Thursday, January 2
Moraga, CA
7:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
vs
Pepperdine
Mitchell Saxen ranks third in the country averaging 4.2 O-Reb./Game
Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
MBB | Gaels Ring in 2025 with Home Tilt Against Pepperdine, Hit the Road for Portland
1/1/2025 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MORAGA, Calif. — Conference play is firmly upon us, as Saint Mary's (11-3, 1-0 WCC) opened up WCC play last week with a victory over Pacific, and will hope to keep things rolling as they host Pepperdine (6-9, 0-2 WCC) on Thursday evening this week, before heading to Portland (5-10, 0-2 WCC) for their first conference road matchup of the season. Through week one of WCC play, five teams (Saint Mary's, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Francisco and Washington State) have reached double digit wins on the young season, as the WCC looks strong as ever, and the Gaels will need each and every win to vie for their third consecutive share of a WCC regular season title.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Pepperdine Waves
Thursday, January 2 at 7 PM
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
Saint Mary's Gaels at Portland Pilots
Saturday, January 4 at 7 PM
Chiles Center – Portland, Ore.
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
SO LONG TO AN INCREDIBLE 2024, CHEERS TO SUCCESS IN 2025
Saint Mary's enjoyed incredible success in the year 2024. From January 1, 2024 to December 21 2024, the Gaels amassed a record of 28-5. The Gaels opened the year with 15 straight wins, and rebounded from their first loss of the year by winning the WCC tournament, making it just the third time in program history that the Gaels had won both the WCC regular season and tournament titles (2012 and 1997). The supreme success to open the year resulted in the Gaels earning their third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid as a five seed, the first time in program history that the Gaels have made it to the Big Dance in three straight seasons. The momentum of the 2023-24 campaign rolled into 2024-25, with the Gaels winning their first seven consecutive games this season, with highlight victories over power four foes Nebraskas and USC. The Gaels would notch one more power four victory at Utah, and would close out the incredible year of 2024 with a conference opening W over Pacific. The 28-5 record is the best in any single year for Saint Mary's under the direction of Head Coach Randy Bennett.
RIPPING DOWN THE BOARDS
The Gaels once again are one of the best rebounding teams in the country, leading the WCC in rebounding margin, offensive rebounds per game and total rebounds per game, while ranking in the top-25 in the country in all of those stats. With all three starting forwards, Luke Barrett, Paulius Murauskas and Mitchell Saxen, averaging 7.4 rebounds per game or better, the Gaels have dominated on the glass this season. Individually, Saxen leads the WCC and ranks second in the country in offensive rebounding, while Murauskas and Saxen rank first and second respectively with seven and six double-doubles on the season due to their terrific rebounding.
ABOUT THE WAVES
After squaring off with one of the two WCC teams with a new head coach last week in the form of Pacific, the Gaels will get a shot at the other, as Pepperdine will be their next foe, led by first year head coach Ed Schilling. Coach Schilling spent six seasons at the helm of Wright State from 1997 to 2003, followed by 12 of the next 20 years as a Division I assistant at the likes of Memphis, UCLA, Indiana and, most recently, Grand Canyon. He has his Pepperdine squad off to a 6-9 start, and coming off of one of their best showings of the year in a narrow 89-82 loss to Gonzaga. The Waves offense has been very exciting of late, scoring at least 80 points in six of their last seven contests. A big reason as to why has been WCC leading scorer, Stefan Todorovic, who transferred to Pepperdine from San Francisco in the off season. The Belgrade, Serbia native is averaging nearly 20 points per contest while shooting 48% from the field and 38% from three. Also on this Pepperdine roster are one of the premiere point guards in the conference, Moe Odum (also an interconference transfer from Pacific), who ranks third in the country in assists, and, defensively, the WCC's standout shot blocker, Boubacar Coulibaly, who averaged 1.8 rejections per contest. The major achilles heel for the Waves is their lack of depth. They opened the season having terrific true freshman Jaxon Olvera as their sixth man off the bench, but have been without starting shooting guard Zion Bethea for the last three games. As such, Olvera has been starting, leaving the Waves without a true spark plug off the bench, as they are averaging just 16.7 points off the bench per game. The Gaels have drawn at least 15 fouls in each of their last 6 games, and if they can get the Waves in foul trouble, that could spell danger for the men of Pepperdine. All-time, Saint Mary's narrowly leads the series with the Waves 79-74, winning nine of their last ten meetings.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
The Portland Pilots head into one of their toughest weeks of the season, heading to Spokane to take on Gonzaga on Thursday before returning home to host the Gaels. Head Coach Shantay Legans, now in year four with the Pilots, picked up win number 50 of his tenure against Lafayette to close out non-conference play, but since has seen his squad drop their first two WCC tilts against Washington State and Oregon State, running their record to 5-10 for the year. The brightest spot on the Portland squad is true freshman Austin Rapp (younger brother of former Gaels women's basketball player Hannah Rapp) who has been prolific from beyond the arc, leading the WCC in three pointers made, attempted and percentage. Rapp is coming off of a career-high 22 points against Oregon State, earning him his second WCC Freshman of the Week honors, and will need to keep his positive momentum going this week against the Zags and Gaels. With Rapp leading the charge, Portland's offense has been solid, but there defense has struggled mightily this season, surrendering 79 points per game, and allowing teams to shoot 49% from the field and 37% from three. The Gaels lead the all-time series against the Pilots 74-30, with the last Portland victory coming all the way back in the WCC Tournament in 2015.
