three-pointer — not something he has done often in his career in Moraga — and capped an 8-0 run of his own with a runner in the lane and a 24-16 Saint Mary’s lead.

Super-senior guard Logan Johnson then took over, scoring on two successive blow-by drives, drawing fouls on each and sinking one of two free throws for the Gaels’ largest lead of the half, 30-21. A little later, after San Diego had scored four straight points, guard Augustus Marciulionis sank a three-pointer to put the Gaels up by eight at 33-25. Marciulionis, sharing guard duties with freshman sensation Aidan Mahaney, has made it a point to add three-point scoring to his repertoire in recent games.

The Gaels lost a bit of their lead to two free throws by Butler and a drive by Aquek Arop, and then watched in stunned silence as Parrish launched a half-court shot as the clock wound down that brought the Aztecs even at 35-all for the half. Momentum lost, but the Gaels were not daunted.

Pitched battle

The second half was akin to hand-to-hand combat, but the Gaels were not saddled with the burden of coming from behind. They and the Aztecs traded baskets and the lead until center Mitchell Saxen scored his first bucket of the day for a 44-44 tie, then matched that effort with another lay-up off a nifty pass from Johnson for another tie at 46-46. The Gaels were energized by Saxen’s outburst, but he soon picked up his third foul and went to the bench.

As he has on several occasions, Aussie freshman Harry Wessels performed solidly in Saxen’s place. He defended Jaedon LeDee, a highly-rated transfer forward from TCU, on an inside move, then drew a charge from LeDee that gave the Gaels a precious possession. When Ducas was blocked on a drive of his own, Wessels swept in and put the missed shot back in the bucket for a 50-46 Gael lead. He later grabbed a crucial rebound and made one of two free throws to push the Gael lead to five points, 51-46. Saxen came back in at the 9:17 mark.

The Gaels thought they had salted the game away over the next few possessions, as first Mahaney sank a three-pointer, Johnson scored on another power drive and Ducas added a three-pointer for what looked like a solid 59-50 lead with 5:30 left. But San Diego fought back to pull within three points at 59-56, and Gael defensive stalwart Kyle Bowen fouled out with 2:13 left.

Saint Mary’s Coach Randy Bennett went small by subbing in 6’6″ guard/forward Chris Howell for the 6’8″ Bowen, but the coach’s brainstorm was upstaged by the play of the day. Saxen, who had struggled against rugged defense as he did against Houston and scored just four points, outsmarted San Diego on an inbounds play.

Receiving the ball in the left corner of the court, Saxen pulled a Draymond Green by faking a hand-off to Mahaney, spinning toward the bucket and catching the San Diego defender by surprise for a tough inside shot. He missed a subsequent free throw, but his bucket pushed the Gael lead to five points at 61-56 and left San Diego little choice but to foul and hope for misses.

Unfortunately for them, the player they fouled was the unflappable Mahaney, who sank six straight free throws down the stretch to push the lead to 67-61, leaving it to Howell to make the final free throw and seal the 68-61 win. Mahaney’s perfect turn at the free throw line raised his game total to a team-leading 20 points, followed by 17 for Ducas and 15 for Johnson.

Aidan Mahaney, shown above from a game earlier this season, led all Gael players against San Diego with 20 points, including 6-6 from the free throw line. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

You could look at the first half of Saint Mary’s 66-46 win over Missouri State Wednesday in Moraga in a couple of ways.

One would be that the Gaels were feeling their way against Mo State, even though the two teams met last year at Saint Mary’s and the Gaels won 75-58. However, this year’s edition of the Bears from the Missouri Valley Conference is almost completely different from last year’s scrappy crew that went 23-11 and earned a berth in the NIT. Mo State has 14 new players, including eight transfers, so some caution was to be expected.

Caution as in a 26-21 halftime lead.

An alternate view was that Saint Mary’s had an additional mission last night besides ending a three-game losing streak against Washington, New Mexico and top-ranked Houston: get Mitchell Saxen back to his usual position of dominance in the paint that suffered a big blow against the ultra-athletic Houston Cougars. After a game spent trying to pass out of an aggressive double-team and dodging leaping Cougars on every shot he attempted — netting just four points and coughing up four turnovers — Saxen was a prime focus of Randy Bennett’s offense from the opening tip.

Operating with confidence and crispness, Saxen scored the Gaels’ first six points on both right-and-left-handed short hooks, and eight of their first 12 points. He ended the half with 15 of the Gaels’ 26 points and no turnovers, giving the Bears’ 6’11”, 260-pound Dawson Carper fits. It was vintage Saxen, and just what the Gaels needed to re-establish their post-oriented, in-and-out offense.

So concentrated were the Gaels on featuring Saxen that two of its leading scorers, Alex Ducas and Aidan Mahaney, were scoreless at the half. That would soon end.

