LAS VEGAS — Not many college basketball pundits around the country had Saint Mary's and Wisconsin in the 2021 Maui Jim Maui Invitational championship game. Perhaps that's what made the two teams a perfect match to square off for the title, with both teams almost playing like mirror images of each other. Saint Mary's was in control for a majority of the game, but Wisconsin was able to power past the Gaels and claim the 2021 Maui Invitational championship with a 61-55 final. Wisconsin improves to 5-1 on the year while the Gaels suffer their first loss and drop to 6-1.
 
FROM THE START
Much like the win against Oregon on Tuesday evening, the Gaels opened Wednesday's championship game in control. The first half numbers showed that as well, with the Gaels trailing for only 18 seconds in the opening half. Saint Mary's limited Wisconsin's offense to just 31% shooting, and held them without a three-pointer in the first half (just as they did against the Ducks on Tuesday). Conversely, the Gaels were shooting 52% from the field and made a trio of triples. Dan Fotu continued his breakout performance in the tournament with nine first-half points, while Logan Johnson hit a driving layup just before the horn sounded to conclude the first half, putting SMC up 31-25 at the break.
 
LARGEST LEAD
Early in the second half, it seemed like there was a chance for Saint Mary's to run away with the game. Saint Mary's scored six-straight points to go up 37-27. Johnson, Matthias Tass, and Tommy Kuhse all hit shots during that stretch, and with 15:58 remaining, the Gaels were up by 10 and had all the momentum. At that point, the Gaels were also holding Wisconsin to just 1-7 from the floor.
 
THE SHIFT
Wisconsin began to slowly and methodically chip away at the Saint Mary's lead, going on a 5-0 run immediately after SMC went up by 10, and then again used a 7-0 run with under six minutes remaining to completely flip the game. Johnny Davis was the main culprit for the Badgers, hitting a pair of shots, including a three, to put Wisconsin up 48-46, their first lead since the early stages of the game. Wisconsin would never relinquish the lead.
 
FINAL MOMENTS
Despite trailing, Saint Mary's did have chances to get back even, or take the lead. Alex Ducas hit one of the biggest shots of the game when he nailed a triple to make it 54-53 Wisconsin with 1:47 left. On the next SMC possession, Kuhse was fouled with the Gaels down by two, and he went to the line for a one-and-one. He missed the front end of it, and Wisconsin grabbed the rebound, effectively ending the game after a turnaround jump shot by Tyler Wahl with under a minute remaining.
 
THE FINAL NUMBERS
Saint Mary's shot better than Wisconsin for the game, but only 32% in the second half…Ducas was the team's leading scorer with 13 points, while Johnson added 12 and Fotu had 11 (just two in the second half)…SMC recorded just one assist in the second half…two problematic areas for Saint Mary's were turnovers (16 versus 8) and free throws, allowing Wisconsin to go 16-18 from the charity stripe.
 
AMAZING RUN
Despite falling in the championship game, Saint Mary's made quite a bit of noise in their first-ever appearance in the tournament. They are just the third WCC school to appear in the championship game, and the first since Gonzaga in 2018. Along the way, they scored their first-ever win over Notre Dame, and their first win against Oregon since 2009. Notre Dame was ranked higher than SMC according to KenPom (Notre Dame was #38), while Oregon was ranked #26 in the AP poll. Additionally, they held Oregon to 50 points, their ninth-worst scoring performance in the last 11 years.
 
BENNETT BITES
"We were fortunate to play in a really good game. So it didn't turn out the way we wanted it to at the end, but played pretty well for 30 minutes and then Wisconsin played well down the stretch, and I think we were up 10 with about 10 to go. So we had to do a lot of things right to get in that position and that's why you come to this. That's why you try and get in the best college basketball tournament in the country is to play against really good teams like a Wisconsin, a Houston, an Oregon, a Houston, Butler, Texas A&M, all those guys. So we got two. Tonight we didn't come out on top, but I thought we played a pretty good game against a very well-coached team and group of guys." – head coach, Randy Bennett
 
LOGAN ELABORATES
"Like coach said earlier, that's why you come to these tournaments. Wisconsin's a well-coached team. They put in a lot of work. So whenever you get to battle against competition that brings the same level of intensity, those are what you live for and we just didn't get the result we wanted tonight." – Logan Johnson
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will return home for a quick single game at home against UC Riverside on Monday, November 29 inside University Credit Union Pavilion. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm. SMC will then head out for the first road games of the 2021-22 season, as they play Utah State and Colorado State on December 2 and 4.
 
#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