Wednesday, February 11
Moraga, CA
7:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
vs
Pepperdine
Harry Wessels was part of the Gaels team that set the last home consecutive win record, and has a chance to break that record this year
Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
MBB | Gaels Close Out Homestand against Pepperdine, Back on the Road to Stockton for Pacific
2/9/2026 2:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MORAGA, Calif. — After eclipsing the 20-win mark for the 18th consecutive season (2020-21 not included), Saint Mary's Men's Basketball (21-4, 10-2 WCC) will look to close out its current three-game homestand with a record-breaking 24th straight win inside UCU Pavilion on Wednesday against Pepperdine (6-19, 1-11 WCC). That will be followed by a short road trip to Stockton to take on a Pacific Tigers (16-10, 7-6 WCC) squad that is hanging tough in fourth place in the West Coast Conference.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Pepperdine Waves
Wednesday, February 11 at 7 PM
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
WATCH | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
Saint Mary's Gaels at Pacific Tigers
Saturday, February 14 at 7:30 PM
Spanos Center – Stockton, Calif.
WATCH | LIVE STATS
DEFENDING HOME COURT AT A RECORD RATE
The Gaels have won 14 straight at home to open the 2025-26 campaign. That comes on the back of nine straight wins at home to close out the 2024-25 season, bringing the Gaels to 23 wins in a row at home, tied for their longest home winning streak in program history. It also is good for the fifth longest active home winning streak in DI College Basketball. The 23rd win, which came against San Francisco on February 7, tied the program's longest home winning streak, which ranged across three seasons, when the Gaels won 23 in a row inside UCU Pavilion ranging from February 22, 2021 to November 30, 2022.
APPROACHING 1000
After a 20-point showing against San Francisco, junior Paulius Murauskas surpassed the 950 point mark for his collegiate career (1 year at Arizona, 2 years at Saint Mary's). He also is closing in on 900 for his Saint Mary's career (892 heading into this week). Paulius will have a chance to be the sixth Gael to score 1000 points over the past five seasons, joining the likes of Tommy Kuhse, Logan Johnson, Alex Ducas, Mitchell Saxen and Augustas Marciulionis.
GAEL STAT RANKINGS
Saint Mary's currently leads the WCC in five different categories: free throw percentage, rebound margin, scoring defense, three point percentage and three point percentage defense. In all of these categories, they rank in the top-30 in the country, headlined by leading the nation with an 81.4% free throw clip, and ranking fifth in the nation with a +10.8 rebound margin. The Gaels have players ranked number one in eight different individual stat categories. Paulius Murauskas leads the WCC in points scored, free throws made and free throws attempts. Andrew McKeever has been ferocious on the glass, leading the conference in total rebounds, rebounds per game and offensive rebounds per game. Point guard Joshua Dent rounds out the group, leading the WCC in minutes played per game and free throw percentage.
A CHECK OF THE POLLS
Saint Mary's enters Week 15 of the college basketball season receiving votes in the AP Poll. In the NET, the Gaels rank 29th, jumping three spots from last Monday, following a pair of 25+ point victories over San Diego and San Francisco. In KenPom, the Gaels rank 32nd, up from 35th last week, and in BartTorvik, the Gaels check in at 33rd, up from 39th.
ABOUT THE WAVES
Pepperdine sits at the bottom of the WCC standings with a 6-19 record and a 1-11 conference mark. The Waves logged their lone conference win against Portland on January 14, but have since dropped five straight. In his second year at the helm, Ed Schilling will look for another later turnaround from his squad, who won just 10 games in the regular season a year ago before rattling off three straight in the 2025 WCC Tournament, eventually falling to Saint Mary's in the semis. This year's team has been led by point guard Styles Phipps. The Grand Canyon University transfer ranks second on the team at 13.4 PPG, while leading the Waves with 6.1 RPG and 4.7 APG. In their previous meeting this season in Malibu, the Gaels downed the Waves in dominant fashion, 72-45, while not allowing a single Pepperdine player to score in double-figures. The Gaels lead the all-time series against the Waves 83-74.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
After finishing tied for ninth place in the WCC a year ago, the Pacific Tigers have put together a solid start to their 2025-26 campaign, sitting alone in fourth place in the conference at 16-10 with a 7-6 conference mark. Second year Head Coach Dave Smart already has the Tigers to their highest win total since the 2019-20 campaign, and, at 25 wins in his first two seasons, has the highest mark of any Tiger coach in their first two seasons since Dick Fichtner led them to 29 wins in his first two seasons back from 1979-1981. This year, the Tigers have earned their stripes by winning on the glass, ranking third in the WCC in rebounding margin, behind only Saint Mary's and Gonzaga. Fifth year senior Elias Ralph is the driving force behind that effort, and is tied for second in the conference with Andrew McKeever tallying seven double-doubles. This with be the 129th all-time meeting between the Gaels and Tigers, with Saint Mary's winning 84 of those, including each of the last six and 19 of the last 20.
