MBB | Gaels Open WCC Play Against USF, BYU

Saint Mary's begins their conference schedule on Thursday as they take on San Francisco.

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's opens West Coast Conference play this week as they travel to San Francisco to take on the Dons on Thursday before hosting the BYU Cougars on Saturday night in Moraga. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN2 as well as streamed on the Saint Mary's radio network.

GAME INFORMATION
Game No. 16 vs. San Francisco (12-2)
Date/Time: Thursday, Jan. 3 at 6:00 p.m. PST
Location: War Memorial Gym (San Francisco)
TV: ESPN2
Radio: https://tunein.com/radio/Saint-Marys-IMG-Sports-Network-s280256/
Live stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=sanf
Gaels' all-time head to head record: 80-100 (Last meeting: 2/15/18, A, SMC 63 — USF 70)

Game No. 17 vs. BYU (8-7)
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 5 at 8:00 p.m. PST
Location: McKeon Pavilion (Moraga, Calif.)
TV: ESPN2
Radio: https://tunein.com/radio/Saint-Marys-IMG-Sports-Network-s280256/
Live stats: https://smcgaels.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Gaels' all-time head to head record: 13-13 (Last meeting: 3/5/18, N, SMC 72 — BYU 85)

ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO
The Gaels kick-off their WCC schedule at War Memorial Gym on Thursday with a matchup against the Dons. Saint Mary's will be sporting their red retro jerseys featuring the Galloping Gael for the nationally-televised contest.

USF ranks well among NET and KenPom rankings, coming in at 40th and 45th, respectively. Defense has been the biggest strength for the Dons this season as they lead the WCC in field goal percentage defense (38.9 percent) and are second in scoring defense (59.9). San Francisco has also dominated their opposition on the boards, averaging eight more rebounds per game than their opponents, good for tops in the conference.

Leading the offense for USF is redshirt sophomore Charles Mineland who is averaging 15.3 per contest and 18.7 over the Dons' last three games. Frankie Ferrari, who scored 20 points last year at home versus Saint Mary's, is also contributing 13.3 per game and is third in the WCC with 5.7 assists.

The Gaels will look to get their revenge from the two teams' last meeting in Feb. 2018 where USF upset then-No. 15 Saint Mary's in San Francisco. Since 2006, Saint Mary's has won 24 of the 26 matchups between the two schools.

ABOUT BYU
The Cougars currently hold an 8-7 record but will play at Pacific prior to coming to Moraga on Saturday. BYU is in the midst of a three-game skid with losses to UNLV, San Diego State, and Mississippi State.

Yoeli Childs is the Cougars' star athlete and the 6-8 forward is fighting with Jordan Ford for the conference's scoring title. Childs is averaging 22.3 points per game and is also averaging a double-double with 10.1 boards. TJ Haws is BYU's other major scoring threat, scoring 17.3 per game and shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc.

The Cougars run a quick tempo offense, 20th fastest in the nation according to KenPom.com, which results in high-scoring contests. BYU is second in the WCC at 84.5 points per game as a team but are also last in scoring defense, allowing 78.8 points to their opposition. The team has given up 95.0 points during their three-game losing streak.

The Gaels and Cougars last met in the semifinals of the WCC Championships last season where BYU emerged victorious, 85-72. Jordan Ford scored 27 points in the loss on 10-of-18 shooting while Jock Landale contributed 23. Saint Mary's is 11-6 against the Cougars since they joined the WCC and prior to their postseason loss last season, the Gaels had won the previous five matchups.

DELLAVEDOVA GNOME GIVEAWAY
At the Jan. 5 game against BYU, the first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a Matthew Dellavedova garden gnome.

LAST TIME OUT: SAN JOSE STATE
Tanner Krebs had one of his best games of the season versus the Spartans, leading the Gaels with 20 points while also grabbing five rebounds. The Australian was especially effective from distance, going 6-of-9 from beyond the arc and was responsible for over half of the team's eight treys on the night.

The win represented the eighth time out of eight games where Saint Mary's has defeated their Bay Area rival during Randy Bennett's tenure. The Gaels took down the Spartans by 18 points last season in Moraga.

Saint Mary's defense gave San Jose State fits all night as they held the Spartans to shoot just 32 percent from the field. The Gaels recorded a season-high 14 steals and forced 19 Spartan turnovers in the win. As a result, Saint Mary's finished the game with 14 more shots from the field than SJSU.

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