Men's Basketball To Host Cal Poly on Saturday
12/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 23, 2002
This Week in Gael Hoops:
Saint Mary's is 5-4 on the season following a 62-50 loss to UC Irvine on Sunday. The Gaels will play one game this week when they host Cal Poly from the Big West Conference. In the two previous games for Saint Mary's, the Gaels have posted a 1-1 record against two teams from the BigWest Conference. SMC posted a 79-74 win over UC Riverside on Tuesday before Sunday's loss to UCI.
Cal Poly enters Saturday's match-up with a 3-5 overall record. The Mustangs participated in the University of Hawaii Festival Tournament last week and posted a 1-1 record. Cal Poly is coming off a 73-70 overtime win over Eastern Illinois from Sunday's consolation game. In the first game of the tournament, the Mustangs suffered an 89-75 loss to New Orleans.
Who's Hot:
Saint Mary's freshman forward Daniel Kickert highlighted last week by averaging a team-high 14.0 points, on 11-of-20 shooting from the floor and 2-of-4 from 3-point land, while adding 3.5 rebounds per game. Kickert equalled his season-high with 19 points against UC Irvine on Sunday, while adding five rebounds. Against the Anteaters, he was 8-for-14 from the field, 2-for-2 from the foul line and had one assist and zero turnovers.
Radio Coverage:
Once again KSMC, the student radio station for Saint Mary's College, will broadcast all 28 men's basketball games for the 2002-03 season. This week's games against Cal Poly is scheduled to be broadcasted by Bryan Murphy.
If you're unable to pick the game up on the 89.5 FM frequency, fans can access all the basketball broadcasts through the Saint Mary's athletic website at www.SMCGaels.com. Just click on the KSMC button on the home, or basketball page, to take you to the KSMC live broadcast website. If you intend to listen to the game on the internet, a real audio player is required to listen to the broadcast.
Follow Saint Mary's on the Web:
Fans can access all the latest news and notes about Gael Athletics by accessing the Saint Mary's website at www.SMCGaels.com. The only official website offers the most up to date information, results, statistics and feature stories of the Gaels' 15 intercollegiate sports.
Probable Starters for the Mustangs:
# Name Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG3 Jason Allen G 6-1 Sr. 10.4 2.513 Steve Geary G 5-11 Sr. 10.2 1.834 Shane Schilling F 6-6 Jr. 15.3 2.335 Jered Patterson F 6-7 Sr. 6.2 5.940 Diaby Kamara F 6-7 Sr. 12.0 10.0
Scouting the Mustangs:
Cal Poly enters this week's game with a 3-5 record and winners of two of its last three games. Prior to the 1-1 performance at the Hawaii Festival Tournament, the Mustangs defeated Loyola Marymount, 72-70, in overtime on December 16. Prior to the win over LMU, Cal Poly was on a three-game losing skid, which included losses to San Diego State (62-65), Oregon State (60-81) and Sacramento State (66-73).
The Mustangs enter this week averaging 70.6 points per game while giving up 77.4 points to the opposition. Cal Poly is shooting 41.0 percent from the floor, 30.1 percent from three point land and 70.1 percent from the free throw line. Mustang opponents are shooting at a 45.8 clip from the floor, a 38.2 percent mark from three-point land and 68.4 percent from the foul line.
Cal Poly's leading scorer, Varnie Dennis, is averaging 17.5 points per game, but has missed the last two games. Dennis is also the team's second leading rebounder at 7.3 boards per game. Dennis is one of five players to average in double figures as Shane Schilling is averaging 15.3 points over three games. Diaby Kamara is averaging a double-double with 12.0 points and 10.0 rebounds, playing in the last three games for Cal Poly. Kamara, a transfer from the University of Portland, tallied 14 points and 14 rebounds against LMU in his first game in a Mustang uniform. In his second game for Cal Poly he scored 14 points and grabbed 13 boards for back-to-back double doubles. Jason Allen and Steve Geary are averaging 10.4 and 10.2 points per game, respectively.
Cal Poly's Kevin Bromley is in his second full year as the head coach, and third year after taking over as the interim head coach in 2000-01. He has a 22-29 career mark, and in his first full year as the head coach, he lead Cal Poly to a 15-12 record and a 9-9 finish in the Big West, and guided the Mustangs to their first winning record in six years.
