PULLMAN, Wash. — The gauntlet wears on for Saint Mary's (18-3, 8-0 WCC) as they were pushed to the brink at Beasley Coliseum against Washington State (15-7, 5-4 WCC), and weathered the Cougs' scoring barrage to win 80-75. The win was the Gaels 14th consecutive on the road, as they continue to hold the longest road winning streak in the NCAA.
Down 12-3 early, the Gaels were able to come storming back, never letting the Cougars balloon the lead to double digits in the opening frame. With 16 seconds remaining in the first half, Paulius Murauskas hit a layup to bring the Gaels within one, but a Washington State bucket at the horn would give them a three point lead, 38-35 at the half. Paulius Murauskas led the Gaels with 12 points and eight rebounds in the first half, while Jordan Ross chipped in nine and three assists. Both teams shot extremely well in the first half, with the Gaels shooting at 58.3% and the Cougs at 61.5%. The difference in the game was turnovers at the halftime break, as the Gaels coughed the ball up 10 times resulting in eight WSU points.
Similar to the first half, the Cougs started the second half on the front foot as well, using an 11-4 scoring run to go ahead by double-digits for the first time in the game. Unfazed, the Gaels continued to chip away at the deficit, patiently running their offense, taking care of the basketball, and generating good looks from their posts on the interior, while not giving Washington State much room to operate. They took their first lead of the game at 55-54 as part of a 20-5 run over, and would not relinquish it for the remainder of the contest. A Mitchell Saxen block of an Ethan Price three with 36 seconds remaining, along with excellent free throw shooting would seal the deal as the Gaels polished off the come from behind 80-75 victory. Paulius Murauskas continued to be a one man wrecking crew offensively, with 13 more points in the second half. Augustus Marciulionis added 12 and four assists, while Mitchell Saxen chipped in 10 and four rebounds, including three massive offensive boards. After 10 first half turnovers, the Gaels turned it over just twice in the second half, and held the Cougars scoreless off of those turnovers.
Following a 24 point performance on Thursday night vs San Francisco, Paulius Murauskas went for 25 against the Cougs, while also adding 12 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. His fellow countryman, Augustas Marciulionis was not far behind with 17 points and seven assists. Jordan Ross chipped in 13, while Mitchell Saxen scored 12 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks, including the block that essentially ended the game with 36 second remaining.
A TALE OF TWO HALVES
The difference between the Gaels first and second half performances were night and day in this one, as their halftime adjustments were what helped them turn a nine point first half deficit (and a 10 point deficit early in the second half) into a five point victory. In the first half, the most glaring stat for the Gaels was their turnover number. The Gaels coughed it up 10 times, after going seven straight contests with single digit turnovers. This led to eight Washington State points off of those turnovers. The Gaels were also outscored in the paint in the first half, 26-20, an area where they were averaging a +10.8 scoring margin per game coming into this one. Saint Mary's got back to their steadfast, imposing style of basketball in the second half. The Gaels limited themselves to just two giveaways in half two, and none in the final nine minutes of play. Even more impressive, Saint Mary's did not allow Washington State to score on either of those turnovers, outscoring the Cougs 8-0 off turnovers in the second half. Points in the paint changed in a big way in the second half too, as the Gaels dropped 22 in close in the second half and limited WSU to just 10, winning the overall paint battle 42-36 for the game. Once again, the Gaels scored more than 50% of their points in the paint, as nobody has had an answer on the interior for this SMC squad. The biggest stretch of the game for the Gaels, came over a near eight minute stretch from the 15:24 mark to the 7:36 mark, when Saint Mary's turned a 49-39 deficit into a 62-56 lead, a 23-7 run in which the Gaels took a lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest.
THE LITHUANIAN LEADERS
For just the third time this season and the first time in WCC play, the Lithuanian duo of Paulius Murauskas and Augustas Marciulionis served as the Gaels top two scorers in a contest. Murauskas, who hit a brief scoring lull at the start of conference play, averaging just 8.8 points per game through the first six WCC matchups of the year, notched his second straight 20+ point outing, dropping 25 on the Palouse tonight. Murauskas also ripped down 12 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the year, and his first since January 2 against Pepperdine. Marciulionis broke out of a small scoring coldspell himself. The defending WCC Player of the Year had been limited to just 8.3 PPG over his last three, but dropped 17 for the Gaels tonight and dished out seven assists, his most since the conference opener against Pacific. This explosive duo continue to be the Gaels top two scorers, accounting for 35% of Saint Mary's scoring this season, while leading the team in rebounds (Murauskas) and assists (Marciulionis). They continue to draw comparisons to another legendary dynamic Gael duo hailing from outside the US, as Jock Landale and Emmett Naar put up a similar style numbers in the 2017-18 season, leading the Gaels to their only 30 win season in program history.
POSTGAME CHATS
"We work on rebounding every day in practice. Our habits are insane, and rebounding, it's a collective effort. Luke Barrett is probably the best offensive rebounding three man in the country in my opinion and Paulius Murauskas is a force on the boards, and it all just comes together every game." – Mitchell Saxen on leading the Gaels in tonight and the country in offensive rebounding
"I'm really proud of our guys, and you need wins like this, where you find yourself behind and things aren't going great. It was a game of runs tonight, and we couldn't really get stops early, but our guys just buckled down and played gritty basketball, which is what our program is all about, this group especially. To get a win on the road like this is huge. We didn't play great, and this Washington State side is a really good team who will win a lot of games this year, so credit to them, but our guys just kept fighting and never really gave up. We just kept chipping away, got stop after stop, and got buckets when we needed to." – Associate Head Coach Mickey McConnell on his teams resilience tonight
UP NEXT
The Gaels will stay on the road Wednesday, as they head to Santa Clara to take on the Broncos. Tip off is set for 6 PM at the Leavey Center.
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