SANTA CLARA — Saint Mary’s played like the team picked to win the West Coast Conference.
Santa Clara looked nothing like the team that stunned WCC powerhouse Gonzaga two days earlier.
The result was a wipeout in a matchup of two teams that arrived at Leavey Center with 3-0 conference records. The visiting Gaels raced out to a 9-0 lead then used a 21-0 run over 6 minutes to open a 30-6 lead on the way to a never-in-doubt 73-49 triumph at on Saturday afternoon.
Saint Mary’s (13-6, 4-0), which staggered through the early season, losing five of six games during one stretch, played a nearly flawless first half to forge a 47-18 lead at the break.
Saint Mary’s has won 10 of 11 games since a Dec. 1 neutral-site loss to Boise State.
“We’ve gotten tougher, we’ve gotten tighter and we’ve really just taken pride in our work,” said All-WCC sophomore guard Aidan Mahaney, who led the Gaels with 18 points. “The belief was huge. Obviously, it wasn’t the prettiest at times. Just continuing to believe.
“This is what you get when you get a team that’s not (one of these) transfer portal teams. You get guys that are bought into a culture. We believe in each other, we trust each other and we know what we can build here.”
The Gaels had 12 assists and zero turnovers, outscored the Broncos 16-3 in second-chance points, 26-10 in the paint and 9-0 off turnovers over the first half. They blocked five shots in the first half and allowed just seven baskets.
“I thought we were really good defensively,” Gaels coach Randy Bennett said. “We were good both ends, but I thought our guys were really ready to compete.”
The Broncos (12-7, 3-1) showed none of the crisp, aggressive play that sparked a 77-76 win over the Zags in front of a capacity crowd, including Santa Clara legend Steve Nash, and snapped a 26-game drought against the WCC kingpins.
The Gaels’ lead reached 39-9 when Mahaney hit a 3-pointer with 3:06 left in the half. The Broncos had made just 3 of 19 shots at that point.
Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek refused to blame the performance on his team suffering a letdown after the win over Gonzaga.
“It would be really disingenuous for us to use that as a reason for the outcome,” he said. “I think we owe all due respect to St. Mary’s. They took the game to us and dominated the game.”
The Broncos didn’t get closer than 25 points in the second half until the final 5 minutes.
Sendek said neither Thursday’s win nor Saturday’s defeat will define the Broncos’ season.
“None of these games are by themselves stand-alone destinations,” he said. “And so, it’s incumbent on us each and every game, every night, to learn, to grow.”
Reserve forward Luke Barrett scored 17 points for Saint Mary’s, his third double-digit game in the past five outings, prompting Bennett to call him “a sixth starter.” Center Mitchell Saxen had 10 points along with four of the Gaels’ six blocked shots.
Point guard Augustas Marciulionis tied his career high with 10 assists and clamped down defensively on Adama-Alpha Bal, who made the winning basket against Gonzaga and is Santa Clara’s leading scorer. Bal managed just four points and missed eight of his nine shots.
“Adama’s been brilliant this season,” Sendek said. “And I think you’ve got to once again give St. Mary’s a lot of credit. They did a heck of a job on him defensively. He’s a good player. He’ll bounce back.”
Christoph Tilly led the Broncos with 11 points. Senior guard Carlos Marshall Jr., the team’s second-leading scorer who had just one point in 20 minutes, has battled illness this week, Sendek said.