Achieving 12 consecutive victories and 17 out of 18 games, Saint Mary’s has reclaimed its position in The Associated Press Top 25 at Number 18 as they prepare to face Pepperdine at Moraga, Calif., on Thursday night.
The Gaels (20-6, 11-0 in the West Coast Conference) initially started the season ranked at No. 23 but encountered a three-game losing streak in mid-November against Weber State, San Diego State, and Xavier.
Many believed that the Gaels should have returned to the Top 25 much earlier, especially considering that they retained four of their top five starters from the previous season’s team, which reached the NCAA Tournament’s second round for the second consecutive year.
Expressing his thoughts, Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett mentioned that the team strives for more success.
“They’ve seen what it looks like to play in the NCAA Tournament two years in a row, win a game,” Bennett said. “All that stuff, I can’t explain how valuable that is for a coach. These guys have done what it takes and seen what it looks like when you get there.”
Before focusing on the tournament, Saint Mary’s aims to secure the regular-season conference title.
Currently, Saint Mary’s leads the West Coast Conference, ahead of San Francisco by two games and Gonzaga by 2 1/2 games.
Upcoming games include hosting the Dons on Tuesday and facing off against the Bulldogs in the season finale on March 2.
“Saint Mary’s is the same every year, right?” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said at preseason media day. “Very disciplined, very purposeful with what they do on offense and what they do on defense Just plug ’em in.”
Aidan Mahaney leads the Gaels in scoring, averaging 14.0 points per game, followed by Augustas Marciulionis at 11.9 points, a significant improvement from his previous season’s average of 5.9 points.
Sophomore forward Joshua Jefferson, standing at 6-foot-8 from Las Vegas, has also shown remarkable progress this season, averaging 10.2 points compared to 2.2 points in the previous season.
“They’re pretty sharp guys, high-character guys,” Bennett said of his team. “They can take that and right now they can use it. They get it. Their talk at this time of year is about doing the little things, don’t waste days — the things that truly matter.”
Saint Mary’s leads the nation in rebound margin (plus-11.7) and boasts the second-lowest points per game average allowed (57.7) and the fifth-best field-goal percentage defense (38.6).
Pepperdine (10-16, 3-8) halted a six-game losing streak with a victory of 72-63 against Loyola Marymount. This win demonstrated improvement for the Waves, who had previously lost to the Lions on their home court three weeks earlier.
Pepperdine’s player to watch, Michael Ajayi, a 6-foot-7 wing, maintains an average of 17.2 points and 9.5 rebounds, achieving 13 double-doubles this season, including two in the last three games. He also has a 3-point shooting accuracy of 45.5%.
Expected to be a potential second-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, Ajayi will likely showcase his skills against Saint Mary’s.
“He’s been better sooner than we expected,” Pepperdine coach Lorenzo Romar said.