Second year assistant coach Tim Murphy was the associate head coach for Saint Mary's for four seasons, from 1997-2001.
The Series:
Saint Mary's and Cal Poly have squared off against each other eight times with each team winning four games. Cal Poly will have an opportunity to extend the series win streak for three games, following an 89-73 in 1998 and evened the series with a 70-50 victory, in San Luis Obispo during the 2001-02 season. The last SMC victory in the series came during the 1995-96 season when the Gaels posted an 88-68 win in Moraga.
Last Meeting - Cal Poly 70 - Saint Mary's 50:
Cal Poly built a 31-point lead midway through the second half and went on to beat Saint Mary's 70-50 in a non-conference men's basketball game in Mott Gym. Cal Poly forward Brandon Beeson scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half as the Mustangs opened a 38-18 lead at the break. Varnie Dennis added 12 points for Cal Poly. Saint Mary' was led by Paul Marigney and Ross Benson as both had 12 points each.
Cal Poly opened the second half with a 22-11 run to break the game open, leading 60-29 with 10:02 remaining in the game. A jumper by James Grace III capped the Mustang run.
The Gaels closed the gap to 16 with a 17-2 run. Adam Caporn's layup cut Cal Poly's lead to 62-46 with 3:32 to play, but Saint Mary's could get no closer as the Mustangs held on to win their home opener for the seventh straight year.
Cal Poly outrebounded Saint Mary's 36-31, led by Beeson with 11. The Mustangs made 48 percent of their floor shots (26 of 54) compared to just 38 percent shooting by the Gaels (19 of 50). Saint Mary's was just 2-for-16 from three-point range.
Saint Mary's Against the Big West:
Saint Mary's has posted an 82-66 overall mark against teams from the Big West Conference, following the loss to UC Irvine on Sunday. The Gaels have played Pacific the most, 103 times, and has posted a 62-41 record against the Tigers. Most of the games between SMC and Pacific occurred when the two schools were members of the West Coast Athletic Conference. The only other Big West school Saint Mary's has a winning record against is CS Northridge at 7-2. The Gaels are 4-4 against Cal Poly, 2-2 against Long Beach State, 3-5 versus UC Irvine and CS Fullerton, 1-2 against UC Riverside, and 1-4 against Utah State. The only team from the Big West that SMC has not played is Idaho.
Saint Mary's Head Coach Randy Bennett:
Randy Bennett (UC San Diego, 1986) had guided the Saint Mary's basketball team to a 5-4 record this season and he's currently 14-24 and is in his second season at the helm of the Saint Mary's men's basketball program. In his first season, Bennett guided the Gaels to a 9-20 record and their first WCC Tournament win since 1997 with a 68-63 victory over Santa Clara in the first round. Hired on April 10, 2001, Bennett served as a top assistant under Lorenzo Romar in 1999-01 at Saint Louis before taking over his current position. He was the also the top assistant at Pepperdine under Romar as well and also the top assistant for eight years under Hank Egan and Brad Holland at the University of San Diego. Prior to that Bennett served a two-year stint at the University of Idaho under former Chicago Bulls Head Coach Tim Floyd.
Game 9 Racap: UC Irvine 62 - Saint Mary's 50
The Saint Mary's men's basketball team suffered a 62-50 loss to the UC Irvine Anteaters on Sunday afternoon from McKeon Pavilion. Daniel Kickert led the Gaels with a game-high 19 points. The loss drops Saint Mary's to 5-4 on the season, while UC Irvine improves to 4-3 overall.
UC Irvine freshman guard Mike Efevberha paced the Anteaters with 17 points. He was 4-for-9 from the field and 7-of-8 from the foul line in the game. Joining Efevberha in double figures was Jordan Harris, who had 10 points.
After Saint Mary's took a 6-5 lead three minutes into the game, UC Irvine would allow just one free throw over the next seven minute to take a commanding 17-7 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half. The Anteaters would again lead by 10 (24-14), before Saint Mary's cut the lead to 24-20 with four minutes left in the half. But after a made lay in by Efevberha and a three pointer by Harris, the Anteaters led 29-20. UCI would take a 33-24 lead into the locker room.