Second-half explosion

Where the Gaels were careful and precise in the first half — only four turnovers following 16 or 17 turnovers per game during their three-game losing streak — they were loose and deadly following the break. Mahaney single-handedly ended his scoring drought by stripping a Missouri State guard and sprinting the length of the floor for a thundering dunk to announce his presence.

After another steal — Saint Mary’s forced Mo State into 13 turnovers and swiped the ball five times — Ducas sank a three-pointer and suddenly the Gaels were up by 10 points, 33-23. Mo State called time-out at the 17:55 mark as if to ask, “What is going on here?”

It was a full-scale Saint Mary’s blitz, as in rapid succession Logan Johnson fired a dart to Ducas under the basket and he scored, Mahaney drove the paint for a lay-up, Ducas scored again from under the bucket and Mahaney hit a three-pointer. Presto-chango, the Gaels were up 44-31.

While the emphasis on Saxen waned — he finished the night with 19 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals — the Gaels’ up-and-down guard corps also staged a resurgence from the losing streak. The trio of Mahaney, Johnson and Augustus Marciulionis were slapped in the face by New Mexico’s talented guards, and even though Johnson and Mahaney were brilliant in the Houston loss, Marciulionis fired a goose egg in just 11 minutes on the floor.

Mahaney’s first start

Seemingly acknowledging a changing of the guard, actually and metaphorically, Bennett started Mahaney at the point in place of Marciulionis, the freshman’s first start of his short college career. What effect did that change have on Marciulionis or the Gael chemistry in general? No apparent change, as Marciulionis posted a sharp, eight-point effort in 17 minutes — including a three-pointer that he has struggled to master — and Mahaney and Johnson operated smoothly in their time together.

Although scoring just six points following his team-leading 17 against Houston, Johnson offered his usual hard-nosed defense and survived a jolt to his surgically-repaired shoulder in a second-half rebound collision. Mahaney, following his first-half shutout, almost matched Saxen’s numbers for the game, scoring 13 points on 6-11 shooting against Saxen’s 8-12 posting.

Gael fans have enjoyed dual point guards in the past — the combo of Emmett Naar and Joe Rahon comes immediately to mind — but got used to the Tommy Kuhse-dominated offense of the past few years. The three-man rotation on display this season may prove just as effective, and will have the added benefit of keeping all three guards fresher than if they each played 38-40 minutes per game.

All three delivered NBA-caliber assists against Mo State, with Johnson kicking things off with the bullet he fired to Ducas at the start of the second half, and with a delicate pocket-pass to the rolling Saxen later on. Marciulionis delivered a brilliant look-away pass to Saxen in the second half, and Mahaney dropped a no-look dime on Saxen just before his second steal-and-dunk of the game for a 58-40 lead near the end of the second half.

The trio accounted for seven assists against four turnovers , which will probably stand the Gaels in good stead as the season progresses. With Saxen back in the scoring saddle, and with the guard rotation seemingly in good shape, Saint Mary’s seems ready to take on the rest of its tough non-conference schedule.

Next up is a ranked San Diego State squad on Saturday in Phoenix, AZ, followed by New Mexico State and Colorado State at home before meeting Wyoming back in Phoenix on Dec. 21. The Gaels will be tested — and maybe well-prepared — when the first WCC game of the season takes place at home against an improved San Diego squad on Dec. 29.

Logan Johnson, shown above scoring against Missouri State last night, anchors a three-man guard rotation for Saint Mary’s. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

To say the Saint Mary’s Gaels had a lot to prove against the nation’s number one team, the Houston Cougars, Saturday in Ft. Worth, TX, was a bit of an understatement.

Following two successive losses to good but not invincible teams — Washington and New Mexico — many questions were floating in the air respecting the Gaels: were they as good as advertised in the pre-season and during a strong six-game wining streak to open the season?

Could they score consistently to back up a stout defense? Was their three-man back court of Logan Johnson, Augustus Marciulionis and freshman Aidan Mahaney up to the high standards of previous Randy Bennett-coached teams?

That last question arose primarily because of lackluster efforts by Johnson in the Washington and New Mexico games — five points against UW and four against UNM. One cheeky commentator even went so far as to theorize that perhaps Johnson should be replaced as a starter by Mahaney, who would team with Marciulionis as the point guard. Johnson, this commentator opined, might put his energy and defensive chops to better use coming off the bench than logging starter minutes.

As the lawyers like to say, those questions were asked and answered by the Houston game. Johnson revived his leadership status with a daring, often brilliant offensive outburst — team-leading 17 points — and a stifling defensive effort against Houston’s leading scorer, Marcus Sasser — 13 points on 4-12 shooting.

Johnson’s heroic performance was the shining light in the Gaels’ 53-48 loss to Houston.

