MALIBU, Calif. — Saint Mary's Men's Basketball is fresh off of a Top-25 ranking and will put that to the test with a pair of West Coast Conference games. The Gaels open up the week with their second-consecutive road game, taking on the Pepperdine Waves, before returning home for their final matchup against Santa Clara in the regular season.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels (16-4, 5-0) at Pepperdine Waves (7-12, 0-5)
Thursday, January 19 at 8:00 pm
Firestone Fieldhouse – Malibu, Calif.
TV: ESPNU (Dave Flemming, Sean Farnham)
Audio: The Varsity Network (Alex Jensen)
Watch | Listen | Live Stats
 
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Santa Clara Broncos (15-5, 3-2)
Saturday, January 21 at 5:00 pm
University Credit Union Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
TV: NBC Sports Bay Area
Audio: The Varsity Network (Alex Jensen, Dave Lewis)
Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Get Tickets
 
LAST TIME OUT
Saint Mary's snagged a pair of conference wins last week, beating both Loyola Marymount and San Francisco by 14+ points. The road game against USF was particularly impressive, where the Gaels turned what was a close game into a 14-point halftime lead. SMC never led by less than 10 points in the second half to close out an impressive week, pushing their WCC record to 5-0. Guard play was strong last week, as both Logan Johnson (44 points) and Aidan Mahaney (46 points) were the leading scorers in both games. Johnson was named the WCC Player of the Week and Mahaney won his sixth WCC Freshman of the Week award.
 
BREAKING THROUGH
After the metrics have showed how good Saint Mary's Men's Basketball has been this season, the Gaels are getting some well-earned recognition. In Week 11 of the national polls, Saint Mary's finds themselves ranked No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, their first time cracking the top-25 this season. This gives the West Coast Conference two ranked teams, with Gonzaga at No. 6. In the AP Poll, the Gaels moved up to No. 27, just nine votes shy of breaking through into the Top-25.
 
ABOUT PEPPERDINE
What looked like might become a promising season for the Waves has taken a turn since WCC play began, as the Waves have lost six-straight, and five in conference play. Pepperdine's defense has been struggling, allowing 78.7 points per game, and a whopping 92.6 points per game in conference play. Opposing offenses are shooting 52.1% from the field, and that is a problem when you consider they are one of the fastest-tempo teams in the NCAA (11^th, according to KenPom). Maxwell Lewis is off to an All-WCC start in conference play, scoring 101 points in five conference games, while shooting 49.4% from the field.
 
ABOUT SANTA CLARA
As the Gaels saw just weeks ago, the Broncos are a formidable opponent that could wind up taking either third or fourth in the WCC this season. The Gaels beat the Broncos by three points on New Year's Eve, the last time that Saint Mary's has failed to score 70 points in a game. SCU also came a matter of minutes away from upsetting then-No. 9 Gonzaga, dropping the game 81-76 despite leading late in the game. The encouraging thing for Broncos fans is the youth leading the team, with sophomores Brandin Podziemski (18.7 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and Carlos Stewart (14.9 ppg) providing a bulk of the scoring. The Broncos will be good for a while.
 
VIEIRA FAMILY COURTYARD IS OPEN
The Vieira Family Courtyard is officially open, located adjacent to University Credit Union Pavilion. The courtyard will serve as an addition to the pavilion and offer an extended food, beverage and entertainment area for fans before and during basketball games.
 
Thanks to the generous support from Jim and Julie Vieira, the courtyard will now feature the Forge Pizza truck by Fourth Bore, food options from the Good Eating Company and beverages by Canyon Club Brewery and BLACKENED American Whiskey.
 
Fans can enter UCU Pavilion through the main entrance and enter the courtyard from the northeast and southeast side of the Pavilion. The courtyard will serve as an extended lobby for the pavilion. Pregame activities for all games start 90-minutes before tip-off.
 
DIGITAL GAMEDAY PROGRAM
All Saint Mary's Men's Basketball gameday programs will be virtual during the 2022-23 season, and the fourth edition can be found HERE. In it, fans will find information about various rankings and recent results, while looking ahead to the next five conference games for SMC.
 
2022-23 YEARBOOK
The 2022-23 Saint Mary's Basketball Yearbook is available HERE. This contains all of your information on both Saint Mary's basketball programs, coach and player profiles, as well as Saint Mary's, administration, and fan information.