MBB | Gaels Hammer BYU For First WCC Win - SMC California Athletics

Saturday, January 5

Moraga, Calif.

8:00 p.m.

Saint Mary's College of California

10-7, 1-1

BYU

9-8, 1-1

Brigham Young

Saint Mary's (CA)

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

MBB | Gaels Hammer BYU For First WCC Win

1/5/2019 10:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Saint Mary's put on a show Saturday night for their first conference victory against the Cougars.

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's bounced back from a tough road loss against the Dons with a dominating performance in front of their home fans as they routed BYU 88-66 Saturday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED
In a battle of the conference's top scorers, Jordan Ford bested BYU's Yoeli Childs as the Gaels' guard put up a game-high 23 points. The Folsom, Calif. native found himself in a precarious situation after picking up his fourth foul midway through the second half but remained disciplined to avoid fouling out and finished with 10-of-17 shooting and four dimes.

Malik Fitts was a major factor in the Gaels' defensive effort as the forward had a career-high four steals and collected nine defensive rebounds. Fitts was also the team's second-highest scorer with 18 points and knocked down three threes. For the fourth time in the past five games, Tanner Krebs reached double figures with 14 points and also grabbed seven boards in the win.
Krebs scored the first seven points of the second half for Saint Mary's.

SMC's defense effectively stunted the potent Cougar attack, limiting BYU to shoot just 36 percent in the opening period and 40 percent on the night. A combination of Fitts and Dan Fotu held Yoeli Childs to only five points in the first half on 1-for-5 shooting.

Fitts was quiet early, being held scoreless for the first 14 minutes of play but answered back by knocking down three straight treys in three consecutive possessions to give Saint Mary's a 7-point advantage with under four to go. Fitts' offensive outburst sparked a 14-2 run for the Gaels who took a 10-point lead into the half.

A late 11-1 second half run helped Saint Mary's seal the victory which was capped off by a Ford jumper that put the Gaels up 24. SMC would eventually push their lead to 26 just minutes later.

Matthias Tass played 15 minutes for SMC in the opening period after starter Jordan Hunter drew two quick fouls and played solid defense for the Gaels, snagging six rebounds and blocking two shots in the opening 20.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
00: Tanner Krebs was back in the starting lineup for Saint Mary's and played 26 minutes on the night.
14: The Gaels tallied 14 assists to only seven turnovers.
9: SMC is 9-0 in games where they earn 10 or more assists.
43: The Gaels converted nine of their 21 3-pointers (43 percent).
44: Saint Mary's scored 44 points in the paint compared to only 21 for the Cougars.
21: Tommy Kuhse celebrated his 21st birthday Saturday night win an eight point performance.

QUICK BITES

Malik Fitts: "Part of the game plan was to make it tough for the other players and we tried our best to make most of our points from the line. That is the beauty of our team this year is that we are a lot more athletic this year so we want to get the ball out as quick as possible. The guys were able to give me the ball and I was able to put it in so I was definitely more confident from the three-point line today."
Coach Bennett: "We are definitely getting better and we shoot well from three. We are deficient in rebounding and field goal percentage; however, it takes time to get better and we will get better by playing good teams like BYU to get over the hump. Fitts shot really well tonight and is a good offensive player. He just has to get more consistent and he will get there."

UP NEXT: LOYOLA MARYMOUNT

Saint Mary's will play just one game next week with the new, modified conference scheduled. The Gaels travel down to Los Angeles for a Saturday matchup with the Lions at 7 p.m. More information can be found on the team's schedule page.