No. 20 Saint Mary's faces upset-minded Portland in WCC (Mar 04, 2017)
No. 20-ranked Saint Mary's has one potential last stand against Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference with the league's tournament underway at the Orleans Center in Las Vegas.
On the way to that quest, the Gaels (26-3, 16-2) first are scheduled to face upset-minded Portland (11-21) in a quarterfinal game Saturday.
The 10th-seeded Pilots surprised No. 7 San Diego with a 60-55 win on Friday night in a first-round game. The Pilots were led by guard Jazz Johnson's 17 points and forward Gabe Taylor's 12 points and seven rebounds.
The victory snapped a 16-game losing streak against WCC opponents for Portland, which was swept by the Gaels in the regular season. Saint Mary's won 74-33 in Portland on Jan. 12 but struggled with a 51-41 victory on Feb. 9 in Moraga, Calif.
"It's the same thing as we did in this game -- come out and fight and believe we can beat them," Johnson said after Friday night's win over San Diego. "It's March. Anything can happen."
As the No. 2 seed, the Gaels are aiming for the program's fourth WCC conference tournament title and first since 2011-12.
Saint Mary's has been ranked for all 17 weeks of the season in the Associated Press poll, the longest such streak in program history. The previous best was five weeks in 2007-08 and 2011-12.
"We're so proud of what we've done so far this season, but we think we have a lot work to do still," said senior forward Dane Pineau, who is shooting 62 percent from the field.
The Gaels rank in the top 50 nationally in 10 statistical categories and they posted the highest regular-season winning percentage (.897) in program history.
"We had good focus this season," Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett said. "That's what these guys are great at. They'll get a chip on their shoulder and find a way to make sure they are right and mentally ready to compete."
The core of Bennett's team returned from last season's 29-win team. That Gaels are hopeful that experience can mean something when the NCAA tournament begins in less than two weeks.
"We're definitely feeling good about our team, but the best way to reach our goals is to win the Vegas tournament. That's our mindset right now," said starting guard Emmett Naar, who is second in the WCC averaging 5.5 assists per game.
Saint Mary's enters the game against Portland winning its last four games by an average margin of 22.3 points, including a 70-57 victory at BYU, a team that upset No. 1 Gonzaga last week in Spokane, Wash.
"These guys are very good at being ready to play every night," Bennett said. "That's what makes this group special. We've got beat three times (twice against Gonzaga and to Texas-Arlington), but we haven't had any no-shows."
Portland assistant coach Bob Cantu, formerly the interim head coach at USC, said the Pilots are loose without anything to lose entering the game against Saint Mary's.
"It's been a disappointing season not winning enough, but hey, give it to the kids, they could have given up (against San Diego) but they didn't," Cantu said. "It's great to see the kids smiling and enjoying the victory. They believe in themselves. We hope that confidence means something against Saint Mary's."