That other guard spot

As for Mahaney, his performance was perhaps even more noteworthy than Johnson’s since he is a freshman. Mahaney had also sagged somewhat in the two losses, scoring a respectable 11 points in each, but misfiring badly from long-distance and making a combined 4-19 shots from three-point range.

He went 4-8 from distance against Houston on the way to 14 points, but the mere numbers don’t tell the whole story. Four times in the second half when the Gaels were mounting an improbable comeback against the Cougars, Mahaney nailed three-pointers that kept their slim hopes alive.

None was more crucial than the one he made with a little than 13 minutes left and Houston seemingly on a roll toward a convincing victory. Another Gael freshman, forward Joshua Jefferson, had a shot blocked by Houston’s J’Wan Roberts, then Roberts scored on the other end to put his team up by 12 points, 39-27.

Mahaney’s answering three-pointer cut that margin to 39-30, and the Gaels had a new lease on life. Forward Alex Ducas matched Mahaney’s three-pointer a few minutes later to cut the margin to 41-33 with 11:3 left in the game, and then it was time for still another freshman, Chris Howell, to provide a huge lift to his team.

Howell, a defensive standout from San Diego who red-shirted last year, saved Johnson’s pride after Johnson was stripped by a Houston defender. The Gaels survived Johnson’s gaffe, one of only two turnovers he suffered under intense pressure from the Houston ball hawks, and then Howell scored in the paint to bring them within eight points at 43-35.

Howell then stripped a Houston guard and scored again on a floater in the paint to bring the Gaels within six points, 43-37 with nine minutes left in the game. The impossible was within sight, as Saint Mary’s had held Houston to just 12 points in the second half. Feeling the momentum shift, Mahaney drained his second three-pointer to bring his team to within three points, 43-40.

Another Houston stalwart, forward Truman Mark, answered with a stinging three-pointer to put the margin at 46-40, but Mahaney again answered a Houston advance with his third three-pointer of the half and a 46-43 deficit with plenty of time left, more than six minutes. It was then that the Gaels’ weakness in the paint emerged again to derail the comeback effort.

Junior center Mitchell Saxen struggled mightily against Houston’s swarming defense, scoring just four points at that point and coughing up the ball numerous times. Saxen gave up a close-in bucket by the pesky Roberts — who hurt the Gaels more than Sasser — then failed to convert a bunny when the Gaels got the ball back. He was fouled, but missed both three throws to continue a trend that was magnified in the Washington game when he went 5-12 from the line in a four-point loss.

Disaster strikes

Up by five points, 48-43, Houston showed the moxie that has carried them to an unbeaten 8-0 record and the number one ranking among college teams. Sasser, Houston’s scoring and emotional leader, took things into his own hands. Dribbling to his right, Sasser floated toward the end line with three Gaels in close proximity. Kyle Bowen, the closest to him, bumped him slightly, but it didn’t seem to matter as Sasser tossed up what looked like a prayer as he fell out of bounds.

Incredibly, it went in. Even more incredibly, Bowen was called for a foul, which gave Sasser a bonus free throw. He sank that for a 51-43 lead at the 3:14 mark, and the Gael hopes seemed doomed.

Someone forgot to tell Mahaney.

After the teams traded points over the next few possessions, Mahaney sank another three-pointer — his fourth of the half — and gave the Gaels new fight at 53-48. Unfortunately, it failed to ignite a closing charge, and the game ended on that score.

There are no moral victories, as any coach will tell you, but the Gaels salvaged several important accomplishments which should stand them in good stead for the rest of the season. For one, they showed the world that they have a first class back court in Mahaney and Johnson, with Marciulionis in reserve. Mahaney is not a conventional point guard, but he and Johnson proved to be a formidable duo against the nation’s number one team, and will attempt to carry momentum from the Houston game into the future.

Saint Mary’s might also have resolved a question of back-up small forward through the play of Howell, who logged 10 minutes in his longest stint to date. Sandbagged by the departure of Jabe Mullins for Washington State and Leemet Bockler to his home country of Estonia. Bennett turned to former walk-on Luke Barrett to back up Ducas. Although proving himself a solid defender, Barrett did not give the Gaels much scoring off the bench.

Not only did Howell shine on defense against Houston, the two buckets he scored in a second-half burst were instrumental in the Gaels’ comeback. Although a guard, Howell stands 6’6″ and seems capable of filling the small forward position.

It will also not be lost on many observers that the Gaels — despite scoring just 48 points — outshot Houston both from conventional range, 37 per cent versus 36.8 per cent, but also from three-point range, 41 per cent versus 27 per cent. They out-rebounded the athletic Cougars 36-27, and registered 14 assists on 17 made shots.

Troubling for Bennett was the continuing issue with turnovers, as the Gaels coughed up the ball 17 times compared to only five turnovers for the Cougars. That will have to improve if the Gaels are to reach the lofty goals they set for themselves for this season.

