Randy Bennett has admirably led Saint Mary’s for almost two decades now. At a time when Gonzaga has taken over the West Coast Conference and become a powerhouse, his school has emerged as their big challenger in the conference. It’s hard to believe the team went 2-27 before he arrived when you look at them now, the same program that will contend for a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance for just the second time in its history, something that itself is remarkable.
The Gaels continued their good start to the season on Wednesday night as they went to Sacramento and beat Fresno State 68-58. It also continues a solid bounce-back from a tough loss last week.
Last season, not as much was expected of the Gaels given personnel losses. Then Jordan Ford and Malik Fitts emerged as a dynamic duo, and with much of last season’s tournament champion team returning, much has been expected of this team. If BYU improves as expected, the West Coast Conference could see three teams contend for an NCAA Tournament bid this time around.
Bennett has boosted the non-conference schedule, which he had more of an opportunity to do with the Mountain West cutting back its schedule a couple of years ago, and that will go a long way. The Gaels beat Wisconsin in Sioux Falls on opening night, and last night’s win over Fresno State should prove a good win in the NET rankings although the Bulldogs have started slowly. Quality win opportunities remain against Utah State, Dayton and Arizona State, and they also take on Nevada, which is a similar opportunity to Fresno State as this isn’t the Wolfpack of the past couple of years. They also play a couple of good mid-majors in Lehigh and Omaha, which doesn’t hurt.
Against Fresno State, the Gaels were simply better in a lot of facets. They didn’t force many turnovers (Fresno State had 11), but when the Bulldogs gave it away, the Gaels made them pay, and shot 51 percent, something they tend to do. One thing you can count on with this team is some offensive efficiency, and that happened on Wednesday as they also turned it over just seven times.
Thanks to solid recruiting internationally, Saint Mary’s has become the Robin to Gonzaga’s Batman in the West Coast Conference. Along the way, they have become quite a good program in their own right, and Wednesday night’s result will be one contributor to their attempt at another NCAA Tournament bid to keep Bennett’s great run going.
Side Dishes
Other results of note on the evening: In a big rivalry game, Georgia edged Georgia Tech 82-78 behind 26 points from Rayshaun Hammonds; Texas A&M needed a big second half to just get by Troy 56-52; Belmont continued its recent dominance in the Battle of the Boulevard by using a 16-2 run to start the second half to knock off Lipscomb 73-67; Sam Sessoms capped a 33-point, 12-rebound outing with the game-winner to lift Binghamton past NJIT 77-75 in a game that featured another 30-point scorer in NJIT’s Zach Cooks (35 points); James Madison picked up a nice win by edging former CAA rival Old Dominion 80-78 in Norfolk; Boise State edged BYU 72-68 in overtime; Oregon State took care of UC Santa Barbara 78-67 behind 27 points and 11 rebounds from Tres Tinkle; and Texas State knocked off UNLV 64-57.
Memphis will get James Wiseman back before the season is over. More specifically, the star freshman will be eligible to return on January 12, 2020, which translates into sitting the next ten games after also sitting the past two. Wiseman must also donate $11,500 – the amount the family received from Penny Hardaway to assist in a move from Nashville to Memphis – to a charity of his choice. Memphis, who beat UALR 68-58 last night, is appealing the decision.
West Virginia got good news on Wednesday as transfer Gabe Osabuohien was granted a waiver for immediate eligibility. He was dismissed from Arkansas back in August and then transferred to West Virginia, and he will add depth on the front line.
Tonight’s Menu
The slate gets busy as the early season tournaments get underway, with first round action in two eight-team tournaments on tap and semifinal action in another, as well as the start of another multi-team event.
- Quarterfinal action in the Myrtle Beach Invitational starts with Middle Tennessee taking on Villanova (11:30 a.m.), then Mississippi State takes on Tulane (2 p.m.), Ohio University plays Baylor (4:30 p.m.) and Utah takes on Coastal Carolina (7 p.m.)
- The quarterfinals of the Charleston Classic begin with Missouri State battling Miami (11:30 a.m.), then Florida takes on Saint Joseph’s (2 p.m.) to finish the afternoon session. In the evening, Xavier takes on Towson (7 p.m.) and Buffalo takes on UConn (9:00 p.m.)
- In the semifinals of the 2K Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden, Texas takes on Georgetown (7 p.m.) and Duke takes on Cal (9:30 p.m.)
- The Junkanoo Jam gets underway in the Bahamas with Air Force battling Loyola Marymount (4 p.m.) and Duquesne taking on Indiana State (6:30 p.m.)
- North Florida heads to Iowa City to give Iowa a good test (7 p.m.)
- Staying in Iowa, Drake gets a test in the form of a visit from Lehigh (8 p.m.)
- Two good ones to watch at the same time are Central Michigan putting their 4-0 mark on the line in a visit to Minnesota, while TCU gets a tough challenge as UC Irvine comes to Fort Worth (8 p.m.)
- Arch rivals meet in Las Cruces as New Mexico State hosts New Mexico (9 p.m.)
- Two top-notch academic schools meet as Stanford hosts William & Mary (10 p.m.)
- Closing out the night is CAA contender Hofstra traveling to UCLA (11 p.m.)
