MBB | Defense Grounds Thunderbirds, Gaels Win Third-Straight

Monday, November 15

Moraga, CA

7:00 pm

Saint Mary's College of California

3-0,0-0WCC

Southern Utah

1-2,0-0Big Sky

Southern Utah

Saint Mary's (CA)

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

MBB | Defense Grounds Thunderbirds, Gaels Win Third-Straight

11/15/2021 10:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Men's Basketball faced what could have been its toughest task of the young season on Monday night, as the Gaels hosted Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds were one of the best offensive teams in the country one season ago, ranking inside the top-10 in the NCAA in points per game. The SMC defense returned to its stingy ways on Monday, however, shutting down the offensive attack and helping the Gaels to a 70-51 win. Saint Mary's improves to 3-0 on the campaign while the Thunderbirds drop to 1-2.

DOMINANT DEFENSE
The Saint Mary's defense was as good as it has been all season long on Monday night, as the Gaels held Southern Utah to just 16 points in the first half, the fewest allowed by the Gaels in a half since they limited Colorado State to just 16 in the second half on December 19, 2020, and the fewest in a first half since they held Pacific to 15 on February 21, 2019. The shooting percentage of 28% wasn't the only thing the Gaels did well in that half: they held Southern Utah to just 1-10 from distance, and forced 10 turnovers. SMC had six steals in the opening half, including three from Augustas Marciulionis.

CALM, KUHSE, AND COLLECTED
In the first two games of the season, sixth-year guard Tommy Kuhse had only registered nine total points. On Monday night, Kuhse was the team's leading scorer, putting up 17 points on seven made shots, including three from beyond the arc. It was rare in the sense that he did not tally an assist (he ranks ninth in program history in assists), but he found his stroke in the second half. 10 of his points were scored after halftime, on 4-5 shooting. Kuhse only played 18 minutes in the game as well, making his night hyper-efficient.

DOUBLE-DIGITS CLUB
Saint Mary's put four scorers into the 10+ point range, led by Kuhse and his 17. Logan Johnson was next on the team with 13 points, and he also was third on the team with six rebounds. Alex Ducas and Dan Fotu continued to make shots for the Gaels, each scoring 12 points in different ways. Ducas hit a pair of threes in the contest, while Fotu was a tidy 6-10 from the floor.

OTHER FACTORS
Saint Mary's limited Southern Utah to just 4-26 (15.4%) three-point shooting on the night, the first time all season Saint Mary's has done better from beyond the arc than the opposition…Saint Mary's had 21 points off of turnover (nine for SUU) and 19 second-chance points (seven for SUU)…Kyle Bowen didn't score on Monday night, but he did tie for the team lead with seven rebounds, added a career-high four assists, and had a +19 plus-minus…Marciulionis scored eight points in the first half and finished the game with five assists to lead SMC…Luke Barrett scored his first collegiate points on a tough layup late in the first half.

UP NEXT
Saint Mary's welcomes in Bellarmine for the first-ever matchup between these two programs on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm inside University Credit Union Pavilion. Bellarmine was idle on Monday night and enters with an 0-2 record, after dropping matches to No. 7 Purdue and Murray State.

#GaelsRise — 2021-22 tickets and ticket packages are on sale now! To purchase tickets, click HERE. If you have questions, contact the ticket office by email smctickets@stmarys-ca.edu or call 925-631-4689…Saint Mary's Basketball…#TogetherAgain