Courtesy: Tod Fierner Omar Samhan had 31 points and 12 rebounds in the first meeting against Gonzaga this season.
Game 25 Thursday, February 11 Tip-off: 8:06 PM (PST) Location: Spokane, WA Arena: McCarthey Center (6,000) Television: ESPN2 Commercial Radio: None Internet Audio: www.SMCGaels.com
THIS WEEK IN SAINT MARY'S BASKETBALL Saint Mary's (21-3/8-1 WCC) will travel to the Pacific Northwest for games against Gonzaga and Portland this week. The Gaels open the week on Thursday, Feb. 11 against the No. 11/16 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs, with tip-off scheduled for 8 pm. The game will be played at the McCarthey Athletic Center and will be televised on ESPN2. Saint Mary's closes the two-game roadie against the Portland Pilots on Saturday night. The 6 p.m. game will be televised on ESPN2 from the Chiles Center.
Saint Mary's enters the week following a 2-0 record against Santa Clara (74-62) and San Francisco (73-57) last week. SMC holds a slim half game advantage in the WCC standings over Gonzaga. Gonzaga posted a 2-0 record last week, following a home win over Portland (76-49) on Thursday, followed by a 66-58 win at Memphis on Saturday. Portland had their four-game win streak snapped with a 49-76 loss to Gonzaga, in the only game of the week for the Pilots.
SAINT MARY'S AT A GLANCE SMC has won its last six games and 11 of its last 12 overall...SMC's only loss during that stretch was to No. 14/17 Gonzaga (82-89) on Jan. 14...SMC is 12-2 in McKeon Pavilion this season and has a +22.6 scoring margin in its 12 home wins...following the road win over LMU, the Gaels are 8-0 in road games this season, and are one of two teams (Syracuse) in the country without a road loss...Saint Mary's posted a season-long eight-game win streak before falling to USC on Dec. 23...SMC ranks 11th in the country in scoring, averaging 81.4 points...the Gaels are 9th in the nation with 17.2 assists per game...with the win over Pepperdine on Jan. 28, Omar Samhan became the school's all-time wins leader with 88 victories, and now has 91 wins in his career following the victory over USF.
RADIO AND TELEVISION The game between SMC and Gonzaga will be televised on ESPN2 with Bob Wischusen and Stephen Bardo calling the action. A live audio broadcast will also be available through SMCGaels.com with Rich Davi providing the play-by-play. The audio broadcast will be available for free through the Gaels Live link. Every Saint Mary's basketball game for the 2009-10 season will be available through SMCGaels.com.
OMAR SAMHAN WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK In leading Saint Mary's to wins over Santa Clara and San Francisco this week, Omar Samhan averaged 23.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 7.5 blocks, and 3.0 assists per game, while shooting 54.2 percent (19-35) from the floor. In the win over Santa Clara, he scored a game-high 22 points, and notched his 13th double-double of the season with 12 rebounds to go along with eight blocks, a season-high four assists, and one steal. Against USF, he had his 14th double-double of the season, and 37th of his career, with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while recording seven blocks.
SAMHAN MOVING UP SMC REBOUND LIST; GOES OVER 1,000-REBOUND MARK With 10 rebounds against San Francisco, Omar Samhan now has 1,002 career rebounds and ranks second all-time in rebounds at Saint Mary's. He is the second player in school history and 17th player in WCC history with 1,000 career rebounds. Diamon Simpson ended his SMC career with a school record 1,130 rebounds, so Samhan will need 129 rebounds to pass Simpson. Samhan moved ahead of Tom Meschery (916) following a nine-rebound game against Santa Clara on Jan. 10. Following a 13-rebound performance against San Jose State, Omar Samhan topped the 800-rebound mark for his career and reached the 900-rebound plateau when he had 11 boards against Howard. Samhan is one of nine players in school history with 700 rebounds, and is just the third player to reach 800 rebounds for a career.
GAELS OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS Over the past three seasons, Saint Mary's has posted a 74-17 (.813) overall record, and are averaging 24.6 wins per year during that stretch. The .813 winning percentage over that time ranks sixth in the country, following Kansas (86-12/.8780, Memphis (87-13/.870), Butler (76-14/.844), North Carolina (83-16/.838), and Duke (74-17/.819).
