Saint Mary’s vs NMSU: College basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Connor Hope
In what appears to be one of their toughest matchups of the season, Saint Mary’s will look to beat New Mexico State and start the season 2-0.
TV Schedule: Monday, November 13, 10:00 p.m. ET, TheW.tv
Arena: McKeon Pavilion, Moraga, CA
The Saint Mary’s Gaels impressed in their first game of the season, beating St. Francis (PA) 85-68. Behind its solid defense and methodical offense, Saint Mary’s handled its opponent effectively, despite showing a few areas for improvement.
The most impressive performance from the game came from Gael’s small forward Calvin Hermanson, who scored 24 points on 9-10 shooting. WCC Player of the Year favorite Jock Landale had 13 points and 8 rebounds but got himself into some early foul trouble. Rounding out the frontcourt, power forward scored 10 points in just 12 minutes on the court.
The Gaels do have some things to improve, however, as their backcourt was not efficient at all. Outside of Emmett Naar’s 8 points and 12 assists, the combination of Jordan Ford, Cullen Neal, and Tanner Krebs shot a combined 26% from the floor.
Despite these concerns, the No. 22 Gaels enter their home game against the New Mexico State Aggies as heavy favorites to win.
The Aggies will be facing their first DI team, after looking impressive in their win over DII opponent East Central.
The Aggies beat the Tigers 81-55, behind 25 points from grad transfer Zach Lofton. Jemerrio Jones had an incredibly impressive performance, with 19 points and 19 rebounds on the night. Their 22% performance from deep, however, is a big area of concern for a team trying to pull a Top 25 upset.
In the end, New Mexico State will have to have an incredible shooting performance in order to dispatch the Gaels. After their game, it is hard to expect anything other than the Gaels winning by double digits.
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The game will probably be close to begin with, before Naar, Landale, and Hermanson spark a run to help the Gaels pull away.
Prediction: Saint Mary’s 83, St. New Mexico State 70