ATLANTA — Saint Mary's men's basketball head coach Randy Bennett continues to be one of the best coaches in college basketball, and his efforts are getting recognized on a national level. On Friday, he was named to the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List. Bennett is one of 15 head coaches chosen for this prestigious list.
 
With just three games remaining in the regular season, Bennett has the Gaels in position to win at least a share of their first West Coast Conference regular season championship since the 2015-16 season. The Gaels are one game up over Gonzaga, with the final game of the regular season lining up to be the game that determines whether it's an SMC title or a shared title. Saint Mary's last won the regular season championship outright during the 2011-12 season.
 
Last season was a special one for the Gaels all-around, and this year is shaping up to potentially be even better, according to the metrics. Saint Mary's is No. 6 in the NCAA NET Rankings, and No. 7 according to KenPom, both the best rankings that Saint Mary's has ever held in either metric. They've been residing in the top-10 in both since the turn of the new year, and have been leading the WCC ever since.
 
Defense has always been a staple of Saint Mary's teams, and that is once again the case during the 2022-23 season. SMC ranks fourth in the country in scoring defense, and is the fourth-best rebounding team in the NCAA in terms of rebound margin. They were the last team in the NCAA to allow a team to score more than 70 points in game, going the first 25 games without allowing a team to cross the 70-points scored threshold.
 
This season, Randy Bennett won his 500^th career game, all at Saint Mary's, and is the 25^th coach all-time to reach 500 wins with one program. He has taken the Gaels to 15-straight postseason appearances, with seven of those being NCAA Tournament appearances, including the program's lone Sweet 16 appearance in 2010. Last year, the Gaels were a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the best seed the program has ever received.
 
Saint Mary's is back home on Saturday for Paint Moraga Red Night, presented by Bay Alarm, as SMC hosts BYU. The first 500 students in attendance will receive a red Gaels Basketball t-shirt. The matchup will be televised on ESPN2, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 pm.
 
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