Saint Mary’s rallies past rival Gonzaga 70-59 to earn a share of the WCC regular-season title
MORAGA — Saint Mary’s made rival Gonzaga’s final appearance at University Credit Union Pavilion a memorable night for the home crowd, rallying from a halftime hole to a 70-59 victory Saturday in front of a capacity house and an ESPN audience that gives the Gaels a share of the West Coast Conference regular-season title.
The Gaels (27-4, 16-2) earned their fourth straight WCC title — unprecedented in program history — and denied the Zags (28-3, 16-2) the outright crown they sought in their final season before departing the conference for the rebuilt Pac-12.
Sophomore guard Mikey Lewis of Oakland scored a career-high 31 points, including seven 3-pointers, and the Gaels outscored the Zags by a whopping 48-15 margin from beyond the arc.
Saint Mary’s extended its program record to 26 consecutive home victories, won its eighth straight game overall and now own a 6-5 head-to-head advantage vs. the long-time WCC kingpins since the start of the 2022-23 season.
Afterward, Gaels coach Randy Bennett and Gonzaga’s Mark Few, who met for the 72nd time, shook hands and embraced. The PA blared Queen’s “We are the champions,” as Saint Mary’s players cut down the net.
Saint Mary’s used a 13-2 run opening the second period to erase a 36-29 halftime deficit. Point guard Joshua Dent made two 3-pointers and Lewis gave the Gaels the lead by making two free throws with 17:37 left before hitting a 3-pointer for a 42-38 lead.
The action stalled at that point with each team scoring just two points over the next 5:03. The Zags drew even at 44-all before Saint Mary’s ran off 10 straight points, bookended by a 3-pointers from Lewis and Paulius Murauskas, boosting the Gaels into a 54-44 lead with 8:53 to play.
Gonzaga, which will retain the No. 1 seed for the WCC tournament next week, never got closer than six the rest of the way.
Dent scored 14 points, freshman Dillan Shaw grabbed 10 rebounds and Murauskas came alive in the second half to finish with nine points and eight rebounds.
Saint Mary’s finished 16 for 33 from the 3-point arc while Gonzaga shot 5 for 17 from deep.
Gonzaga star Graham Ike scored just four of his 17 points in the second half before fouling out with 3:45 to ply.
The Gaels trailed 36-29 at halftime and were that close in large part due to the performance of Mantas Juzenas, a 6-foot-6 freshman guard from Lithuania. Juzenas, who entered the game averaging 1.7 points, scored a career-best 12 in the half on 4-for-6 accuracy from the 3-point arc.
His countryman, Murauskas, had a much tougher half. The WCC’s second-leading scorer at 18.9 points per game continued his career struggles vs. the Zags.
The junior forward shot 0 for 4 from the field in the half and wound up with two points, four rebounds and two fouls in 11 minutes on the floor. One of the fouls was a technical he drew after a tangle with Gonzaga’s Tyon Grant-Foster, who also was T’d up with 8:31 left in the half.
Grant-Foster, an athletic 6-7 wing, had eight points, three rebounds and three blocked shots in the half, one of those blocks against Murauskas, who averaged just 8.5 in four previous games vs. the Zags.
Ike scored 13 first-half points for Gonzaga, which shot 48 percent in the half and forged a 22-18 rebounding edge on the Gaels, who rank fifth nationally in rebound margin. The Gaels made just 29 percent of their shots in the half but connected on seven 3-pointers.
The Gaels led 9-7 after Juzenas’ second 3-pointer then missed their next eight shots as the Zags moved into a 24-15 lead. The margin reached 36-26 on a basket and free throw by Ike before Juzenas nailed his fourth shot from beyond the arc to pull the Gaels within seven points at the break.