UC Irvine would come out in the second half and extend its lead to 39-25 at the 16:12 mark. Saint Mary's would battle back to within four points (46-42), when Kickert hit a three-pointer with 7:31 remaining. Frederic Adjiwanou, who finished with seven points and a game-high eight rebounds, missed two free throws that would have cut the lead to two points. Following the missed free throws, UC Irvine would use a 14-3 run to open its largest lead of the game, 60-45, with 1:09 remaining.
The Gaels shot 37.2 percent (16-43) from the floor and struggled from three-point range, making just 2-of-11 attempts. UC Irvine was held to 33.3 percent (17-51) shooting from the floor, but converted 5-of-14 attempts from long range, all in the first half. SMC had the edge on the boards, 34-33.
Saint Mary's entered the game shooting a West Coast Conference best, 76.0 percent from the free throw line. However, the Gaels would convert just 16-of-24 (66.7 %) attempts from the charity stripe, while UC Irvine made 23-of-27 from the line.
Game 8 Recap: Saint Mary's 79 - UC Riverside 74
Junior forward Tyler Herr scored a game-high 21 points to pace the Saint Mary's men's basketball to a 79-74 victory over UC Riverside on Tuesday night from McKeon Pavilion. Herr was one of four Gaels to tally double figures, in an effort to improve the Gaels' record at home to 4-0. SMC improved to 5-3 overall while UC Riverside dropped to 1-3 on the season.
En route to his game-high 21 points, Herr hit 6-of-13 shots from the field and made all seven attempts from the free throw line. The WCC's leading free throw shooter remained perfect from the line this season, and now has made all 22 shots from the line.
Frederic Adjiwanou followed his 16-point game against Stanford with 15 points against UC Riverside. Adjiwanou made 3-of-4 shots from the floor and converted 9-of-11 attempts from the free throw line. Samuel Saint-Jean matched his career and season-high with 13 points after making 6-of-6 shots from the foul line and hitting his only shot from three-point land. Chase Poole also added 13 points for the Gaels.
In a game that started 1:15 minutes late due to a power outage, Saint Mary's never trailed. The was tied at 0-0 and then again at 8-8 four-and-a-half minutes into the contest. Saint Mary's would use a 13-2 run over the next seven minutes to open an 11-point lead. However, the Highlanders would claw back into the game and trail by just four points, 30-26 at halftime.
UC Riverside would cut the Gaels' lead to 36-36 at the 15:21 mark of the second half and Saint Mary's responded with an 8-0 run to open the lead to 10 points. After UCR got to within seven, SMC would take its biggest lead of the game at 61-47 with 5:50 remaining. The Highlanders would score on 12 of its last 14 possessions to cut the SMC margin to 79-74 in the end.
In a game that produced 56 fouls and 60 free throws, Saint Mary's shot 47.8 percent from the floor while UC Riverside out did the Gaels, shooting at a 48.1 percent clip. SMC converted 30-of-37 free throws while UCR hit 16-of-23 free throws.
Nate Carter led the Highlanders with 17 points and Aaron Hands had 12 points and Kevin Butler added 11 points.
Gaels Best in the WCC in Four Categories:
Currently Saint Mary's leads the conference in four categories. The Gaels are scoring at a 72.7 clip while holding the opposition to a conference-best 64.3 points per game. The +8.3 scoring margin is the best in the WCC. Additionally, SMC leads the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (41.1 percent) and free throw percentage (74.9 percent).
Where The Gaels Rank Nationally:
In the most recent version of the national statistics released by ESPN.com, Saint Mary's ranks 23rd in the nation in free throw shooting, converting 74.9 percent (152-203) of their attempts. The Gaels are 23rd in the country in three-point shooting, converting 41.1 percent (58-141) from long range.
How the Gaels Rank in the WCC, Individually:
In the latest version of the West Coast Conference individual statistics, Saint Mary's has four players that rank in the top-5 in the conference in seven different categories. Tyler Herr leads the WCC in free throw shooting at 1.000 percent, is fourth in 3-pointers made (2.44 per game), and fourth in 3-point percentage (40.0 percent). Chase Poole is second in the conference in steals, averaging 1.89 per game. Daniel Kickert is second in free throw shooting at 87.9 percent and fourth in field goal percentage at 53.6 percent. Samuel Saint-Jean is second in the WCC with 5.0 assists per contest and his 1.48 assist/turnover ratio is fifth-best.
