PORTLAND, Ore. — It's been a while since Saint Mary's Men's Basketball made the trek up to Portland to take on the Pilots – 2018 was the last time, as a matter of fact. Only Tommy Kuhse was on that team that won at the Chiles Center, but that lack of experience did not faze this group of Gaels. Saint Mary's extended their winning streak to six games by beating Portland 75-54 on Thursday night. Saint Mary's now sits at 18-4 (6-1) while Portland drops to 11-11 (2-5).
 
FOTU'S FORM
Dan Fotu was a monster to start the season, named to the All-Maui Invitational team and leading the Gaels in scoring for the first month of the season. He's been quiet since, but he came onto the scene in a big way on Thursday night. In his best game since December 11, Fotu got in the action early by knocking down a triple in his first shot attempt. That helped pave the way for a nine-point first half, which alone would be his best game since that December 11 win over UC Santa Barbara.
 
EBBS AND FLOWS
Saint Mary's led for most of the game, but after being up by 14 points midway through the first half, Portland closed it to a six-point game thanks to an 8-0 run. That six-point deficit stayed roughly around that margin until Saint Mary's began to get their three-point shot rolling again. Kyle Bowen opened up the second half by hitting a pair of threes, Tommy Kuhse nailed a long triple, and then Alex Ducas capped off an 11-0 run by hitting another three-pointer. That extended the Gaels lead to 14, and that flow was all SMC needed to find their stride and pull away in the second half, outscoring the Pilots by 15.
 
WHATEVER IT TAKES
There are so many different ways the Gaels have been winning games during their six-game winning streak, and that is part of what makes this team so dangerous. After only attempting nine three-pointers two games ago, that number went up to 19 against Pepperdine on Saturday, and then climbed up to 34 on Thursday (with 12 makes, both season-highs). Not only were they shooting a lot of threes, their defense was rock solid again on Thursday night, holding Portland to 40.4% shooting from the floor and just 2-7 from beyond the arc. What was more impressive, the Gaels defense clamped down to 34.8% shooting allowed and 1-4 from distance in the second stanza.
 
STAPLES OF A WIN
Logan Johnson continued to be a force defensively with three more steals on Thursday night, and he entered the game leading the WCC in steals (he also added a team-best 17 points) …that Saint Mary's defense forced Portland into 16 turnovers, the seventh time they've forced at least 15 in a game…after getting into foul trouble, Matthias Tass was not needed much in the second half, but finished with 12 points…only three times this season had Bowen scored at least 10 points in a game, and one of those nights came on Thursday, going for 11 points on 4-7 shooting, and 3-5 from beyond the arc...Ducas finished with five assists, a career-best.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's returns home on Saturday evening as the Gaels take on Loyola Marymount for the second time this season, and the first inside University Credit Union Pavilion. The Gaels took care of business against the Lions on the road in January, beating LMU by a final of 83-51 in Los Angeles. The Gaels will aim to keep their 13-game home winning streak intact with a 7:00 pm PT tip-off on CBS Sports Network. Chick Hernandez and Pete Gillen will be on the call, with Alex Jensen on SMC radio on The Varsity Network.
 
#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