SANTA, CLARA, Calif. — Playing on Tuesday for the first time since December 14, No. 22 Saint Mary's Men's Basketball made the short trip to Santa Clara for a date with the feisty Broncos. An important game for both teams, the Broncos were knocking down almost any shots they wanted as they took down Saint Mary's in a midweek upset in the WCC. The Broncos were victorious by a final of 77-72, dropping the Gaels to 19-5 (7-2) while the Broncos climb to 17-8 (7-3).
 
SHUFFLING AROUND
Saint Mary's rolled out a much different alignment in the first half compared to game's past, some due to game flow and some due to foul trouble. Mitchell Saxen played a big role in the first half, coming off the bench in place of Matthias Tass, who picked up some early fouls. Saxen played 14 minutes in the first half (a season-high for an entire game), and scored seven points while grabbing three rebounds. The only Gael to play the entire first half was Alex Ducas, and it led to 17 first-half bench points for the Gaels. Still, SMC shot 48.1% from the floor in the first half and 5-9 from beyond the arc.
 
STAMPEDE
Saint Mary's has been one of the top-10 teams in the NCAA all season long when it comes to second-half scoring margin, outscoring opponents by 180 points in the second half entering Tuesday's game. The Broncos were the ones dictating the tempo coming out of the break, however, as they went on a quick 19-9 run to take a 56-46 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining. Ducas had five of those points for Saint Mary's, but during that stretch, the Broncos were 8-13 from the floor and 3-5 from beyond the arc.
 
AMONG OTHER NUMBERS
After trailing by as many as 12 points midway through the second half, the Gaels clawed back into the game and trailed by as few as two points…normally a strong team down low, the Gaels were outscored 46-36 in the paint…Tommy Kuhse continued to play well off the bench for SMC, leading the team with 16 points and six assists, his seventh 10+-point game since moving to the bench…Saint Mary's had a streak of 26-straight made free throws snapped in the second half.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's returns home on Thursday night for their second game of what is an extremely busy week. The Gaels welcome in San Diego for the first of two matchups against the Toreros down the stretch. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm on NBC Sports California, with Alex Jensen and Dave Lewis providing an audio-only broadcast on The Varsity Network. All four home games remaining are massive in terms of WCC Tournament seeding, as the Gaels will see the Toreros, USF, BYU, and Gonzaga at home in the final three weeks of the season.
 
#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