College Basketball

No. 12 Saint Mary's bounces back from loss to beat UC Irvine

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:11 p.m. ET

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MORAGA, Calif. (AP) Jock Landale had 15 points and seven rebounds, Evan Fitzner added a season-high 12 points and No. 12 Saint Mary's bounced back from its first loss of the season to beat UC Irvine 84-53 on Sunday night.

Jordan Ford scored 12 points and Emmett Naar added 10 to help the Gaels win won their third straight over the Anteaters.

Saint Mary's (7-1) was crisp offensively most of the game and shot 56.3 percent from the floor, a vast improvement from two nights earlier when the Gaels went 16 of 51 in a 65-51 loss to Texas-Arlington.

Landale, the leading scorer for Randy Bennett's team, bounced back from one of his worst games of the season to pace Saint Mary's. Landale had seven points as part of a game-opening 12-3 run, then scored on an emphatic dunk early in the second half.

Eyassu Workue scored 14 points and Tommy Rutherford had 11 for UC Irvine. The Anteaters (5-6) have lost four of six.