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
Wednesday, February 11 at 7 PM
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
WATCH | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
Saint Mary's Gaels at Pacific Tigers
Saturday, February 14 at 7:30 PM
Spanos Center – Stockton, Calif.
WATCH | LIVE STATS
DEFENDING HOME COURT AT A RECORD RATE
The Gaels have won 14 straight at home to open the 2025-26 campaign. That comes on the back of nine straight wins at home to close out the 2024-25 season, bringing the Gaels to 23 wins in a row at home, tied for their longest home winning streak in program history. It also is good for the fifth longest active home winning streak in DI College Basketball. The 23rd win, which came against San Francisco on February 7, tied the program's longest home winning streak, which ranged across three seasons, when the Gaels won 23 in a row inside UCU Pavilion ranging from February 22, 2021 to November 30, 2022.
APPROACHING 1000
After a 20-point showing against San Francisco, junior Paulius Murauskas surpassed the 950 point mark for his collegiate career (1 year at Arizona, 2 years at Saint Mary's). He also is closing in on 900 for his Saint Mary's career (892 heading into this week). Paulius will have a chance to be the sixth Gael to score 1000 points over the past five seasons, joining the likes of Tommy Kuhse, Logan Johnson, Alex Ducas, Mitchell Saxen and Augustas Marciulionis.
GAEL STAT RANKINGS
Saint Mary's currently leads the WCC in five different categories: free throw percentage, rebound margin, scoring defense, three point percentage and three point percentage defense. In all of these categories, they rank in the top-30 in the country, headlined by leading the nation with an 81.4% free throw clip, and ranking fifth in the nation with a +10.8 rebound margin. The Gaels have players ranked number one in eight different individual stat categories. Paulius Murauskas leads the WCC in points scored, free throws made and free throws attempts. Andrew McKeever has been ferocious on the glass, leading the conference in total rebounds, rebounds per game and offensive rebounds per game. Point guard Joshua Dent rounds out the group, leading the WCC in minutes played per game and free throw percentage.
A CHECK OF THE POLLS
Saint Mary's enters Week 15 of the college basketball season receiving votes in the AP Poll. In the NET, the Gaels rank 29th, jumping three spots from last Monday, following a pair of 25+ point victories over San Diego and San Francisco. In KenPom, the Gaels rank 32nd, up from 35th last week, and in BartTorvik, the Gaels check in at 33rd, up from 39th.
ABOUT THE WAVES
Pepperdine sits at the bottom of the WCC standings with a 6-19 record and a 1-11 conference mark. The Waves logged their lone conference win against Portland on January 14, but have since dropped five straight. In his second year at the helm, Ed Schilling will look for another later turnaround from his squad, who won just 10 games in the regular season a year ago before rattling off three straight in the 2025 WCC Tournament, eventually falling to Saint Mary's in the semis. This year's team has been led by point guard Styles Phipps. The Grand Canyon University transfer ranks second on the team at 13.4 PPG, while leading the Waves with 6.1 RPG and 4.7 APG. In their previous meeting this season in Malibu, the Gaels downed the Waves in dominant fashion, 72-45, while not allowing a single Pepperdine player to score in double-figures. The Gaels lead the all-time series against the Waves 83-74.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
After finishing tied for ninth place in the WCC a year ago, the Pacific Tigers have put together a solid start to their 2025-26 campaign, sitting alone in fourth place in the conference at 16-10 with a 7-6 conference mark. Second year Head Coach Dave Smart already has the Tigers to their highest win total since the 2019-20 campaign, and, at 25 wins in his first two seasons, has the highest mark of any Tiger coach in their first two seasons since Dick Fichtner led them to 29 wins in his first two seasons back from 1979-1981. This year, the Tigers have earned their stripes by winning on the glass, ranking third in the WCC in rebounding margin, behind only Saint Mary's and Gonzaga. Fifth year senior Elias Ralph is the driving force behind that effort, and is tied for second in the conference with Andrew McKeever tallying seven double-doubles. This with be the 129th all-time meeting between the Gaels and Tigers, with Saint Mary's winning 84 of those, including each of the last six and 19 of the last 20.
DON'T MISS OUT ON HOME MEN'S BASKETBALL ACTION. TICKETS ARE ON SALE HERE.
#GaelsRise
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