MORAGA – Randy Bennett, coaching in his 24th year at college basketball’s ultimate hamlet, was eager Thursday night to move past a 71-51 rout of San Francisco, a win that kept Saint Mary’s unbeaten atop the West Coast Conference standings.
“Got to go get packed, get ready for Pullman,” Bennett said of Saturday’s impending visit to Washington State.
Last visit to Washington’s eastern border didn’t go so well. Last season came to a stunning halt up the road in Spokane in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, where the Gaels executed the unfortunate role of a No. 5 seed upset by a No. 12, that being Grand Canyon.
“Non-factor,” Bennett said of how that northwest exit could impact this season’s team. “Washington State, they can really shoot and are good offensively. It’ll be tough.”
The Gaels (17-3 overall, 7-0 WCC) know a daunting path awaits before they can even think of avenging their last March Madness ouster.
The same formula that got them into last year’s NCAA Tournament — one game, one win at a time — must be followed for this season to stay on course.
“We had a lot of hype last year, then were 3-5,” Bennett said of last season’s start. “We had a meeting with the team: ‘We’ve got a good team but we’ve dug ourselves a hole.’ ”
Those Gaels responded with a five-game win streak, then after one loss, 16 consecutive wins ensued, along with the WCC’s regular season and tournament crowns.
Winning their first seven WCC games this season is a mere appetizer for the upcoming main course, which includes home-and-away series with Washington State, Gonzaga, Santa Clara, and Oregon State. It’s not just that a WCC loss could lurk in the coming days and weeks, but rather multiple defeats could as well, so the Gaels know they can’t let such adversity derail a promising season.
“We had to do the opposite (last years) of what I have to do now,” Bennett continued. “We have to get their heads right, on the (idea) ‘There’s hope. We have a good team. We just have to stack days one at a time.’ We did and next thing you know, we won the league, and nobody saw that coming.”
Saint Mary’s is opening eyes this season with a determined, deep group that dominated USF (16-6, 6-3) by virtue of interior scoring and suffocating defense.
Paulius Murauskas flexed his power-forward form and scored a team-high 24 points, taking command offensively in the first half. “Good players show up when their name is called and they’re time is needed,” center Mitchell Saxen said of Murauskas.
“He just saw something on the court,” Bennett added. “He’s got a really good feel offensively in how to make baskets. And Saxen was throwing him those high-lows. They’re getting better.”
Saxen scored 14 points to go along with five assists, and Saint Mary’s scored 52 of its 71 points in the paints.
“That was a function of how San Francisco plays, we knew we’d have to score from other places,” Saxen said. “Me and Paulius were trying to be aggressive in there, and we got put in a good spot a lot by our guards.”
Bennett indeed credited guard Jordan Ross for his defense and second-half scoring; he finished with 12 points. Augustas Marciulionis had six assists and no turnovers while playing just 23 minutes.
Meanwhile, USF managed just 12 points in the paint, went 0-for-10 on 3-point shots after halftime, and finished with a dismal 26.9% field-goal percentage for the game.
“Now we have to make sure we keep stacking days, because the tough ones are coming, and we have to be ready for those,” Bennett said.
Added Saxen: “We know there are a lot of challenges to come. We were just really dialed in tonight and now we have to flip the page to Washington State.”