MORAGA, Calif. — Thursday night began the most important stretch of the season. Saint Mary's Men's Basketball hosted San Francisco on Thursday night in a highly-anticipated rematch of a thrilling come-from-behind win against the Dons in January. In an important game to both team's and their potential NCAA Tournament hopes, the Gaels prevailed 69-64 thanks to a bit of history made from one of their long-standing guards. SMC is now 21-6 (9-3) while the Dons slip to 21-7 (8-5).
 
WELCOME TO THE CLUB, MR. KUHSE
The career of Tommy Kuhse has been one of the most special journeys in recent seasons on the Gaels roster. From a redshirt freshman walk-on to now a super senior starter, few Gaels have had the impact on all aspects of the game that Kuhse has had. He was rewarded in a way for his efforts on Thursday night, joining the exclusive 1,000-point club with a layup in the first half. Kuhse is the 31^st Gael in program history to reach 1,000 points, and just the fourth Gael all-time to reach 1,000 points and 400 assists. His night went beyond just reaching the scoring milestone, as he set a season-best with 22 points, while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out six helpers.
 
NOT LIKE LAST TIME
The first time these teams played, Saint Mary's fell into a 23-point hole in the first half before eventually trailing by 17 at the break, and then coming back to win. This time around, the Gaels carried a five-point lead into halftime, and played a bit better than that. SMC shot 51.6% in the first half, including 5-11 from beyond the arc, and received a ton of contributions from their bench. Jabe Mullins and Mitchell Saxen were the second and third leading scorers in the first half, respectively. Mullins was forced into action after an early injury to Alex Ducas, and responded by going 3-4 from the field for nine points. Saxen split time with Matthias Tass at the center position, and like Mullins, he went 3-4 from the floor, scoring six points.
 
HOLDING STEADY
With 14:01 remaining in the game, USF had pulled within one point after a Khalil Shabazz three-pointer. The Gaels then pulled ahead to a 10-point advantage on the strength of a 15-6 mini-run that eclipsed nearly 10 minutes of action, giving SMC a 59-49 edge with under five minutes remaining. That stretch is when Logan Johnson began to come alive, hitting six of those 15 points for the Gaels. In the final minutes, the Gaels began to get to the free throw line and iced the game away, going 10-12 in the final two minutes from the charity stripe to close it out and never let the Dons close within more than five points.
 
NOTABLES
Behind the 22 points from Kuhse, Logan Johnson scored 16 points for SMC, with six rebounds in the win (he fouled out late in the second half)…SMC went 0-9 from distance in the second half, despite starting the game 5-11…the Gaels held Jamaree Bouyea to just two points on 1-9 shooting, and 0-6 from beyond the arc…42 of the 69 points scored by Saint Mary's came in the paint, an advantage of 42-24 over the Dons…with the win, the Gaels now hold at least a two-game lead in the loss column over every team in the conference for second place in the WCC standings.  
UP NEXT
The week at home continues for Saint Mary's as they welcome in BYU for a Saturday night clash at 7:00 pm. The Gaels are looking for some payback on the Cougars, who took down SMC with a 52-43 final in the Gaels first WCC game of the season. Since then, the two teams have gone in opposite directions, as the Gaels won their next seven following that loss, while the Cougars eventually had a four-game losing streak overlap the winning streak by SMC. The game will be televised on ESPN2 with Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham on the call. Fans are encouraged to wear red to the game, as we "Paint Moraga Red" on Saturday night. Early arriving students will receive a red Gaels basketball t-shirt, courtesy of Bay Alarm.
 
#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