A night to celebrate: Thomas Ndong racked up 18 points on 7–9 shooting for the Gaels en route to their win. / Photo by Varun Aravind for SMC Athletics
New Era for the Gaels Opens with Overtime Thriller Victory over Illinois State
This was Saint Mary’s season opener—and Mickey McConnell’s first game as head coach. With double digits from Mantas Juzenas, Thomas Ndong, Vangelis Zougris, and Darius Bivins, the Gaels earned a come-from-behind 90–85 win.
The Mickey McConnell era at Saint Mary’s opened with a bang on Monday night, as the Gaels outlasted the Illinois State Redbirds to earn a hardfought 90–85 overtime victory at UCU Pavilion. In McConnell’s first game as head coach for the Gaels, Saint Mary’s overcame a second half double-digit deficit, outscoring Illinois State 42–27 down the stretch to pick up the season-opening victory.
Mantas Juzenas earned his first collegiate double-double, dropping a team-high 20 points and ripping down a team best 11 boards to showcase his versatility on both ends of the floor. Big men Thomas Ndong and Vangelis Zougris were both ultra efficient scoring the rock: Ndong racked up 18 points on 7–9 shooting, and Zougris added 16 points on a perfect 7–7 field goal clip. True freshman Darius Bivins rounded out the double-digit scoring, making an impact in his collegiate debut with 11 points with three assists and three steals.
The Come from Behind Path to Victory
Monday’s game in Moraga was the season opener for both teams, and Illinois State and Saint Mary’s found themselves deadlocked in a tight battle from the opening tip. With 3:30 remaining in the opening frame, they were tied up at 27 apiece. The Redbirds took momentum into the break, however, closing out the half on a 12–6 run. For the Gaels, Thomas Ndong was a massive spark off the bench in the first half, coming on to score nine points on 4–5 shooting.
Mantas Juzenas went on a 7–2 run of his own to open the second stanza and cut the deficit to one. After Illinois State ballooned the lead back to seven, Vangelis Zougris answered with a 6–0 run, once again bringing Saint Mary’s back within one, 47–46. But the Redbirds continued to bury timely shots and stretched their lead out to 58–48 with 12:34 remaining in regulation.
Despite the uphill battle ahead of them, Saint Mary’s was far from finished. The Gaels chipped away at the deficit and, with five minutes remaining, went on a 9–0 run punctuated by a Jeremy Dent-Smith steal and score to take their first lead of the second half at 73–72.
That stymieing Saint Mary’s defense prevented Illinois State from hitting a field goal for nearly four full minutes of play, but a three-pointer from the Redbirds gave them a two point lead with 0:43 seconds remaining. In the Gaels’ final offensive possession of regulation, Thomas Ndong ripped down an offensive board and scored a putback layup with 20 ticks to go to level things at 77. Saint Mary’s got a stop on the other end, forcing overtime.
Illinois State scored the first two points of overtime on a pair of free throws, but veteran Gaels point guard Joshua Dent responded with a layup of his own. After a defensive stop, Thomas Ndong earned two more free throws following an offensive board and foul. He made both, and the Gaels would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of OT.
On a night filled with plays from veterans, it was true freshman and McDonald’s All-American recruit Darius Bivins who had the final decisive blow. He picked the pocket of Illinois State’s Demarion Burch and scored a layup on the ensuing possession with 22 seconds remaining. That gave the Gaels a five point lead, and that’s where the game would eventually settle, 90–85.
For the Record
With Monday night’s victory, Mickey McConnell becomes the first Saint Mary’s Men's Basketball Coach since Dave Bollwinkel in 1997 to win his first game at the helm of the program. With the overtime thriller win, the Gaels also extended a couple of impressive streaks for the program: This marks six straight season opening victories and 27 straight home wins.
The win was also the Gaels’ first against Illinois State. Set the wayback machine to 1993 and 1994 when these teams previously met, and the Redbirds won both.
Mantas Juzenas’ double-double in the opening game of the season puts him in good company, alongside Paulius Murauskas and Luke Barrett, who opened the 2024 season with a double-double each. Likewise for true freshman Darius Bivins: those 11 points make him the first true freshman to score in double-figures in his collegiate debut for the Gaels since Mikey Lewis in 2024.
The big night for Thomas Ndong—18 points off the bench—is the most for a Gael non-starter in almost a year exactly: On Nov. 11, 2025, Liam Campbell scored 20 against Ohio. That perfect 7–7 for Vangelis Zougris from the field make him the first Gael since Matthias Tass in November 2021 to go 100% from the field on at least seven field goal attempts. And that night of stuffing the stat sheet for Jeremy Dent-Smith—six points, four assists, no turnovers and five steals (whew!) make him the first Gael in nearly three years to record at least five steals, four assists, and zero turnovers in a game. The last SMC player to do that was Joshua Jefferson in January 2024 against Portland.
Up Next: Official Season Opener on November 4
The Gaels have a quick turnaround. They face off with North Dakota State on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at UCU Pavilion. Tip-off for that matchup between two 2026 NCAA Tournament teams is slated for 7 p.m. Get your tickets at smcgaels.com/tickets, or stream live on ESPN+.
