MORAGA, Calif. — After the Gaels (18-3, 8-0 WCC) completed a sweep of San Francisco and Washington State a week ago, the road will not get any easier, as Saint Mary's will head to Santa Clara to take on the Broncos (14-8, 6-3 WCC) before returning home to take on Gonzaga (15-6, 6-2 WCC). This marks the second of four consecutive weeks that the Gaels will take on two of the top-six programs in the WCC, as they continue to try and build their resume against some of the top teams, not just in the West Coast Conference, but in all of mid-major college basketball.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels at Santa Clara Broncos
Wednesday, January 29 at 6 PM
The Leavey Center – Santa Clara, Calif.
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Saint Mary's Gaels vs Gonzaga Bulldogs
Saturday, February 1 at 8 PM
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
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A WEEK FOR THE BIG BOYS
In the Gaels' victories over San Francisco and Washington State last week, Saint Mary's was really able to demonstrate their interior dominance, scoring 94 of their 151 points in the paint. Mitchell Saxen and Paulius Murauskas were the clear leaders on that front, with a combined 75 points, including 24 from each inside the painted area. In the matchup against San Francisco, Murauskas was the most dominant force in the key, as the Dons had no answer for the Gaels power forward, who scored 16 of his 24 points inside, going 10-13 from the field inside the arc. In Pullman, it was Saxen's turn to outmuscle his defenders down low, as the fifth year center from Seattle scored all 12 of his points in the key. With Saxen doing the dirty work down low, this opened up more of an opportunity for Murauskas to work on the perimeter, as he only scored eight of his 25 in the paint against the Cougars, but connected on three three pointers, his second highest total on the season. Murauskas also ripped down 12 boards for his ninth double-double of the year, and his first in over three weeks. Averaging 24.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game for the week, Murauskas was named the College Insider Lute Olson National Player of the Week.
THE BEST OFFENSIVE STRETCH OF HIS YOUNG CAREER
For the first time in his collegiate career, Jordan Ross has scored double figures in four consecutive games. The sophomore out of Pleasant Grove, Utah had become more known as a playmaker to start the season, but has been a model of consistency scoring the rock over the past three weeks. Ross has averaged 12.5 points per game over this recent four game hot streak, shooting 54% from the field, and connecting on 7-12 three point attempts. Ross has also played meaningful minutes running the offense, with 13 assists and just three turnovers over the last four contests. For the season, Ross leads the team with a 3.05 assist-to-turnover ratio, good for third in the WCC and 22nd in the nation.
ABOUT THE BRONCOS
Santa Clara has had an up and down season. After opening up the season at 3-5 with home losses to North Dakota State and Stanford, the Broncos rebounded to win 6-0 in a row, including their conference opener against Pepperdine. From that point however, they have gone just 5-3 in WCC play, but have picked up signature wins over Gonzaga and Washington State. They also have split their season series with San Francisco and Oregon State, and were upset by LMU. Head Coach Herb Sendek has his team currently sitting 14-8 and 6-3 good for a fourth place tie in the WCC, and is in need of yet another signature win, this time trying to stage it against the Gaels. Coach Sendek is one of the longest tenured and most respected coaches in division I college basketball, now in his 31st year of head coaching, and his ninth at Santa Clara. He is the third active wins leader in the WCC, behind only Mark Few and Randy Bennett. This team's biggest strength is their three point shooting, as they attempt and make more three pointers than any team in the conference, resulting in their high powered offense that averaged 80.7 points per game. Adama Alpha-Bal, Tyeree Bryan and Carlos Stewart have all made at least 40 three pointers on the year, however, in their careers against the Gaels, the trio is just 7/19, each appearing in a pair vs SMC. While their offense has been stellar, their defense has faltered at times this season, giving up at least 80 points to 10 different opponents this year, including six of their nine WCC foes. Santa Clara leads the all-time series, 140-102, however, the Gaels have won each of their last six meetings.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
In their first six games of conference play, Gonzaga finds themselves in unfamiliar territory, with two early conference losses to Oregon State and Santa Clara. The last time the Zags did this was nearly ten years ago when they started 6-2 in WCC play in the 2015-16 season before winning nine of their final ten. That 2015-16 season was also the last time the Gaels swept the regular season series against Gonzaga. Overall, the Zags are 15-6 and their 6-2 conference record places them in second, two games behind the Gaels. They will take on Oregon State tonight at the Kennel, looking to avenge this season's overtime loss in Corvallis to the Beavs. Mark Few continues to lead the Zags in his 26th season, with 730 wins to boot, including a WCC record 353 conference wins. Gonzaga boasts one of the most potent scoring offenses in the country, scoring 89.2 points per game, shooting 50% from the field, averaging nearly 20 assists per contest and beating teams by an average of 17 points, all good for top-10 marks in the country. Point guard Ryan Nembhard captains the ship, leading the nation in assists, while ranking third in assist-to-turnover and 11th in double-doubles (tied with Paulius Murauskas). Like Santa Clara, while Gonzaga's offense has thrived, they have had defensive struggles, as they have surrendered 80+ points to seven opponents including a 200 point in two game stretch in their back-to-back losses to Oregon State and Santa Clara. Gonzaga is 80-34 all-time vs the Gaels, however, Saint Mary's took two of three matchups against the Zags last year.
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