NCAA Basketball: Arizona, Iowa State, Houston rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
17. Saint Mary’s (20-6)
The Gaels are nationally relevant again and are still basking in their road win at Gonzaga just last weekend. They’ve gotten off to an incredible start to WCC play after a less than incredible beginning to the regular season. That 3-5 start feels like an eon ago for a team that actually hasn’t lost a true road game yet this season; a trend that continued this week.
Completely untested by Pacific earlier in the season, it was no different on Tuesday on the road, as Saint Mary’s rolled to an 84-43 victory. Alex Ducas led with 18 points while the Gaels shot nearly 55% from the floor as a team. A weekend road trip to Portland wasn’t trouble either, as the Gaels won this time 76-51 in another shutdown effort. Aidan Mahoney had 19 points and was one of five double-digit scorers for the Gaels in another laugher.
Not only have the Gaels now won twelve games in a row but they sit a perfect 11-0 in the WCC. That road win at Gonzaga really jumpstarted this bounce back into the national spotlight, but it’s become clear that their early struggles are a thing of the past. It’ll be important to see how they fare in their rematch (or rematches) with Gonzaga, but for now the focus is on Pepperdine in what should be another easy win next week.