SAN MATEO, Calif. — Just before the West Coast Conference Tournament, Saint Mary's Men's Basketball scored some big awards from the conference with their annual postseason awards. Randy Bennett was named the WCC's Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career, while Tommy Kuhse was named the WCC's Sixth Man of the Year. Saint Mary's also landed four total All-WCC players, their most since the 2016-17 season.
 
Bennett collects his fourth WCC Coach of the Year honors after what might be one of the best coaching jobs he has done in his Saint Mary's career. The Gaels were 14-10 and 4-6 in WCC play last year, with multiple COVID-19 pauses disrupting their season. With the entire roster back and three additional freshmen on the roster, he helped turn this Gaels team into an AP Top-25 program. The Gaels are 24-6 and finish WCC play with a 12-3 record, good for second place in the conference standings, and a No. 19 ranking in the latest AP Top-25 Poll.
 
The Gaels find themselves ranked among the NCAA leaders in several categories, including defensively, where SMC is ranked ninth in fewest points per game allowed (59.4) and they also rank inside the top-50 in free throw percentage and scoring margin. Of note, the Gaels beat No. 1 Gonzaga on February 26 to cap off a perfect 16-0 season at home, the first in Saint Mary's history. Their 18-game winning streak at home is tied for the second-longest in Gaels history, and is tied for the third-longest active streak in the NCAA.
 
Bennett is the fifth coach in WCC history to win this award at least four times, joining Phil Woolpert (1955-58), Jim Harrick (1982-83, 1985-86), Dick Davey (1993, 1995, 1997, 2007), and Mark Few (14x winner).
 
Tommy Kuhse is just second player to win the new Sixth Man of the Year award in the WCC, after it was created last season. Despite returning to the starting lineup late in conference play, few players had the impact that Kuhse has had in the Gaels success during WCC play, especially down the stretch. Over his last seven conference games, Kuhse scored at least 10 points in all of them, averaging 16.6 points per game. During that stretch, he was named the WCC's Player of the Week in the penultimate week fo the regular season after scoring 47 total points in Gaels wins over San Francisco and BYU.
 
Kuhse continued to be an all-around, versatile player for the Gaels, shooting 50.2% from the floor, 44.9% from beyond the arc (40-89), and 79.5% from the free throw line. He led the team in assists (108), finished fourth on the team in steals (27), and averaged 3.7 rebounds per game on the season. Kuhse joined the 1,000-point club at Saint Mary's in their home win over USF, and became the fourth-player in program history to score 1,000 points and record 400 assists.
 
The only other player in the West Coast Conference to win the award is current Gonzaga guard Andrew Nembhard, who won the award in its first season last year.
 
With the Sixth Man of the Year award, Kuhse was named First Team All-WCC in addition to senior center Matthias Tass, who takes home the award for the first time in his career. Tass was a huge driving force behind the early-season success for Saint Mary's, recording his first four collegiate double-doubles during the first five games of the WCC season. Tass ranks seventh in the WCC in field goal percentage, 11^th in rebounds per game, and inside the top-20 in points per game.
 
Two Gaels earned Second Team All-WCC honors, with Logan Johnson and Alex Ducas each taking home some postseason hardware. Johnson was named First Team All-WCC one season ago and backed up his Preseason All-WCC honors by making Second Team as a senior. Johnson won the WCC Player of the Week award twice and ranks third on the Gaels with 11.1 points per game, second in assists with 80, and is the WCC leader in steals with 63. Ducas is one of the best shooters in the conference, ranking ninth in three-pointers made, 14^th in three-point percentage, and set a career-best with 10.4 points per game.
 
WCC Player of the Year
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
 
WCC Defensive Player of the Year
Chet Holmgen, Gonzaga
 
WCC Newcomer of the Year
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga
 
WCC Sixth Man of the Year
Tommy Kuhse, Saint Mary's
 
WCC Coach of the Year
Randy Bennett, Saint Mary's
 
All-WCC First Team
Alex Barcello, BYU
Jamaree Bouyea, San Francisco
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga
Tommy Kuhse, Saint Mary's
Yauhen Massalski, San Francisco
Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga
Matthias Tass, Saint Mary's
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Josip Vrankic, Santa Clara
Jalen Williams, Santa Clara
 
All-WCC Second Team*
Alex Ducas, Saint Mary's
Logan Johnson, Saint Mary's
Keshawn Justice, Santa Clara
Tyler Robertson, Portland
Eli Scott, LMU
Khalil Shabazz, San Francisco
 
All-WCC Honorable Mention
Jeremiah Bailey, Pacific
Rasir Bolton, Gonzaga
Marcellus Earlington, San Diego
Julian Strawther, Gonzaga
Moses Wood, Portland
 
All-WCC Freshman Team*
Nolan Hickman, Gonzaga
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga
Maxwell Lewis, Pepperdine
Houston Mallette, Pepperdine
Wayne McKinney III, San Diego
Mike Mitchell Jr., Pepperdine
Fousseyni Traore, BYU
 
*additional members due to tie in voting
 
Saint Mary's begins their run towards the West Coast Conference championship on Monday, March 7 at 8:30 pm PT when they will play in the WCC Semifinals. Their opponent will be determined after play on Saturday night. If the best seeds were to win every game in the tournament through that point, the Gaels would wind up playing third-seeded Santa Clara. The game will be televised on ESPN2. The WCC Championship game is scheduled for 6:00 pm PT the following day (March 8) on ESPN.