WCC basketball: Saint Mary’s routs Santa Clara 86-67, moves a step closer to another NCAA tournament berth

MORAGA — Saint Mary’s extended its program record with a 25th consecutive home victory on Wednesday night.

If the Gaels get to No. 26 on Saturday night they’ll own a share of an unprecedented fourth consecutive West Coast Conference championship.

Saint Mary’s used a 19-2 run spanning the two halves and a dominant rebounding performance to avenge an earlier loss at Santa Clara by taking down the Broncos 86-67 in a battle of teams tied for second place.

The Gaels (26-4, 15-2) will remain at home Saturday night for its latest showdown against two-decades long rival Gonzaga. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. for the sold-out ESPN matchup. The Zags, who are leaving the WCC for the rebuilt Pac-12 next season, will make their final appearance in Moraga as a conference rival.

Gonzaga (28-2, 16-1) clinched at least a share of the WCC title Wednesday with its 89-48 rout of Portland, which had dealt the Zags their only conference defeat.

The Gaels, who began the day at No. 26 in the NET computer, moved a big step closer to landing a fifth straight NCAA tournament bid.

Gonzaga beat the Gaels 73-65 in Spokane last month, but the teams have split their 10 meetings since the start of the 2022-23 season.

The Broncos (23-7, 14-3), who were No. 41 in the NET and hoping to complete a two-game, regular-season sweep of the Gaels for the first time since 2005, will close out the regular season Saturday at home against Oregon State. SCU is chasing its first NCAA berth since 1996.

Saint Mary’s, which trailed by five points with five minutes left in the first half, led by as many as 23 points in the final minutes of the game.

Sophomore guard Mikey Lewis of Oakland delivered a terrific game for Saint Mary’s, totaling 21 points, seven assists and four steals. Point guard Joshua Dent contributed 14 points and eight assists.

Gaels forwards Paulius Muruaskas (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Dillan Shaw (11 points, 14 rebounds) and center Harry Wessels (10 points, 10 rebounds) helped Saint Mary’s forge a 51-21 rebounding edge that fueled a 30-9 advantage in second-chance points.

Forward Allen Graves scored 20 points off the bench to lead the Broncos.

Saint Mary’s jumped on the Broncos, sprinting to an 11-2 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers from Dent.

Santa Clara answered with a 13-3 run sparked by its bench. Graves, who was uncertain to play after tweaking his ankle last Saturday against San Francisco, converted a three-point play and also hit a 3-point basket and fellow reserve Sash Gavalyugov scored five points as the Broncos took a 15-14 lead with 12:54 left.

The Broncos’ advantage reached 31-25 after a 3-pointer by Thierry Darlan, contributing to a 25-point first half by the SCU bench.

But Saint Mary’s closed the half with a 13-2 surge that included six points by Murauskas and took a 42-36 lead into intermission.