Debut against the Zags: Freshman Mikey Lewis scored 16 points, including four three-pointers. / Photo by Tod Fierner for SMC Athletics
Gaels Win! Saint Mary’s Racks up a Signature Win over the Zags and Is No. 23 in the Country
SMC defense prevails in 62–58 victory. Freshman Mikey Lewis leads scoring with 16, and Harry Wessels blocks a Zags shot in the final seconds to secure the win. SMC widens its lead as No. 1 in the West Coast Conference.
The second half of conference play opened with an emphatic W on Saturday evening for the Gaels, as Saint Mary's (20-3, 10–0 West Coast Conference) bested rival Gonzaga (16–7, 7–3 WCC) with a signature 62–58 win in front of a packed house at UCU Pavilion. It’s the third victory for SMC in their last four meetings with the Zags, and it widens the first place lead Saint Mary’s holds in the WCC. Saint Mary’s is also now ranked No. 23 in the country in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
The Gaels’ physical defense prevailed over the flashy Zags’ offense. Gonzaga entered the game with the No. 2 scoring offense in the country. The Gaels held them to a season low 58 points. With the win, the Gaels reached the 20 win mark for the 17th consecutive season, not counting the 2020–21 season, which was shortened due to COVID.
Freshman Mikey Lewis had a debut against the Zags to remember: The Gaels’ clear offensive leader, he scored a team high 16 points and buried four triples. He hit two of those threes in the first half to help the Gaels build an early double-digit lead. In the second half he hit four massive shots: a three pointer to tie the game at 45 apiece with 11:15 to go, a mid-range jumper to tie things up at 49 with 8:48 to go, a jumper to extend the Gaels’ lead to 53–50 with 5:17 to go, and a three to give the Gaels their largest lead of the final ten minutes, at 56–51 with 4:44 to go.
Joining Lewis in double figures were Paulius Murauskas, with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Jordan Ross, with 10 points. Mitchell Saxen finished one point shy of a double-double, with nine points and 11 rebounds, while Augustas Marciulionis racked up eight points and nine assists. The Gaels finished +6 on the glass, including a +4 margin on the offensive boards, resulting in a 9–4 advantage in second chance points. With the win, the Gaels now move to 2.5 games ahead of second place San Francisco, and three games ahead of the third place Zags in the WCC standings.
Clash of Rivals
The Gaels never trailed in the first half, jumping out to a 32–18 lead over the first 12:19, shooting an astonishing 63% from the field and 75% from three. Gonzaga recovered a bit to outscore the Gaels 10–4 in the final 7:41 to cut the deficit to eight going into the break. Paulius Murauskas was the high man for the Gaels, with 10 points and four boards, while Augustas Marciulionis added eight points and seven assists. The Gaels’ lead could have been even larger at the break, but SMC shot just 5–15 from the stripe in the opening half.
The Zags looked like a different team to start the second half, stymying the Gaels offense while continuing to pound the ball inside, and 3:47 into the second half, Gonzaga took their first lead of the game 39–38 as part of an 11–2 run. The two teams traded buckets and stops until the 9:57 mark, when Gonzaga took their largest lead at 49–45. But from that point on, the story of the game was the Gaels defense. Over the final 9:57, Saint Mary's limited the Bulldogs to just nine points, while scoring 17 of their own.
Down to the Final Seconds
With 4:22 remaining, Gaels center Mitchell Saxen had fouled out. Saxen had an efficient game offensively, scoring nine points on 4–5 shooting, and was dominant as usual on the glass, with 11 boards. The Gaels turned to their veteran reserve center, Harry Wessels. While Wessels was quiet offensively, he limited the Zags’ Graham Ike to just one bucket down the stretch and ripped down an offensive board, all before the final minute of play. But it was what he did in that final minute that made him Saturday night’s hero.
The Gaels regained the lead at 51–50 and held it until a three by the Zags’ Ryan Nembhard tied things up at 58 apiece with 1:18 left. Harry Wessels got good post position on Gonzaga’s Ben Gregg with 50 seconds left, and was fouled by the Zags’ four man, earning a trip to the stripe. Wessels then knocked down both free throw attempts to push Saint Mary's ahead by two. The two made free throws were points 299 and 300 of Wessels SMC career, and moved him to 84.6% from the stripe on the year. They also prompted a timeout.
During the timeout, Wessels later told reporters he let his coaching staff know that if Graham Ike got the ball, “I’m getting the stop!” That is exactly what Wessels did, as Ike backed down Wessels before having his hook shot rejected by the 7’1” Aussie. The ball went out of bounds off Ike as well, which gave the Gaels possession back with the shot clock turned off. Gonzaga did get off two more shots in the final seconds, both attempted three pointers looking for the lead, but neither went down, and Jordan Ross hit two free throws to ice the game at 62–58.
Mikey Lewis was the only Gael to score in double figures in the second half, scoring 10. Mitchell Saxen went for six points and eight boards in the second half, while Luke Barrett only scored one bucket but had seven rebounds, including four offensive. The Gaels made up for the poor first half free throw shooting, going 6–7 down the stretch, and finished +4 on the glass including 11 offensive rebounds in the second frame.
A Few Numbers: 40 Minutes for 100 Games, 20 Wins for 17 Seasons
In what was his 100th game as a Gael, Luke Barrett played all 40 minutes, not leaving the floor for the entire game for the fifth time this season. Throughout the season, Barrett has been one of the top players in the country in terms of minutes played per game. Saturday night Barrett was quiet offensively, with only five points, but he had the putback layup that gave the Gaels a 51–50 lead with 6:13 to go. Gonzaga would not see the lead for the rest of the game. Barrett also ripped down seven rebounds, including a team-high four offensive rebounds. The rebounding battle, especially on the offensive side of the ball for the Gaels, was a major contributing factor in the Saint Mary's win.
For the 17th season in a row (the shortened 2020–21 season due to COVID not included), Saint Mary's has reached the 20 win mark, doing so in 23 games. Only three times have the Gaels reached that mark sooner, winning 20 of their first 22 in 2011–12, 2016–17 and 2017–18. Like this season, Saint Mary's reached 20 wins in their first 23 in 1988–89, 2007–08, and 2009–10. In all but one of those instances, the Gaels have made the NCAA Tournament.
Even before Saturday night’s game, the Gaels were ranked in the top 25 in the country in NET rankings. Along with winning percentage, the NET rankings take into account game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses. For the NCAA, it's both a results-driven and predictive metric.
UP NEXT: The Gaels hit the road for a pair of games, starting with a trip across the Bay Bridge to take on USF. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. at War Memorial at The Sobrato Center. Come out and support your Gaels—who have the best road winning streak in the country—or watch live on ESPN2.
Story updated February 3, 2025, to include national rankings.
Gaels Beat Zags! A Photo Gallery
Photos by Tod Fierner, Francis Tatem, and Bryan Navarro