Aidan Mahaney, shown above in a game from earlier this season, scored 14 points and accounted for five assists in a spectacular game against Houston. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

After Saint Mary’s lost to Washington by 68-64 on Thanksgiving, Gael fans could find some…rationalizations (never excuses):

How often would distance shooters Alex Ducas and Aidan Mahaney go 4-20 on three-point attempts?

How often would the Gaels compile 15 assists against 16 turnovers?

How often would they be out rebounded by eight boards (40-32)?

After a similar loss last night to the dynamic New Mexico Lobos by 69-65, the answer seems to be, “Whenever they play a strong team.”

Ugly patterns

The same woeful patterns that emerged from nowhere in a shining 6-0 season before facing Washington reared their ugly heads against a noticeably better Lobo team. Although Ducas redeemed himself with a 25-point beauty against New Mexico, his teammates apparently failed to get the memo for the second game in a row: “This isn’t Vermont, guys, this is a real team.”

The assist-to-turnover ratio worsened from 0.93 against Washington to 0.67 (10 assists, 16 turnovers) against New Mexico. The offense sputtered to almost a complete halt in the first half after the Gaels came out tenacious on defense to run up a 13-2 lead on the Lobos. After that mark was posted with 12:41 left in the half, New Mexico outscored Saint Mary’s 25-10 the rest of the way to take a 27-23 lead and a giant boost in confidence into the locker room.

And, just like in the Washington game, Saint Mary’s failed to maintain control of the game on several occasions when it looked like they had shuffled off the blahs and were back to being last year’s efficient bunch of over-achievers. To wit:

Even with a dearth of scoring, the Gaels managed to forge a 22-17 lead over New Mexico with 2:08 left in the half. Time to put the pedal down and gain separation before halftime. As if.

Lobo guards rise

One of New Mexico’s trio of outstanding guards, 6’2″ Donovan Dent of Centennial High school in Riverside, CA — only California’s Mr. Basketball and John Wooden High school Player of the Year as a senior — drove Luke Barrett (Barrett, the Gaels’ former walk-on who has earned a scholarship and a rotation spot backing up Ducas, picked him up on a switch) for a bucket to cut the Gael lead to 22-19.

The Gaels’ Augustus Marciulionis, who had made two strong buckets in the paint earlier in the half, misfired on a drive, and another Lobo guard, Jamal Mashburn Jr., drove Gael center Mitchell Saxen — who also drew the guard on a switch — for another basket, plus a free throw, for a 22-22 tie. After Saxen converted one free throw — he was only 5-12 for the line for the night — the third Lobo guard tormenter, Jaelen House, hit a three-pointer to put his team ahead for the first time at 25-23. Saxen then was called for a moving screen and another Gael turnover, setting the stage for a halftime nightmare for the Gaels.

After successfully defending a Dent drive — a rarity, as he went 5-8 from the floor — the Gaels watched in horror as Lobo forward Josiah Allick stuffed the miss to send his teammates bouncing into halftime with a 27-23 lead. The Gaels had turned a 22-17 advantage into a 27-23 deficit in just two minutes.

Patino’s juggernaut

New Mexico is coached for the second year by Rick Pitino Jr., son of the peripatetic former Kentucky, Boston Celtics and Louisville (among other stops) coach who has moved on to the Iona Gaels in his 70th year. Pitino Jr. is carefully assembling the pieces needed to build a deep NCAA competitor at New Mexico. He coaxed House, son of all-time Arizona State and NBA great Eddie, from Arizona State, and House blossomed into a 16.9 PPG star last year.

Mashburn Jr., son of another college and pro great, followed Pitino from his former position as head coach of Minnesota, and led the Lobos in scoring last year at 18.2 PPG. Pitino scored a recruiting coup to lure Dent to Las Cruces. These three form the nucleus of a team that should challenge for a Mountain West title and at least begin Pitino’s quest for NCAA stardom.

The three guards scored a combined 42 points against Saint Mary’s, led by House’s 17, compared to 22 points put up by Gael guards Mahaney (11), Marciulionis (7) and Logan Johnson (4). That stark differential only scratches the surface of the Gaels’ offensive woes. After back-to-back dispiriting losses, the question arises, “Who is the leader of these Gaels?”

Gaels future

It was around this time last year that Gael Coach Randy Bennett decided to replace Marciulionis at point guard with sixth-year legend Tommy Kuhse. Kuhse solidified the Gael attack and became a scoring leader at the same time, and Saint Mary’s soared to one of its greatest seasons in history.

Marciulionis remained an active and involved member of the team, didn’t drop his head and mope, and seemed to dedicate his off-season to eradicating weaknesses that showed up in his freshman year. To these eyes he has done so, providing a toughness at the point that is noticeable in his time on the court, which has been limited. Just as Kuhse drifted off to the sunset — and the NBA G-league — another promising guard enrolled at Saint Mary’s — Mr. Mahaney of nearby Campolinda High School and a lifetime of buddy ship with Bennett’s two sons, Chase and Cade.

