MORAGA, Calif. — The Saint Mary's Gaels (23-4, 13-1 1st in WCC) have put in the hard work this season, and now are nearing the regular season finish line with a two game lead. Their two hurdles this week: the Portland Pilots (10-17, 5-9 8th in WCC) and Gonzaga Bulldogs (20-7, 11-3 2nd in WCC). The way things have shaken out, the Gaels hold a two game lead on Gonzaga with both teams having just four games remaining, so if the Gaels win both this week, they would be crowned outright WCC Regular Season Champs for the second consecutive season.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Portland Pilots
Wednesday, February 19 at 7 PM
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
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Saint Mary's Gaels at Gonzaga Bulldogs
Saturday, February 22 at 5 PM
McCarthey Athletic Center – Spokane, Wash.
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THE GOOSE, THE GOOSE, THE GOOSE IS ON FIRE!
While point guard Augustas Marciulionis has consistently led the Gaels all season, his performance over these past two weeks have been arguably the best stretch of his entire SMC career. In this stretch, Marciulionis has played all but eight minutes and has averaged 19.5 points per game, seeing his season average jump from 13.4 to 14.3 point per contest. He's shot 51.9% from the field and 83.3% from the stripe, while continuing to demonstrate his brilliant playmaking ability, averaging 7.5 assists per game and a 3.75 assist-to-turnover ratio. While his offense has been stellar, his defense has been the key to the Gaels holding their last four opponents to just 58.5 points per game on average, forcing 12.3 turnovers per contest. Individually, Augustas has 15 steals in the last four games, surpassing teammate Mitchell Saxen for the team lead, now with 41 for the year.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
Portland is currently on their best stretch of the season, having won three of their last four to get to double digit wins for the fourth consecutive season, after not reaching that mark in the prior three seasons. In these past four seasons, it's been Head Coach Shantay Legans at the helm, who now ranks ninth all-time in program history with 55 wins. While Saint Mary's is often the first school thought of when discussing Australian student-athletes, Portland boasts four Aussies on their roster, including their two leading scorers, Max Mackinnon and Austin Rapp. A transfer from Elon, Max Mackinnon is a big bodied point guard for the Pilots at 6-6, and averages 14 points and three assists per game, while Austin Rapp is a 6-10 true freshman (and younger brother of former Gael women's basketball standout Hannah Rapp) who averages 14 points, six rebounds and a block per contest. With Portland, offense is key. When they score 80+ points in a game, they are 8-0, compared to 2-17 when they don't reach that mark. 80 points is a mighty tall task against a Gaels team who has not allowed more than 75 in a contest this season, and ranks fourth in the country in scoring defense. In their meeting at the Chiles Center earlier this year, the Gaels bested the Pilots 81-58. It was the Saint Mary's backcourt that did most of the heavy lifting in that one, with Augustas Marciulionis, Jordan Ross and Mikey Lewis scoring 22, 14 and 12 respectively. Portland was led by Mackinnon and Rapp, with 12 and 10 respectively. The Gaels lead the all-time series 75-30 and have not lost to the Pilots since 2015.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
As per usual, it is the Gaels and Gonzaga in the top two spots in the WCC down the homestretch. While the Gaels sit in first place at 13-1 in conference play, the Zags remain in second, two games behind at 11-3, with USF still hot on their tails at 11-4. For the third straight year, Head Coach Mark Few's squad is left looking up at the Gaels in the WCC standings, as they trailed SMC by one game going into the penultimate week of competition in 2023 (teams finished tied for first) and by two games at this point last year (Gaels won the conference by a one game margin). What is unfamiliar territory for Gonzaga, however, is having three losses in conference play, something they haven't experienced since the 2015-16 campaign. If the Gaels can get the Zags at the Kennel on Saturday night, it would hand Gonzaga their first four loss conference season since 1997-98. Like the Gaels, Gonzaga will have a Wednesday night matchup ahead of the Saturday night thriller, as they will have to head to head 75 miles south to Pullman to take on Washington State on the Palouse. As is true most years, this clash will feature the WCC's best offense (Gonzaga, 88.0 PPG) against the WCC's best defense (Saint Mary's, 60.5 PPG allowed). That Gonzaga offense is driven by point guard Ryan Nembhard, who leads the country averaging 10 assists per game. He has already broken the Gonzaga single season assist record, and is 14 assists shy of Emmett Naar's WCC single season assist record. In their last meeting, it was the Gaels defense who prevailed over the Zags offense to the tune of a 62-58 victory. The 58 points was a season low for Gonzaga, who has only been held below 70 points twice this season. Mikey Lewis led all Gael scorers with 16 against the Zags, while Paulius Murauskas had 12 points and eight rebounds. Gonzaga was led in that one by Graham Ike, who scored 24, while Ryan Nembhard chipped in 11 points and 12 assists. That was the Gaels 35th win in 115 total meetings with the Zags. The Gaels will be going for their first regular season sweep of the Zags since 2016.
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