Thursday, November 14
Moraga, CA
7:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
2-1,0-0WCC
81
vs
63
Long Beach State
1-3,0-0Big West
1
2
F
Long Beach St.
31
32
63
Saint Mary's (CA)
41
40
81
Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
MBB | Kuhse, Tass Lead No. 18 Gaels' Charge Over Beach
11/14/2019 9:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MORAGA, Calif. — No. 18 Saint Mary's bounced back on Thursday night with an impressive 81-63 win over Long Beach State in McKeon Pavilion.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saint Mary's flexed it's offensive muscle as they shot 56 percent in the game, 60 percent from three, and racked up 18 assists. Matthias Tass and Tommy Kuhse in particular had their way with Beach defenders as they each recorded career-highs in points with 22 and 20, respectively.
Kuhse had the hot hand all night, cashing in on eight of his 10 attempts from the field while also recording a game-high eight assists. Tass had a career-night in just his third ever start, scoring 14 of his 22 points in the opening half while also reeling in five rebounds in 32 minutes.
Jordan Ford scored 10 on an efficient 4-of-6 night from the floor including two made threes. Tanner Krebs added eight points while Malik Fitts also scored six.
Kuhse had five assists on the Gaels' first nine buckets of the contest as SMC jumped to a 22-15 lead halfway through the opening period. Despite Ford playing only 10 minutes in the first half due to two early fouls, Kuhse kept the offense rolling by dishing out seven assists and chipping in nine points of his own.
After heading into the locker room with a 41-31 lead at the half, SMC strung together a 6-0 run early in the half to give them their largest lead to that point at 16. Saint Mary's made their first five treys of the final half including three courtesy of Kuhse.
SMC came into the contest averaging six steals per game and added seven more in Thursday's win. The Gaels won the battle on the boards, 33-25 as well.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
"Tonight we played well and it gave us confidence. This game was good for us because we were able to get our guys reps. We were able to rest [Jordan] Ford and it some of our other guys the chance to step up, including [Tommy] Kuhse. It was a really good win for us and we're getting better with each game." - Randy Bennett
"We have a ton of good players, it's just a matter of trusting each other and getting that culture reestablished as to getting the ball moving because with that we are really tough to guard." - Tommy Kuhse
UP NEXT: CAL POLY
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saint Mary's flexed it's offensive muscle as they shot 56 percent in the game, 60 percent from three, and racked up 18 assists. Matthias Tass and Tommy Kuhse in particular had their way with Beach defenders as they each recorded career-highs in points with 22 and 20, respectively.
Kuhse had the hot hand all night, cashing in on eight of his 10 attempts from the field while also recording a game-high eight assists. Tass had a career-night in just his third ever start, scoring 14 of his 22 points in the opening half while also reeling in five rebounds in 32 minutes.
Jordan Ford scored 10 on an efficient 4-of-6 night from the floor including two made threes. Tanner Krebs added eight points while Malik Fitts also scored six.
Kuhse had five assists on the Gaels' first nine buckets of the contest as SMC jumped to a 22-15 lead halfway through the opening period. Despite Ford playing only 10 minutes in the first half due to two early fouls, Kuhse kept the offense rolling by dishing out seven assists and chipping in nine points of his own.
After heading into the locker room with a 41-31 lead at the half, SMC strung together a 6-0 run early in the half to give them their largest lead to that point at 16. Saint Mary's made their first five treys of the final half including three courtesy of Kuhse.
SMC came into the contest averaging six steals per game and added seven more in Thursday's win. The Gaels won the battle on the boards, 33-25 as well.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
- 31: The Gaels had 31 points off the bench after just two against Winthrop.
- 24: Saint Mary's led by as many as 24 during the second half.
- 9: Nine different Gaels scored in the win.
- 1: Aaron Menzies scored his first point as a Gael at the charity stripe in three minutes of action.
- 5: Tass, Fitts, and Alex Ducas all grabbed five rebounds to lead the team.
"Tonight we played well and it gave us confidence. This game was good for us because we were able to get our guys reps. We were able to rest [Jordan] Ford and it some of our other guys the chance to step up, including [Tommy] Kuhse. It was a really good win for us and we're getting better with each game." - Randy Bennett
"We have a ton of good players, it's just a matter of trusting each other and getting that culture reestablished as to getting the ball moving because with that we are really tough to guard." - Tommy Kuhse
UP NEXT: CAL POLY
- Saint Mary's hosts the Mustangs on Sunday at 5 p.m. to wrap up their three-game homestand.
Team Stats
LBSU
SMC
FG%
.442
.564
3FG%
.357
.600
FT%
.706
.700
RB
25
33
TO
12
12
STL
6
7
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballF/C
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