SAN DIEGO — WCC play got underway Thursday evening, as the Gaels (10-6, 1-0 WCC) hit the road south to take on the San Diego Toreros (10-6, 0-1 WCC). In a contest in which the Toreros threw everything they had at the Gaels offensively, it was Saint Mary's who prevailed, 81-70, leading wire to wire. The win was Saint Mary's 19th consecutive victory over San Diego.

The Gaels never trailed in the first half, but the pesky Toreros, led by a 23 point first half from Deuce Turner, never let Saint Mary's get comfortable. The Gaels opened the game on a 17-6 run, before the Toreros sparked a 14-4 run of their own to cut the deficit to one. Timely threes from Aidan Mahaney and Augustas Marciulionis kept San Diego from taking a lead, but they still managed to keep the deficit to just five heading into the halftime break, 41-36. Both teams shot better than 50% from the field and better than 45% from three, but the primary factor that kept the Gaels in front was their ability to force and score off turnovers, forcing 11 in the first half, and scoring 15 points off of those turnovers. Aidan Mahaney scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting to go along with five assists in the first half, while Luke Barrett also chipped in 11 on 3-5 shooting and three boards. 

The second half mirrored the first in that the Gaels extended their lead early, but the Toreros surged late to keep things interesting. Joshua Jefferson scored six of the first eight Gaels points in the half, and Saint Mary's was off and running, leading 49-39. That lead would be extended out to 19 at 71-52 with eight minutes to go, but again, San Diego refused to go quietly into the night, going on an 18-8 run to bring the deficit back to nine with a minute to go. It was not enough, however, as the Gaels combination of streaky shooting and stifling defense kept them ahead for the entire contest. Aidan Mahaney continued his stellar play in the second half, adding 14 more points and never leaving the floor in this one. Augustus Marciulionis also had a big second half for the Gaels with nine points and seven assists.

The Gaels had four scorers in double figures, led by Mahaney, who dropped a career-high tying 25 points on 8-11 shooting to go along with six assists and just one turnover. Augustas Marciulionis had 16 points and 10 assists for his first career double-double, while Luke Barrett and Mitchell Saxen each added 14. Barrett was also the Gaels leading rebounder, with seven boards on the evening. It was the Gaels fourth time surpassing the 80 point mark this season, their fourth time surpassing 20 assists in a contest, and their third time with double-digit made threes in a game. The team also hit a season-best mark with 13 steals. 

BACK TO HIS OLD WAYS
Aidan Mahaney looked in full form as the Gaels opened WCC play. The sophomore matched his career-high of 25 points for the second time this season and fourth time in his career. His 25 points tonight were scored extremely efficiently, on just 11 shots. As if his scoring output wasn't enough, Aidan also tallied a career-high six assists and turned the basketball over just once. A pestering gap defender as well, Aidan came up with three steals, one shy of tonight's leader steals leader, Alex Ducas. If Aidan continues to play the way he did tonight throughout all of WCC play, he will certainly be in the mix for WCC Player of the Year. 

SHARING THE BASKETBALL
For the fourth time this season, the Gaels dished out 20+ assists as a team. Leading the way was Augustas Marciulionis, who had a career-high 10 to go along with 16 points for his first career double-double. The last Gael to record a point/assist double-double was Tommy Kuhse in the 2021 NIT against Western Kentucky. Aidan Mahaney added six more dimes, while five other Gaels each recorded one. The Gaels are 4-0 when surpassing 20 assists this season, after not surpassing 20 assists in a single game last season. 

MAKING 'EM PAY FOR THE MISTAKES
The Gaels forced San Diego into 18 turnovers, scoring 27 points off of those turnovers. 12 of those turnovers were caused by steals, 11 of which were forced by the starting backcourt trio of Ducas, Marciulionis and Mahaney. Despite all of the steals, the Gaels did not allow them to dictate their pace of play, continuing to run their offense, rather than running out of control off of the turnovers. This was what led to their high conversion rate of points off of turnovers. 

UP NEXT
The Gaels will take the short trip north to Los Angeles to take on LMU on Saturday. Tip off is set for 6 PM. 

DON'T MISS OUT ON HOME MEN'S BASKETBALL ACTION. TICKETS ARE ON SALE HERE. 

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