Tyler Herr Looks to Give Gaels a Force From Deep:
Junior forward Tyler Herr (Gilbert, AZ) is second on the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game and is second on the squad, averaging 5.3 rebounds per game. Herr's 13.3 points per game is currently tenth in the WCC. Herr is shooting 40.0 percent (22-55) from three point land and 42.2 percent (38-90) from the floor. His 22 made threes (2.44 per game) is the fourth in the West Coast Conference and his 40.0 percent shooting from behind the arc ranks fourth-best in the conference. Herr has made all 22 of his attempts from the free throw line, and his perfect mark is tops in the conference and tied for the top mark in the country. Additionally, Herr is 15th in the WCC in field goal percentage (42.2 %) and 12th in rebounds (5.3 rpg).
Chase Poole Continues to be a Gael Force Down Low:
2002 All-WCC Honorable Mention honoree, Chase Poole (Austin, TX) once again finds his name among the top in the WCC in steals, field goal percentage, scoring and rebounding. Poole dropped to second in the WCC with 1.89 steals per game and has totaled 17 steals in the first nine games. His 54.7 percent shooting from the floor, making 41-of-75 shots, is third in the conference and his 6.3 rebounds per game ranks sixth in the WCC. He's averaging 4.1 defensive rebounds and 2.2 offensive rebounds per game, ranking eighth and six, respectively, in both categories. Poole, who added his third career double-double against Eastern Washington earlier this season when he scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, has scored in double figures in six games this season, including a season-high and career-high matching 22 points against San Jose State. He's led the team in scoring once, rebounds three times and steals five times.
Freshman Forward Making Solid Impression Early:
Freshman forward Daniel Kickert (Melbourne, Australia) has made a huge impression on the coaching staff and earned a starting spot when the Gaels took the floor to open the season. To support the coaches decision, Kickert is third on the team in scoring, averaging 12.8 points per game. He's scored in double figures in 5-of-8 games, including a career-high 19 points against Sam Houston State and Portland State. He is shooting 52.9 percent (37-70) from the field and is 27-of-31 (87.1 percent) from the charity stripe. He has converted 23 consecutive attempts from the free throw line, before missing twice against UCR. Kickert currently ranks in the top-10 in the conference in four categories including; second in free throw percentage (87.7 %), third in field goal percentage (52.9 %), eighth in blocked shots (0.88 bpg), and 10th in scoring (13.1 ppg).
Saint-Jean Dishing Out Assists:
Senior point guard, Samuel Saint-Jean (Versailles, France), who missed the UC Irvine game with a strained quadriceps muscle, has been an assist machine for Saint Mary's this season. Currently, Saint-Jean is averaging 5.0 assists per game, which ranks second in the WCC. This season he has matched his career-high with seven assists against Sam Houston State and again against Stanford. He has led the team in assists in 6-of-8 games this season. Additionally, Saint-Jean ranks seventh in the WCC in steals per game, averaging 1.4 per game and he's fifth in the WCC with a 1.48 assist/turnover ratio.
Gaels Add Two Players During Early Signing Period:
Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett received signed letters of intent from Brett Collins (Phoenix, AZ) and Daniel Waddy (Tucson, AZ) to play for the Gaels beginning with the 2003-04 season.
Brett Collins, 6-5, 220-pounds, is considered a tough, physical wing player, and will come into the Saint Mary's program as either the shooting guard or small forward. As a junior at Mountain Pointe High School, Collins was hampered by injuries and did not see much action. Collins, who will play his senior season this year, is considered as one of the best prep players in Arizona and is a candidate for the Arizona Player of the Year.
Daniel Waddy, 6-2, 180 pounds, averaged 17.5 points as a junior at Salpointe High School in Tucson, AZ. The point guard led his team to a 21-10 finish in 2002 and guided the squad to a quarterfinal finish in the Arizona state 5A tournament.
Next Week:
After the game against Cal Poly, Saint Mary's will conclude its five-game homestand with two games against Ivy League opponents next week. Saint Mary's will host Brown University on Monday, December 28 before Yale University enters McKeon Pavilion on Wednesday, December 30. Both games are scheduled to tip-off at 7:05 PM.
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