MORAGA, Calif. — With wins on the road earlier this season at San Francisco and Gonzaga, the Gaels (22-6, 13-0 WCC) gave themselves the inside track at a regular season WCC title and the number one seed at the WCC tournament, but there is still work to be done. That said, the Gaels cleared one of their final major hurdles, edging out the San Francisco Dons (21-7, 10-3 WCC) inside UCU Pavilion, 70-66. The win tied the program record for consecutive conference wins, set back in the 2017-18 season, and gave the Gaels a NCAA leading 14th consecutive victory overall.
The physical, grind-it-out game began with the Dons taking an early 9-6 lead, in the first four minutes and change, but the Gaels responded by seizing momentum with a 7-2 run, regaining the lead at 13-11, a lead they would not relinquish throughout the remainder of the first half. Alex Ducas led the Gaels in the first frame with 10 points and five rebounds, while Mitchell Saxen finished the frame with six points and nine rebounds, three less than the entire USF squad in the period.
The Gaels would hold the lead for the first 8:24 of the second half, before the Dons were finally able to pull back in front at 46-45. This prompted a back and forth battle over the ensuing possessions, but San Francisco seemed to take the air out of the gym when the Dons took their first two possession lead of the game at 58-54 following a stretch of four missed Gael free throws. Saint Mary's, however, would turn to their upperclassmen leaders to claw back into things. Alex Ducas got hacked and knocked down both of his free throw attempts to cut the deficit to two. The Gaels picked up a stop on the ensuing possession before Mitchell Saxen caught the ball in the post, spun left, worked back right, and finished a tough layup through contact to knot things up and earn a trip to the line. He drilled the free throw to give the Gaels a lead that they would not surrender for the final 4:28. Saxen scored 14 points in the second half, and was a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe. Aidan Mahaney added 10 second half points on four of five shooting, including a massive three following the aforementioned Saxen and push the Gaels ahead by two possessions down the stretch. Saint Mary's shot 55% from the field in the second half, and earned 22 free throw attempts to the Dons six in the frame.
Mitchell Saxen led the Gaels with 20 points, his third 20+ point scoring effort of the season and fourth of his career. His 20 points were accompanied by 13 boards, for his first double-double of conference play. Alex Ducas added 18 points and six rebounds, while Aidan Mahaney chipped in 12 points and four boards. Augustas Marciulionis played the full 40 minutes, and while his scoring totals weren't as high as Gaels fans have become accustomed to seeing this season, he still provided quality point guard play with a team-high four assists and just one turnover to go along with six points. Saint Mary's scored nearly half of their points in the paint, and outrebounded the Dons by 13.
GAELS WIN FRONTCOURT CLASH
Mitchell Saxen and Jonathan Mogbo have proven to be two of the best rebounding, scoring big men in the WCC. On top of this Mason Forbes and Ndewedo Newbury have served as excellent compliments to Saxen and Mogbo respectively. Tonight, this battle of heavyweights went the way of the Gaels. Led by Saxen's 20, the Gaels frontcourt players (Saxen, Forbes, and Harry Wessels) combined for 30 points and 15 rebounds, while the Dons frontcourt (Mogbo, Newbury and Volodymyr Markovetskyy) were limited to just nine points and 10 boards. As a team Saint Mary's outscored the Dons 34-24 in the paint and 13-0 in second chance scoring opportunities. The Gaels also outrebounded the Dons 36-23.
GETTING TO THE STRIPE
Saint Mary's was fouled 23 times in this contest, a staple of their physical style of basketball. Mitchell Saxen alone was hacked nine times, while Alex Ducas was fouled four times. This led to 32 free throw attempts for the Gaels, their second highest total this season, after shooting 39 against Santa Clara three weeks ago. While the Gaels would like to convert at a higher clip than 69% (22-32), those 22 points were a huge reason as to why the Gaels were able to earn this victory against a very tough opponent. Saxen converted 8-10 free throw attempts, while Alex Ducas went 5-6 and Luke Barrett went 4-5. Harry Wessels was the only Gael to have a perfect clip at the charity stripe, converted on both of his freebie attempts.
TALKING STREAKS
This victory was the Gaels 14th consecutive win, which, paired with UConn's loss to Creighton, means the Gaels have the longest active winning streak in the nation. 14 consecutive wins marks the third longest winning streak in program history overall, with the Gaels winning 14 in a row in 2008-09 and a program record 19 in a row in 2017-18. The win also marked their 13th consecutive conference win, matching the program record of 13 WCC wins in a row back in 2017-18. The Gaels also continued their streak of consecutive games with less than 10 turnovers, which has now reached eight in a row. The Gaels previous best dating back to 2009-10 was five in a row with less than 10 turnovers.
UP NEXT
The Gaels will have a few days to rest up before taking on San Diego on Saturday. Tip off is set for 7 PM on February 24. If the Gaels win, they would clinch a part of the 2024 WCC Regular Season title, but their sights are set on winning the conference outright.
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