ANAHEIM, Calif. — For the first time since 2017, Saint Mary's Men's Basketball opened play in the Paycom Wooden Legacy, a tournament in honor of one of the greatest collegiate coaches of all-time. Saint Mary's drew Vanderbilt in the opening game, which led to a tough, physical matchup between the WCC and SEC. Despite Vandy closing in and making the game close in the second half, the Gaels were able to pull away and clinch a spot in the title game by virtue of their 75-65 win. SMC is now 5-0 while Vanderbilt drops to 2-3.
 
DOWN LOW EARLY
The early part of the game was playing in the post by Saint Mary's, as Vanderbilt failed to make any adjustments to the Gaels big man, Mitchell Saxen. He was a force early in the game, with 12 first half points, including 10 of those in the first 8:30 of the game. On the pick and roll, Vandy left Saxen open on numerous occasions, and the Gaels took advantage. 22 of the team's 35 first half points came in the paint, compared to just 12 of 27 for Vandy. That also explains why the Gaels only attempted four shots from beyond the arc in the first half.
 
VANDY PUSHES BACK
With Saint Mary's out to an eight-point halftime lead, the Gaels were in command, but Vanderbilt came out with a fire. They scored the first nine points of the half to take a 36-35 lead before the Gaels got their first bucket of the half on a Saxen layup to retake the lead. That would be the last time that Vanderbilt lead in the game, the only time as a matter of fact, but for most of the second half, the score stayed between a 3-5 lead for the Gaels.
 
THE BOOST THEY NEEDED
It seemed like the game flipped late in the second half when the Gaels had to take out Saxen, who had four fouls. Enter Harry Wessels, who played some big minutes down the stretch to kickstart the Gaels. With the score 49-46 SMC, he was open for a dunk that put the Gaels up by five, and about 60 seconds later, after a Logan Johnson layup, Wessels was open in the paint again and finished off the glass to put the Gaels up 55-48. Alex Ducas hit a jumper on the next possession and suddenly it was a 57-48 lead with just five minutes remaining.
 
A TALENTED TRIO
Saxen was just one of the leaders of the bunch, as the Gaels had three players with at least 19 points in the game. Saxen got there on 9-15 from the floor (for a career-best in points), but his minutes were limited down the stretch due to foul trouble. Johnson had himself a game, going 7-10 from the field for 19 points, while adding seven rebounds and a career-best eight assists. The leading scorer for the Gaels on Wednesday was Aidan Mahaney, who scored 20 points on 7-10 from the floor, while adding a career-best six rebounds. His only three on the night came at the first half buzzer, hitting an impressive shot from the Wooden logo on midcourt.
 
OTHER TIDBITS
The Gaels shot 56.9% from the floor in the Wednesday victory over Vanderbilt, their best shooting percentage in a game since December 18, 2019 in a 96-56 road win over Arizona State (59.6%)…SMC was out-rebounded for the first time this season, losing the battle on the boards 33-30…Saint Mary's nearly doubled-up on points in the paint, with 46 compared to just 28 for Vanderbilt…the win was the fifth in SMC history in the Wooden Legacy, and their first win over Vanderbilt in program history (had been 0-3).

Tomorrow, we play for @TheWoodenLegacy championship at 9:30 pm on ESPN2 against Washington!#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/SJpUKSUpJy

— Saint Mary's Hoops (@saintmaryshoops) November 24, 2022

 
UP NEXT
The title game for the 2022 Paycom Wooden Legacy is set for 9:30 pm on Thursday night, televised on ESPN2. The Gaels will take on Washington, who won over Fresno State before the Gaels game by a final of 62-57. Washington is 4-1 on the year, but the Gaels won their last matchup (their only with Randy Bennett at the helm of the program) 85-81 in the 2018 NIT.