Mahaney has ben sensational overall, and provides scoring punch that Marciulonis doesn’t have — especially from three-point range. But, he is erratic, went 3-13 from three-point range against Washington and managed to make only 1-6 three-pointers against New Mexico. Johnson, the third wheel of the Gael guard contingent, has been up and down in his fifth-year, providing defensive grit and hustle, but spotty scoring. His four points against New Mexico — none in the second half — was a case in point.

So, what should Bennett do to provide some stability to his team that faces the daunting prospect of playing number-one ranked Houston on Saturday in Ft. Worth, TX? Shuffle the deck? Here’s one option: keep Marciulionis at the point and replace Johnson at the starting off-guard spot with Mahaney. This will give Marciulionis undiluted charge of running the offense, take the ball out of Mahaney’s hands — including bringing the ball up court after possession changes — and give Johnson a charter that might suit his talents better: off-the-bench sparkplug.

It is no knock on Mahaney to note that he made two of the crucial four turnovers committed by the Gaels in the closing moments against New Mexico. He is a freshman and not a natural point guard, and would seem to be more effective as off-guard under a strong court leader. Something to think about as the Gael coaching staff pores through the ashes of the New Mexico game.

Alex Ducas, shown above in a game from last year, was the only bright spot for the Gael offense against New Mexico, scoring 25 points on 7-10 shooting. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

Seldom does a quality team with excellent coaching become flummoxed by a basic tactic used by its opponent, yet that is what happened to Saint Mary’s as it went down to Washington 68-64 in overtime Thursday night in Anaheim.

Simply put, UW is a zone team in a day of man-to-man defenses, and the Gaels never figured out how to attack the Husky zone.

The Gaels had a plan, and had obviously prepared to implement it. Casting aside the pick-and-roll offense that had carried it to victory over Vanderbilt on Wednesday, the Gaels came out firing against Washington. Firing and missing.

In its first three possessions, struggling distance shooter Alex Ducas badly missed two three-point attempts sandwiched around another bad miss by Kyle Bowen. After the Gaels attacked Washington in the paint and evened the score at 4-4, Ducas clanked another, setting the stage for a miserable night of going 1-7 on three-point attempts. Combined with his 1-6 effort from distance against Vanderbilt, Ducas shot 2-13 on the three-pointers that have become his hallmark.

Attack the middle

The Gaels didn’t rely completely on three-pointers to weaken UW’s zone, but also found Bowen near the free-throw line where he could pass to the wings or back out to the guards. That is only one part of the strategy against a zone, however — that player slashing to the middle also has to present an offensive threat if the zone is going to collapse on him and open up opportunities for distance shooters.

Gael fans who have followed and cheered Bowen during his four years at Saint Mary’s have seen him develop a creditable three-point shot to complement his stellar defense, but know he is uncomfortable with almost any other offensive move. He doesn’t back down opponents in the paint as other power forwards do, nor is he particularly adept at converting missed shots or bunnies underneath the basket. A mid-range jumper is completely unknown to him.

That Bowen was going to be a liability against Washington’s zone became apparent midway through the first half when Gael Coach Randy Bennett, who looks upon Bowen as the rock upon which his defense is built, pulled him after repeated offensive possessions that produced little for the Gaels — the score stood at 9-6 in favor of UW with 11:27 left in the half.

Jefferson in the middle

Substituting for Bowen was Joshua Jefferson, the 6’9″, 235-pound freshman from Henderson NV, who looks like a prototype of the power forward position. Jefferson immediately found fellow frosh Aidan Mahaney for an open three-pointer and Mahaney converted to tie the score. Check one box for using Jefferson to foil the zone — hitting open shooters on the wings.

Then Jefferson hit two medium-range jumpers from the area around the free throw line, and the Saint Mary’s offense seemed reborn as the Gaels surged into a 13-11 lead. It looked as if subbing Jefferson for Bowen gave them a weapon to weaken the UW defense.

Doubling down on the youth movement, Bennett then subbed in another freshman, Aussie center Harry Wessels, for Saxen. Wessels immediately corralled a rebound and made a put-back to push the Saint Mary’s lead to 15-12. The Huskies rallied themselves to push the score to 21-17 in their favor, but it was two of their guards, Koren Johnson and PJ Fuller, who did the damage, not the players guarded by Jefferson and Wessels.

Nevertheless, after Jefferson missed on his third jumper and failed to convert a bunny in the paint, Bennett subbed Bowen and Saxen back in. Jefferson’s seven minutes and Wessels’s two minutes were their only action of the night. Despite showing the ability to change the trajectory of the game, Jefferson never got off the bench again.

