Notes on Saint Mary's 71-51 thrashing of USF on Thursday night and a look ahead to the Gaels' game at Washington State on Saturday …
 
As of Friday morning, the West Coast Conference boasted six teams in the top 86 of the NET rankings: Gonzaga (19), Saint Mary's (25), Santa Clara (56), Oregon State (60), San Francisco (72) and Washington State (86).
 
Before the Gaels (17-3, 7-0) took on USF on Thursday night in Moraga, they had built a 6-0 conference record against teams in the bottom half of the standings. In their first game against one of the upper-echelon teams, the Gaels put together an upper-echelon performance.
 
Consider:
1)   After Paulius Murauskas' bucket gave SMC a 19-17 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the first half, the Gaels were in front the rest of the night.
2)   The Gaels went 32-for-52 from the floor for a season-high 61.5% and outrebounded the Dons 37-25. As of Friday morning, SMC ranked second in the nation in average rebounding margin (plus-11.3) behind only Idaho State (11.5).
3)  Perhaps most impressive for the Gaels was their defense against a high-scoring USF team. Not only were the 51 points the fewest the Dons have scored this season, but they went 14-for-52 (26.9%) from the floor, including 6-for-27 (22.2%) from beyond the arc. They missed all 10 of their second-half 3-point tries. USF came into Thursday hitting 47.2% from the floor and 35.7% from long range.
 
"We pride ourselves on being pretty consistent defensively and on the boards," Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett said in his postgame news conference.
Center Mitchell Saxen, who contributed 14 points and five assists, said he was proud of "our competitiveness, top to bottom. Our guards did a great job defending. I don't know if anyone's defended (Malik) Thomas that well."
Thomas entered Thursday leading the conference in scoring at 20.4 points per game. He was hitting on 49.5% from the field, including 41.7% from long range. His numbers against the Gaels: 8 points, 1-for-12 from the floor, including 0-for-5 on 3-point attempts.
 
Murauskas thrives: The sophomore forward from Lithuania hadn't scored more than 11 points in the Gaels' previous seven games before pouring in a game-high 24 Thursday. He took advantage of size mismatches to muscle his way inside as he went 10-for-14 from the floor.
Murauskas "has really got a good feel offensively on how to make baskets," Bennett said, noting that Murauskas benefited a couple of times from passes by Saxen from the high post. Murauskas "has been struggling a little lately, hasn't been shooting good percentages. Tonight, he did."
The 24 points were the second most Murauskas has scored this season; he had a career-high 29 in the Gaels' 72-63 win at Utah on Dec. 7.
 
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie: Much of the success Bennett and the Gaels have enjoyed for the past two-plus decades has derived from the Australian pipeline to Moraga. Notable Aussies in the program include Daniel Kickert, Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, Jock Landale and Alex Ducas.
 
The Australian presence isn't quite as strong on this season's team. Thursday was Australian Heritage Night at UCU Pavilion, but no Aussie had scored for SMC until junior center Harry Wessels threw down a fast-break dunk off a feed from Cade Bennett with four minutes remaining.
 
Wessels "got one loud" bucket, Bennett said. "He's a good finisher on those transitions." Wessels had four points and three rebounds. The only other Aussie on the Gaels' active roster, Joshua Dent, did not attempt a shot in his five minutes on the court.
 
WSU update: The Cougars (15-6, 5-3) fell 93-65 at Santa Clara on Thursday night even though sophomore forward LeJuan Watts put together the second triple-double in program history.
The 6-foot-6 transfer from Eastern Washington had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Watts did commit six of the Cougars' 17 turnovers as the Broncos owned a 28-9 edge in points off turnovers.
WSU ranks third in the WCC in field-goal percentage at 49.2, just behind Oregon State (49.5) and Gonzaga (49.3). The Cougars are second in the conference in 3-point field-goal percentage at 36.2; OSU leads at 39.1.
"They can really shoot," Bennett said of the Cougars. "They're good offensively."
 
Series history: The Gaels and Cougars have split their two meetings. WSU prevailed 84-79 in the more recent game, played at Fullerton on Nov. 24, 2017.
The first matchup came in the 2009 NIT when Saint Mary's grabbed a 68-57 victory in Moraga. Mills scored a game-high 27 points and Diamon Simpson had a double-double with 18 points and 11 boards. The Gaels held a freshman named Klay Thompson to seven points on 2-for-11 shooting.

NOTE: Steve Kroner has covered Bay Area sports for more than four decades, mainly for KPIX-TV and the San Francisco Chronicle. He has begun working alongside Brian Brownfield on the Gaels' men's basketball telecasts on ESPN+.