MORAGA — Selection Sunday could hardly have gone better for the Saint Mary’s basketball team. The Gaels earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament for the third straight year, and will play Friday against Grand Canyon at Spokane, Washington.
Staying in the West region and getting one extra day to prepare were both on coach Randy Bennett’s wish list, and he joined his players by leaping out of his chair to celebrate when the pairing was announced on CBS.
“It’s so hard to get in this thing. It’s so hard,” said Bennett, whose program has done it three years in a row for the first time in program history.
St. Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett celebrates during the 2024 NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday Watch Party held at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., on Sunday, March 17, 2024. St. Mary’s College will play Grand Canyon on Friday in Spokane, Washington in the West Region. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
The Gaels (26-7) are the first Bay Area men’s team to do that since Stanford made it 11 consecutive seasons (1995-2005). Other than Gonzaga, no other WCC team has gone to the tournament three years in a row since Loyola Marymount (1988-90).
“It’s amazing to reflect back on what we’ve done because it’s not really something you feel every day when you’re doing it,” center Mitchell Saxen said. “When you take a step back on days like this, `Damn, we’re going to be the guys people are going to be telling stories about 10 years from now.’ But it doesn’t mean anything unless you go out and keep doing it.”
Guard Alex Ducas said this is the reason he returned for a fifth season. “It’s something we talked about, me and Coach B, before I came back,” he said. “No player had every done it, no team had ever done it, so I really wanted to be a part of that. I saw the skill that we had and the determination. I’m not surprised we made it.”
Bennett said he didn’t know much yet about Western Athletic Conference champion Grand Canyon (29-4). “They’re very good,” he said.
They’re also in the way of what this Saint Mary’s team wants to achieve.
The Gaels reached the second round of the NCAAs each of the past two seasons but haven’t made it to the Sweet 16 weekend since 2010.
At a team meeting last May, where the Gaels laid out their goals for the 2023-24 season, that topic became one of the focal points.
“After we saw FAU and San Diego State do things people didn’t think they could do, we said, `Why can’t it be Saint Mary’s?’ ” Bennett said, referring to underdogs who advanced to the 2023 Final Four.
Achieving those goals require the Gaels to beat the 12th-seeded Lopes of Grand Canyon, who began the season 17-1 on the way to a third NCAA bid in four seasons.
Led by coach Bryce Drew, Grand Canyon will pit its potent offense (79.8 points per game) against a Saint Mary’s defense (58.7 points allowed) that ranks second nationally.
The Lopes’ top players are senior forward Tyson Grant-Foster (19.8 points, 6.0 rebounds), junior guard Ray Harrison (13.7 points) and senior forward Gabe McGlothan (13.0 points, 7.3 rebounds). GCU owns victories over San Francisco and Portland of the WCC along with San Diego State.
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With a victory Friday, the Gaels would play Sunday against the winner of the first-round matchup of No. 4 seed Auburn (21-11) and No. 13 Charleston (27-7).
“Ever since we made the tournament the first time, part of my personal goals has been to make that second weekend,” Ducas said. “We have the group for it — we’re talented, we’re disciplined, we’re tough. That’s the goal.”
NOTES: Bennett said starting forward Mason Forbes, who sustained a concussion against Gonzaga in the WCC tournament championship game last Tuesday, is cleared to play Friday. The Gaels also are expecting backup center Harry Wessel (shoulder) will be ready to play after missing the past five games . . . This is Saint Mary’s 13th overall NCAA bid, the 10th over the past 20 years under Bennett. The other five Bay Area Division I teams have combined to make it 11 times over those two decades.