After limping into the locker room on the short end of a 28-22 score — the first time trailing at the half this season — the Gaels didn’t find any immediate relief as the second half began. Although Washington was anything but a juggernaut — they worked hard to pile up more turnovers than the bumbling Gaels (23 to 16) — the Huskies did just enough on offense to keep Saint Mary’s at bay.

Gaels rally

Then, without warning, the Gaels found a pulse.

Mahaney, whose overall three-point shooting effort against Washington was in line with his teammates — he went 3-17 from distance — nevertheless made several key plays to rally the Gaels. At the 9:23 mark of the second half, Mahaney drained a three-pointer to bring the Gaels to a 43-41 deficit. The beleaguered Bowen then made one of his three buckets on the night to tie the game.

As happened repeatedly, however, the Gaels failed to keep the defensive pressure on Washington, and guard Jamal Bey hit a three-pointer to blunt the Gael attack. Bowen got two points back by sinking two free throws — anything but a given for the Gaels in this tournament as they shot a paltry 61.5 per cent from the free-throw line — but Mahaney coughed up a turnover to pave the way for another three-pointer from Washington and a 49-45 lead.

But the unflappable Logan Johnson, who does not recognize deflating circumstances, managed to score on a rare drive and bring the Gaels back to 49-47. After still another countering jumper by UW’s Bey pushed the lead to 51-47, Mahaney sank another three-pointer to cut the deficit to one point. Saxen, the Gaels’ steadiest player in the tournament with back-to-back 19-point efforts, then converted on two buckets down low. Suddenly, the Gaels had a 54-51 lead with 3:22 to go in the game.

Failing down the stretch

Surely, with all the adversity, missed shots and turnovers they had overcome to grab the lead, they would hold onto it for dear life. If only.

Keion Brooks Jr., the three-year star for Kentucky who became one of the most significant transfers to join the Huskies in the off-season, answered with a jumper, and the three-point lead shrank to one. Ducas, who couldn’t make a three-pointer to save his life but sank all six of his free throw attempts, made two more to get the lead back to three points, 56-53 with just 2:30 left.

When Ducas then made two more free throws, the Gaels had a five-point lead, 58-53, with just 1:43 left. How could they blow that? By allowing Brooks to score again, then coughing up the most damaging turnover of a game filled with them — Saxen the perpetrator this time. Although Saxen was one of the Gaels’ least turnover-prone players with just two on the night, his bobble in the paint led to a driving lay-up on the other end by Fuller, who was fouled and sank the and-one to tie the game and send it to overtime.

It was a heartbreaking case of mismanagement by the Gaels, and gave Washington momentum heading into overtime. The Gaels managed just two free throws by Ducas and a lay-up by Saxen in the overtime, while Washington relied on Brooks for a jumper and on center Braxton Yeah for key rebounds and free throws to put away the game 68-64.

Maybe the bitter defeat will harden the Gaels, and inspire them to rid their offense of the crippling turnovers that plagued them in Anaheim. It had better, as they now head into the most difficult stretch of a challenging out-of-conference schedule: New Mexico, Houston, Missouri State, San Diego State, New Mexico State, Colorado State and Wyoming await the Gaels before the WCC season starts on Dec. 29.

All of them will be watching film of the Washington game, and the Gaels can only hope that they take away more lessons than their opponents.

Mitchell Saxen, shown above in an earlier game, was the Gaels most reliable player in Anaheim, averaging 19 points in the two games and being named to the All-Tournament team. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

So, your team opens the season with five wins at home, then heads off to a holiday tournament against a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). What should you expect?

For fans of the Saint Mary’s Gaels, playing Vanderbilt last night (and this morning) in the Wooden Legacy Tournament in Anaheim, it probably wasn’t a game in which your best defender couldn’t defend, your best three-point shooter couldn’t make a shot, your team made only 56 per cent of its free throws, was out-rebounded and had the same number of turnovers as assists.

And won by 10 points, 75-65.

So much for holiday tournaments, which have long been a source of heartburn for Gael fans. It’s just not the same as playing at home.

Vanderbilt was an intriguing opportunity for the Gaels, a proud team from a vaunted conference that has struggled in recent years but seems poised to find its way back to the upper echelon of college hoops. Under former North Carolina and NBA star Jerry Stackhouse, the Commodores have improved their NET ranking in each of Stackhouse’s three years, and came into the Saint Mary’s game with a 77 ranking from KenPom. They looked like trouble.

Pick-and-roll to happiness

The Gaels’ answer was a massive dose of Mitchell Saxen, gritty play from super-senior Logan Johnson and a bolt of lightning off the bench provided by freshman Aidan Mahaney. Eschewing the three-point shot that is one of its hallmarks, Saint Mary’s went right at Vanderbilt’s 7-foot fifth-year senior Liam Robbins, a veteran of both Drake and Minnesota before finding his way to Nashville.

