MORAGA, Calif. — This week, Saint Mary's (9-3, 0-1 WCC) will have their greatest challenge of the season to this point as they host two top-notch programs in BYU and No. 1 Gonzaga. Both contests will be aired on national television with Thursday's game versus BYU on ESPN2 and Saturday's match with the Zags on ESPN. 

GAME INFORMATION
Game 13 vs. BYU Cougars
Date/Time: Thursday, Jan. 14 at 8:00 p.m. PT
Location: UCU Pavilion (Moraga, Calif.)
TV: ESPN2 
Radio: TuneIn (Alex Jensen)
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS 
Gaels' all-time head to head record: 16-15 (Last meeting: 3/9/20, N, SMC 51 — BYU 50)

Game 14 vs. No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 16 at 5:00 p.m. PT
Location: UCU Pavilion (Moraga, Calif.)
TV: ESPN 
Radio: TuneIn (Alex Jensen)
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS 
Gaels' all-time head to head record: 30-72 (Last meeting: 3/10/20, N, SMC 66 — #2 GU 84)

ABOUT THE COUGARS
BYU is also 9-3 this season and have played just one conference game thus far - a 17-point loss to Gonzaga on the road. The Cougars won a few impressive contests in their non-conference slate as they took down St. John's, Utah State, Utah, and San Diego State. The team's other two losses were to USC and Boise State. 

The Cougars have three double-digit scorers and are led by Alex Barcello at 16.3 ppg. Barcello also averages nearly five assists per contest and has been lights out from beyond the arc at 60 percent. 7-3 big man Matt Haarms is averaging 11.2 points while guard Brandon Averette is contributing 10.2 per game. As a team, KenPom.com ranks BYU 66th in offensive efficiency and 68th in defensive efficiency. 

Last year, the Gaels and Cougars had three epic meetings that all went down to the final possession. Saint Mary's got the better of BYU in the first meeting inside UCU Pavilion in a game that went to overtime before the Cougars responded with a 2-point victory in Provo three weeks later. In the third game and semifinals of the conference tournament, Jordan Ford hit a last second shot to propel SMC past BYU and into the championship game. 

Saint Mary's has won its last six contests against BYU in Moraga. The last time the Cougars won inside UCU Pavilion was a 60-57 victory in 2014. 

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
No. 1 Gonzaga is off to a 12-0 start and is fresh off a 28-point thumping of Portland on Saturday. The Zags received all but one first place vote in the latest AP poll and lead the nation in scoring offense and field goal percentage. 

Corey Kispert is one of three Wooden Award Watch List members on the Bulldogs' roster and leads the West Coast Conference with 21.1 points per game. Drew Timme ranks third with 18.5 ppg and both forwards are shooting better than 60 percent from the floor. GU shoots over 55 percent as a team and averages better than 21 assists per game. Possibly the only area of the Zags' game that is lackluster is their 3-point shooting where they are converting on just 33.7 percent of their attempts. 

Gonzaga defeated the Gaels in all three meetings last year, including the WCC Championship game. However, the last time the Zags were the top-ranked team in the nation, Saint Mary's handily defeated them in Las Vegas in the conference championship, 60-47. The Gaels will be seeking their first win over GU at home since 2016. 

LAST TIME OUT
Saint Mary's (9-3, 0-1 WCC) battled all night long with Santa Clara (7-2, 1-0 WCC) inside UCU Pavilion but the Broncos ended up getting the last laugh in a 66-64 nail biter affair. 

Logan Johnson set a career-high in points with 26 and also had four rebounds in the game. It was the third time this year the junior has scored double-digit points after posting 15 against South Dakota State and San Diego State. Tommy Kuhse helped pace the offense with 12 points and four assists. Matthias Tass just missed his first double-double of the season with nine points and 11 boards. 

Saint Mary's looked to be in the driver's seat after Tass threw down a momentous dunk with 22 seconds on the clock to put the Gaels up two but SCU's Keshawn Justice immediately replied with a trey on the other end to give his team the lead, 65-64. Justice led Santa Clara with 23 points in the game. 

On the Gaels' next possession, Kuhse was blocked in the paint and the Broncos recovered the ball to seal the win.

JOHNSON STEPPING UP
Since returning from an ankle injury suffered in the second game of the season, Logan Johnson has been the Gaels' second leading scorer with 12.5 ppg, trailing only Tommy Kuhse (15.8). The junior has shot an efficient 49 percent across the previous six games and just recently blew by his previous-high in points (15) with a 26-point outburst against Santa Clara. 

Last season, Johnson appeared in 25 games, averaged 6.6 minutes off the bench, and totaled just 1.4 points per game. This year, he's scoring 11.0 ppg, grabbing 3.6 boards, and is second on the team with 27.0 minutes per contest. 

GLUED TO THE COURT
Tommy Kuhse has played 32 or more minutes in all but one contest this season - a blowout win over San Jose State on Dec. 11. He leads the team with 35.5 minutes per game and second in the conference in that category. 

Last year, the Gaels had three players average 30 or more minutes per game. Kuhse is the only player on the roster above that plateau this season. 

INJURY UPDATE
Saint Mary's has three players out with injury: Alex Ducas, Leemet Böckler, and Luke Barrett. There is no current timetable to return for any of the three Gaels. 

Ducas was injured on Dec. 19 in the Gaels' home win against Colorado State while Böckler suffered his injury a day prior in practice. Barrett has been out since the first week of the season. 
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