MORAGA, Calif. — The Saint Mary's Gaels (2-0) are off to a strong start winning their first contests against a pair of strong mid-majors in the forms of Towson and Chattanooga. The road, however, will not get any easier for the Gaels this week, as they host defending MAC Tournament Champions Akron (1-1), before heading to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for their first contest away from UCU Pavilion, taking on Nebraska (2-0). Both Akron and Nebraska were NCAA Tournament teams a year ago, but roll out rather different looking squads this season, due to graduation and the transfer portal impact.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Akron Zips
Tuesday, November 12 at 7:00 PM
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
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Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Sunday, November 17 at 12:00 PM CST/10:00 AM PST
Sanford Pentagon – Sioux Falls, S.D.
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LANDALE-NAAR 2.0?
Through their first two games of the year, the Lithuanian duo of Augustas Marciulionis and Paulius Murauskas have been special. Not only have they combined for 46% of Saint Mary's scoring this season, but they also have led the Gaels in assists and rebounding respectively. These two bring memories of another great international countryman duo from just a few years back; Jock Landale and Emmett Naar. In 2017-18, Naar and Landale combined for roughly 40% of Saint Mary's scoring in 36 contests, with Landale ripping down the third most rebounds in a single season in program history, and Naar dishing out the most assists in a single season in program history. That season with Landale and Naar saw the Gaels win 30 games. Saint Mary's will hope to replicate that again with Marciulionis and Murauskas.
FREE THROW FRENZY
Saint Mary's has earned 61 trips to the free throw line through their first two contests of the season, and has converted on 46 of them, good for a 75.4% clip. Their free throw made and attempted numbers both rank in the top-30 in college basketball. Leading the way here is Augustas Marciulionis, converting on 11 of his first 12 trips, followed closely by Paulius Murauskas, who has drained nine of his first 11. Mikey Lewis, Jordan Ross and Luke Barrett have all also been to the stripe at least eight times this year. The last time the Gaels shot 60 or more free throws over a two game span was back in 2020, when the Gaels shot 65 against Pacific and BYU, but did that with five combined overtimes between those two games.
ABOUT THE ZIPS
Defending 2024 MAC Tournament Champions Akron come into their matchup with the Gaels with a 1-1 record, dropping their opener at Arkansas State in overtime, 80-75, before downing Division III Ohio Wesleyan, 88-57. Head Coach John Groce, now in year eight at the helm of the Zips, and is one of the most well respected coaches in the Mac, having not only won the conference three times at Akron, but also twice at Ohio. He has 321 wins in his three Head Coaching stops (Ohio, Illinois, Akron), eight 20+ win seasons and five trips to the Big Dance. This Akron squad looks very different from their 24-11 squad from a season ago, as they lost defending MAC Player of the Year Enrique Freeman to the NBA as well as 2023-24 first team All-MAC honoree Ali Ali and 2023-24 MAC All-Defensive team selectee Greg Tribble to graduation. The lone returning starter for Coach Groce is redshirt junior guard Nate Johnson. Johnson made a solid jump from his freshman campaign, in which he played as a sixth man, to his sophomore year in which he started 21 of 24 contests. The Akron faithful will Johnson takes another leap in this, his junior season, in which he will become the Zips "go-to guy". Johnson will be joined by a bevy of returners taking on bigger roles and newcomers this season, headlined by true freshman leading scorer Sharron Young. Coming off the bench in each of his first two collegiate contests, Young has scored 28 points, and has shot a staggering 73% from the field and 60% from three. Followers of Young's career should not be surprised, as he graduated from Morgantown (WV) HS as the all-time leading score, breaking a nearly 70 year old record, while leading his team to three straight state titles. Led by Young and Ohio State transfer Bowen Hardman, this Akron squad shoots (and converts) at high clip from beyond the arc, ranking 13th in the country in three point attempts per game, and 20th in three point field goals made per contest. They also value and distribute the ball extremely well, averaging 23.5 assists per game and a 1.88 assist to turnover. The key statline for Gaels fans to keep an eye on, however is the fact that Akron is only committing 12 fouls per contest on average, while the Gaels have scored over a quarter of their points from the free throw line this year. The Gaels and Zips are 1-1 all-time against one another, with Akron winning the inaugural matchup in 1973 in Ohio, and the Gaels winning their latest contest 85-63 in Moraga back in 2013.
ABOUT THE CORNHUSKERS
Nebraska will be Saint Mary's first of at least three "Power-Four" matchups this season, and comes into this week with a 2-0 record and have a contest on Wednesday hosting FDU before heading to Sioux Falls for their date with the Gaels. Head Coach Fred Hoiberg returned to the college coaching ranks at Nebraska in 2019 after a four year stint as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, and has seen his team go from just seven wins in years one and two at the helm, to a 23-11 side last year with a berth to the NCAA Tournament, earning him Co-Big 10 Coach of the Year honors. After taking Nebraska to their first Big Dance since 2014, Coach Hoiberg will hope not to just get back there in 2025, but also will look to lead the Cornhuskers to their first ever NCAA Tournament win in program history, as the team has never made it out of the opening round. All-Big 10 guard Keisei Tominaga headlined a group of three departing starters from last year's squad. All-Conference big man Rienk Mast returns for the Huskers, but hasn't appeared in a game yet this season. Without those four from last year, Nebraska has walked out an imposing starting lineup that features returning starter Brice Williams, last year's sixth man, Juwan Gary, and transfers Rollie Worster (Utah), Berke Buyuktuncel (UCLA) and Braxton Meah (Washington), with an average height of 6-8.2. Williams, now in his second year with Coach Hoiberg after transferring in from Charlotte, has opened the season with the hot hand for Nebraska, averaging 18.5 points per game, while Worster and Gary each have also averaged double-digit scoring through the first two contests. Like the Gaels, Nebraska has been a frequent visitor to the free throw line this season, averaging 30.5 free throw attempts per game, and 23 free throws made per contest. Their length also makes them a pestering defense, forcing 21 turnovers per game. This will be the third all-time meeting between the Gaels and Nebraska, and the first in 50 years. The Gaels took the first ever meeting in 1946, with the Huskers returning the favor in 1975.
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