Notwithstanding that Robbins is one of the premier shot-blockers in the country, the Gaels attacked him head-on. Saxen, rounding into one of the Gaels’ best post men in his third year, scored early and often off nifty passes in the paint from Johnson. Johnson and Saxen teamed up for four pick-and-roll buckets to power Saint Mary’s to an 18-16 lead before Saxen went to the bench with 8:49 left in the half.

Shortly before Saxen left the floor, Mahaney also checked into the game in place of starting point guard Augustus Marciulionis. He promptly sank a medium-range jumper, as Saxen and Johnson continued their two-man game. With Saxen on the bench, Mahaney went off, sinking three more jumpers from medium range and giving Saint Mary’s a 26-21 lead by the time Saxen returned with 4:42 left in the half.

Mahaney made one more jumper, and Alex Ducas, who had top-scored for the Gaels with 20 points in his previous outing against Hofstra, made his only shot of the half following several missed three-pointers, to push the Saint Mary’s lead to 32-24. The Gaels misplayed Vandy’s next possession, managing to turn an apparent stop into a three-point opportunity for Robbins and allow the Commodores to close the gap to 32-27.

Cue Mr. Mahaney

With fewer than five seconds left in the half, Mahaney took the inbounds pass and headed up- court. Just past the mid-court line, he heaved what looked like a prayer but turned into a nothing-but-net dagger for Vanderbilt’s hopes. His only three-pointer of the game — the Gaels made only 3-11 from distance on the evening — pushed the Saint Mary’ lead to 35-27. Mahaney barely noticed his teammates’ adulation, looking as if he does that sort of thing on a routine basis. He probably does.

Showing that Stackhouse has not lost his team’s confidence, Vanderbilt came out of the gate after the half with renewed purpose, and clawed into a 36-35 lead in less than three minutes. But the Gaels were no less gritty in this one, refusing to wilt under Vandy’s pressure. Saxen scored on another pick-and-roll feed from Marciulionis, then Marciulionis stole the ball and fed Johnson on a breakaway lay-up that put Saint Mary’ back in front at 39-36. They never trailed again.

Ducas, who battled Vandy’s star Jordan Wright throughout the game despite his shooting woes, finally found the range on a three-pointer a little later and pushed the Gaels’ lead to 42-38. Johnson matched Ducas’s three-pointer with one of his own for a 45-40 lead, and the tone was set for the rest of the match: Saint Mary’s would eke out a six, seven or eight-point lead, and Vandy would come back to cut the lead and stoke the heartburn simmering in many fans’ chests.

Harry Wessels — again!

As has become the custom with this Gael squad, all 10 scholarship players saw action, but one did more than make a token appearance. True freshman Harry Wessels, coming off a star turn against Hofstra last Saturday, again did yeoman’s work in relief of Saxen. Saxen picked up his fourth foul early in the second half, and it fell to Wessels to keep up the battle in the paint against the formidable Robbins.

Just after Robbins scored one of his impossible-to-defend fadeaway jumpers to cut the Saint Mary’s lead to 49-46, Wessels foiled a Vandy attempt to double-team the picker in the pick-and-roll. He slipped underneath the basket, Johnson found him and Wessels slammed home the basket to push the lead back to five points at 51-46. Settling into his role, Wessels soon scored on a pick-and-roll of his own to total four points in nine minutes of action.

Many fans will look at the Vanderbilt game, notice that Saint Mary’s made just 14-25 free throws, wonder why defensive demon Kyle Bowen had trouble shutting down Vandy’s three-point ace, Myles Shute, and conclude that the game should have been a 15-20-point breeze instead of a nail-biter.

Maybe.

But these holiday tournaments seldom run true to form, and the Gaels’ struggles were on a par with many other teams playing basketball instead of eating turkey on this Thanksgiving. Look no further than the fearsome San Diego State Aztecs, whom the Gaels will face on Dec. 10. Leading a talented Arkansas squad with time running out, SDSU found a way to stumble into overtime and an eventual loss. That could have been the Gaels’ fate, but they persevered in spite of adversity and lived to face Washington in the Wooden Legacy championship tonight at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Prepare for another adventure, Gael fans.

Aidan Mahaney, shown above in a game from earlier in the season, led all Gael scorers with 20 points on 7-10 shooting against Vanderbilt. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

With the Randy Bennett incubator experience completed, the Saint Mary’s Gaels head off for their first contests of the 2022-23 season held someplace other than Moraga: two games in the Paycom Wooden Legacy in Anaheim, CA, starting with a 9 p.m. encounter Wednesday with Vanderbilt of the fearsome Southeastern Conference (SEC).

As Bennett presided over construction of arguably the most daunting schedule in his 21 years at Saint Mary’s, he insisted on one thing: he would have a two-week period of intensive home court scrutiny of his somewhat new charges before turning them loose on the world. As a result, Gael fans have watched the new-look Gaels destroy the hopes of five teams with NCAA ambitions: Oral Roberts, Vermont, North Texas, Southern and, last night, Hofstra, by a score of 76-48, and it wasn’t that close.

