NCAA Basketball: Arizona, Baylor, and BYU rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
22. Saint Mary’s (24-7)
The Gaels entered this week on the nation’s longest winning streak. They’d bounced back nicely after a slow start to the season, taking advantage of a down year from Gonzaga to win the WCC regular season title. They haven’t just been beating up on bad WCC teams but have looked the part of a sneaky national contender, though this past week ended with a headache.
Thursday night saw little drama as Saint Mary’s went to Pepperdine and left town with an 83-57 victory. Augustas Marciulionis was brilliant with 17 points and 11 assists while Alex Ducas added 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win. The headache was on Senior Night in the regular season finale as the Gaels dropped their first conference game to Gonzaga, losing 70-57 at home. Aidan Mahaney scored 16 but the Bulldogs got the better of Saint Mary’s, making up for an earlier Gaels win in Spokane.
Even after that loss, Saint Mary’s has still won 21 of their last 23 games. They’ve played some incredible basketball this season and a tough performance against Gonzaga won’t undermine that. They’re conference champions who’ll be back in the NCAA Tournament, plus they haven’t lost a game away from home since December 1st. We’ll have to see what happens in the WCC Tournament and in a potential third matchup against Gonzaga.