DON'T MISS OUT ON HOME MEN'S BASKETBALL ACTION. TICKETS ARE ON SALE HERE.
#GaelsRise
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Pepperdine Waves
Thursday, January 2 at 7 PM
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
Saint Mary's Gaels at Portland Pilots
Saturday, January 4 at 7 PM
Chiles Center – Portland, Ore.
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
SO LONG TO AN INCREDIBLE 2024, CHEERS TO SUCCESS IN 2025
Saint Mary's enjoyed incredible success in the year 2024. From January 1, 2024 to December 21 2024, the Gaels amassed a record of 28-5. The Gaels opened the year with 15 straight wins, and rebounded from their first loss of the year by winning the WCC tournament, making it just the third time in program history that the Gaels had won both the WCC regular season and tournament titles (2012 and 1997). The supreme success to open the year resulted in the Gaels earning their third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid as a five seed, the first time in program history that the Gaels have made it to the Big Dance in three straight seasons. The momentum of the 2023-24 campaign rolled into 2024-25, with the Gaels winning their first seven consecutive games this season, with highlight victories over power four foes Nebraskas and USC. The Gaels would notch one more power four victory at Utah, and would close out the incredible year of 2024 with a conference opening W over Pacific. The 28-5 record is the best in any single year for Saint Mary's under the direction of Head Coach Randy Bennett.
RIPPING DOWN THE BOARDS
The Gaels once again are one of the best rebounding teams in the country, leading the WCC in rebounding margin, offensive rebounds per game and total rebounds per game, while ranking in the top-25 in the country in all of those stats. With all three starting forwards, Luke Barrett, Paulius Murauskas and Mitchell Saxen, averaging 7.4 rebounds per game or better, the Gaels have dominated on the glass this season. Individually, Saxen leads the WCC and ranks second in the country in offensive rebounding, while Murauskas and Saxen rank first and second respectively with seven and six double-doubles on the season due to their terrific rebounding.
ABOUT THE WAVES
After squaring off with one of the two WCC teams with a new head coach last week in the form of Pacific, the Gaels will get a shot at the other, as Pepperdine will be their next foe, led by first year head coach Ed Schilling. Coach Schilling spent six seasons at the helm of Wright State from 1997 to 2003, followed by 12 of the next 20 years as a Division I assistant at the likes of Memphis, UCLA, Indiana and, most recently, Grand Canyon. He has his Pepperdine squad off to a 6-9 start, and coming off of one of their best showings of the year in a narrow 89-82 loss to Gonzaga. The Waves offense has been very exciting of late, scoring at least 80 points in six of their last seven contests. A big reason as to why has been WCC leading scorer, Stefan Todorovic, who transferred to Pepperdine from San Francisco in the off season. The Belgrade, Serbia native is averaging nearly 20 points per contest while shooting 48% from the field and 38% from three. Also on this Pepperdine roster are one of the premiere point guards in the conference, Moe Odum (also an interconference transfer from Pacific), who ranks third in the country in assists, and, defensively, the WCC's standout shot blocker, Boubacar Coulibaly, who averaged 1.8 rejections per contest. The major achilles heel for the Waves is their lack of depth. They opened the season having terrific true freshman Jaxon Olvera as their sixth man off the bench, but have been without starting shooting guard Zion Bethea for the last three games. As such, Olvera has been starting, leaving the Waves without a true spark plug off the bench, as they are averaging just 16.7 points off the bench per game. The Gaels have drawn at least 15 fouls in each of their last 6 games, and if they can get the Waves in foul trouble, that could spell danger for the men of Pepperdine. All-time, Saint Mary's narrowly leads the series with the Waves 79-74, winning nine of their last ten meetings.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
The Portland Pilots head into one of their toughest weeks of the season, heading to Spokane to take on Gonzaga on Thursday before returning home to host the Gaels. Head Coach Shantay Legans, now in year four with the Pilots, picked up win number 50 of his tenure against Lafayette to close out non-conference play, but since has seen his squad drop their first two WCC tilts against Washington State and Oregon State, running their record to 5-10 for the year. The brightest spot on the Portland squad is true freshman Austin Rapp (younger brother of former Gaels women's basketball player Hannah Rapp) who has been prolific from beyond the arc, leading the WCC in three pointers made, attempted and percentage. Rapp is coming off of a career-high 22 points against Oregon State, earning him his second WCC Freshman of the Week honors, and will need to keep his positive momentum going this week against the Zags and Gaels. With Rapp leading the charge, Portland's offense has been solid, but there defense has struggled mightily this season, surrendering 79 points per game, and allowing teams to shoot 49% from the field and 37% from three. The Gaels lead the all-time series against the Pilots 74-30, with the last Portland victory coming all the way back in the WCC Tournament in 2015.
DON'T MISS OUT ON HOME MEN'S BASKETBALL ACTION. TICKETS ARE ON SALE HERE.
#GaelsRise
Players Mentioned
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