The Gaels lost stars Tommy Kuhse and Matthias Tass, along with valuable reserve Dan Fotu, to graduation, then saw promising small forward Leemet Bockler leave the program to undertake a pro career in his home country of Estonia, whence hails his buddy Tass. That was enough uncertainty to send the punditry into an excess of caution concerning this year’s Gael team, even though seasoned fans were giddy with the prospect of replacing the losses with exciting new prospects.

Score one for the fans, so far at least.

The old and the new

Bennett has carefully melded a new guard rotation including fifth-year senior Logan Johnson — pre-season candidate for defensive player of the year in the West Coast Conference — sophomore Augustus Marciulionis and freshman Aidan Mahaney. Mahaney, lifelong buddy of Bennett’s sons Chase and Cade, with whom he played on championship teams at Campolinda High School in Moraga, burst onto the scene with a gaudy 25-point effort against Oral Roberts in his first college game. Tommy who?

Marciulionis, who lost his starting point guard position to a rejuvenated Kuhse early in the 21-22 season, did a double-take on Mahaney’s splash, then bore down to make sure he didn’t lose the starting gig two years in a row. He has displayed leadership and toughness over the five-game home stand, and last night against Hofstra played perhaps his best game as a Gael with 14 points on 6-9 shooting, including 2-3 from distance, where his stroke has been questionable in the past, and four assists.

With Johnson chipping in with nine points and four assists of his own and Mahaney adding eight points — he doesn’t do assists yet — the Gael backcourt accounted for 31 points and eight assists. That part of the remodel appears to be coming along nicely.

Saxen in the post

Part Two of the remodeled Gael lineup involved junior Mitchell Saxen taking over in the post from Tass, who gave Saint Mary’s consistent excellence during his four-year tenure. Saxen, matching Tass’s height at 6’10”, with longer arms to better snatch rebounds from opponents’ reach, has been everything Bennett and Gael fans could have wished for. He has scored and rebounded at a near-double-digit pace since day one, and last night scored his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds, adding two blocks and two steals.

Combined with the energetic spot relief from Aussie freshman Harry Wessels, all 7’1″ of him, the fresh faces in the post have been equally successful as those in the back court. The Gaels were set at small forward with the return of senior Alex Ducas, and at power forward with Ducas’s fellow Australian, Kyle Bowen. Ducas, who has been tantalizing fans with flashes of his three-point ability, broke loose last night against Hofstra with a 20-point outburst that included sinking 6-7 three-pointers.

An added bonus in the front court has been the inspired play of former walk-on Luke Barrett from nearby Piedmont High School. Bennett calls on Barrett when Ducas becomes a little lackadaisical in his defense, and he has proven to be a bulldog at the small forward position. He has only one speed — lightning fast — and flies around the court grabbing rebounds, picking up loose balls and generally wreaking havoc on Gael opponents.

Ahead in Anaheim

The games in the Wooden Legacy tournament will mark the first time a national audience has been able to see Saint Mary’s this season. Even though all five of the previous opponents are highly regarded in their own conferences, there was little TV exposure of the games. Only two of them were broadcast over the little-known Stadium network, while three were relegated to the Internet-based WCC Network.

The Gaels’ debut on ESPN2 Wednesday night at 9 p.m. (it’s the second game of the night, following Washington and Fresno in the 7 p.m. opener) has a bit of the excitement from last March’s NCAA Tournament, when Saint Mary’s faced legendary programs Indiana and UCLA (L) on the opening weekend.

Vanderbilt is a member of the vaunted SEC, which has risen to prominence nearly rivaling its football brethren following the success of programs such as Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama. And Vandy has given the Gaels headaches in the past, edging them 72-70 in Matthew Dellavedova’s third game as a Gael in Moraga in 2009, and walloping them 89-70 two years later in Nashville. Vandy also knocked Saint Mary’s out of the NIT in 2015 with a first-round 75-64 victory.

But the Commodores have fallen on hard times in recent years, and former NBA star Jerry Stackhouse has been unable to move them into the upper half of the tough SEC. Picked to finish 12th in the conference following the loss of star Scotty Pippen Jr. to the NBA, Vandy has gone 2-2 so far this season, with wins over Temple and Morehead State and losses to Memphis and Southern Miss.

One would expect the Gaels to be a favorite to topple Vanderbilt Wednesday night and move into the championship final on Thanksgiving Day against Washington or Fresno State, but Bennett will have none of that in his locker room. He will have the Gaels fired up as if they were facing Gonzaga for a WCC Tournament title, so it will be well worth a late-night appointment before settling down for Thanksgiving Dinner onThursday.

Mitchell Saxen, shown above in last night’s 76-48 blowout of Hofstra, collected his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.