MORAGA, Calif. — The Saint Mary's Gaels are off to a 4-0 start, including a signature win against Power-Four foe Nebraska last week in Sioux Falls. The Gaels will now return to their home court, and will take on a couple of more local foes, as both Division II Stanislaus State (3-1) and Cal Poly (3-2) come to town to test Saint Mary's perfect early season record. The Gaels saw Stanislaus State in last year's season opener, while Cal Poly will renew hostilities with the Gaels for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Stanislaus State Warriors
Wednesday, November 20 at 7 PM
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
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Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Cal Poly Mustangs
Saturday, November 23 at 5 PM
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
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A POWER WIN
Saint Mary's victory over Nebraska this past Sunday marked their first "Power Four" victory since the 2022-23 campaign. The Gaels led for 33 of the 40 minutes against the Huskers, leading by as many as 14 and never trailing by more than five. Mikey Lewis headlined a group of four double-digit scorers with a career-high 23 points, while Mitchell Saxen went for a 12 point, 12 rebound double-double, his second in as many contests. Saint Mary's was in control for a majority of the game due to winning the turnover battle, as they forced 15 Nebraska turnovers to just nine given up, and scored 21 points off of those turnovers to the Cornhuskers 11. The Gaels last win over a Power Four (then Power Five) opponent was in 2022 when they defeated Vanderbilt in the Paycom Wooden Legacy. The Gaels last win against a Big10 opponent was in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, when they defeated Indiana in the opening round. Saint Mary's will take on at least two more Power Four Opponents, seeing USC and Utah (and potentially Arizona State) later this season. The last time the Gaels defeated multiple Power Four opponents in the same season came in 2021-22 when they beat Notre Dame, Oregon and Indiana.
WITH HIS NEXT BUCKET…
Whether that is a free throw, layup, mid-range jumper, or even his second career three pointer, Mitchell Saxen will reach the 1000 point mark, making him the 40th ever Gael to hit this number. The last Gael to reach 1000 points was Alex Ducas, who did it in the Gaels opening round win of the 2023 NCAA Tournament against VCU.
FRESHMAN PHENOM
With his fourth consecutive double-digit scoring output in as many games, Mikey Lewis joined Matthew Dellavedova as the only other true freshman to score in double-figures in each of his first four games as a Gael. If he can get to double-digits against Stanislaus State, he would be the only true freshman to go five for five in his first five games with double-digit scoring outputs in the Bennett era at Saint Mary's. His 65 points scored already rank him in the top-30 for freshman points scored in a single season under Bennett. While it's still early, Lewis is on pace to be the first ever freshman to score 500 points in a single season in Saint Mary's history. Only Aidan Mahaney, Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova have surpassed 400 points in their freshman campaigns.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS
Stanislaus State has gotten off to a strong start in the Division II ranks, going 3-1 in opening season neutral site tournaments hosted by Cal State East Bay and Sonoma State. Their lone loss came at the hands of a Point Loma Nazarene squad that is receiving national votes in the division II polls, but only bested the Warriors by seven points. Paul Trevor is in his eighth season at the helm for Stanislaus, and is making his third trip to Moraga in that time. Coach Trevor returns three starters from last year's squad that won just eight games, but lost his two leading scorers from a year ago, guards John Wade III and Dontrell Hewlett, to the portal. That duo accounted for nearly 40% of the Warriors' scoring last season, so Coach Trevor has retooled his offense around fourth year player and last year's sixth man Jeremiah Jones. Jones has answered the bell to the tune of nearly 20 points per contest through the first four games of the season, shooting a stellar 63% clip and leading the team with 10 assists. The Warriors' biggest asset has been their ability to possess the ball, as their 8.3 turnovers per game ranks fourth in the DII ranks, while their turnover margin of 6.8 ranks 20th. The Gaels and Warriors have squared off six times, with Saint Mary's winning all of the previous meetings. In their last meeting, Saint Mary's set its program record for largest margin of victory in a game, defeating the Warriors by 79 points, 107-28. This will be an exhibition for Stanislaus, but will be a countable game for the Gaels.
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
After an 0-2 start, Cal Poly has turned things around with three consecutive wins. Under the tutelage of first year Head Coach Mike DeGeorge, the Mustangs are just one win away from matching last season's total. This comes as no surprise to DeGeorge, who was hired as a proven winner at the Division II level, taking Colorado Mesa to five NCAA DII Tournaments in six years at the helm. DeGeorge has tooled with his lineup a bit this season, going with four different starting fives in his first five contests, but no matter which group he has walked out, the most consistent trend for this Cal Poly squad, is their scoring distributions, with four players averaging double-figures, and a fifth averaging just north of 9 PPG. Wings Owen Koonce and Isaac Jessup, both who followed Coach DeGeorge from Colorado Mesa to Cal Poly, lead the Mustangs, averaging 14.0 points per game, while one of the few returners to this Cal Poly squad, Jarred Hyder, is averaging 13.2 points per game. Like most of the undersized teams that the Gaels have played this year, Cal Poly will look to hoist a lot of threes, averaging 29.6 attempts and 10.2 makes from beyond the arc this season. Their biggest weakness has been their proneness to turnovers, as their 18.6 turnovers per game ranks bottom three in the nation. This meeting marks the 17th all-time matchup between the Gaels and Mustangs, with the Gaels winning each of their last six meetings dating back to 2009.
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