ROAD WARRIORS Following the road wins at Pepperdine and LMU, Saint Mary's is 8-0 on the road this season. SMC is just one of two teams in the country that is unbeaten in road games, as No. 2/3 Syracuse improved to 6-0 on the road this season. SMC is 9-1 when playing away from home, with its only loss to USC in a neutral game.
SCOUTING THE GONZAGA BULLDOGS Gonzaga enters Thursday's game with a 19-4 overall record, and is 7-1 in West Coast Conference play, following an 76-49 win over Portland on Feb. 4. Gonzaga is coming off a 66-58 win at Memphis on Saturday, which snapped a four-game losing streak to the Tigers. The Bulldogs, who are ranked No. 11 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll with 427 votes, and are receiving 693 votes in the Associated Press for a No. 16 national ranking, suffered their only conference loss on Jan. 30 to USF, as the Dons defeated the Zags 81-77 in overtime at War Memorial Gym.
In addition to the loss to San Francisco, Gonzaga suffered a 76-41 loss to Duke on Dec. 19, a 75-71 loss to Michigan state on Nov. 17, and a 77-75 defeat to Wake Forest on Dec. 5.
Gonzaga is averaging 78.3 points per game, which is second in the WCC behind Saint Mary's, while allowing the opposition 68.2 points per game for a +10.1 scoring margin, also second to the Gaels. The Bulldogs are shooting 49.0 percent from the floor, 36.1 percent from three, and 66.1 percent from the free throw line. Gonzaga is allowing its opponents to shoot 41.3 percent from the floor, 32.3 percent from 3-point range, and 63.1 percent from the free throw line. The Bulldogs hold a +5.9 rebounding margin, as its pulling down 39.0 rebounds per game, while its opponents grab 33.1 boards per outing.
Four players for the Bulldogs average in double figures, with Wooden Award and Bob Cousy Award candidate Matt Bouldin leading the way with 16.7 points per game. Bouldin is shooing 47 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three, while pulling down 4.6 rebounds and dishing out a team best 4.1 assists per outing. The team's second leading scorer, and leading rebounder, is freshman Elias Harris, who averages 15.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per outing. Harris, who scored 31 points against SMC in the first meeting of the season, is averaging 19.8 points and 9.9 rebounds during conference play to lead the team in both categories. Also scoring in double figures for Gonzaga are junior guard Steven Gray (13.4 ppg) and redshirt sophomore center Robert Sacra (10.1 ppg).
SMC VERSUS GONZAGA: THE SERIES In a series that dates back to Dec. 17, 1955, Gonzaga holds a 51-23 advantage overall. Gonzaga won all three games played during the 2009-09 season, and after posting an 89-82 win over Saint Mary's in Moraga on Jan. 14, the Bulldogs have won the last five meetings and 25 of the last 28 overall. All three SMC wins during that stretch have come in Moraga, the first in 2005, then again in 2007 and 2008. Saint Mary's is 7-25 all-time versus Gonzaga in Spokane, and are 0-6 since 2004 when playing in the McCarthey Athletic Center. SMC head coach Randy Bennett is 3-18 all-time versus the Bulldogs.
SMC RECEIVING VOTES IN THE TOP-25 This week, Saint Mary's is receiving 29 votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, good enough to be ranked 28th in the country. After not receiving any votes in the preseason poll, SMC has received votes in the coaches poll the last 13 weeks, including a season-high 31 on Dec. 21. Combined with 13 weeks this season, SMC has received votes in the coaches poll 33 of the last 34 weeks the poll has been released. On Dec. 21, SMC received 21 votes in the AP top-25 poll, the most this season. The Gaels have received votes in the last three AP top-25 polls, receiving two (2) votes on Jan. 25, nine (9) votes last week, and 18 votes this week, good enough to be ranked 33rd.
HOW THE GAELS STACK UP NATIONALLY As of Feb. 8, SMC ranks in the top-25 in the country in a number of statistical categories, including: Category Totals Rank Free Throw % 77.2 3rd 3-pt FG% 41.6 4th 3-pt FG% Defense 27.9 4th Assist/Turnover Ratio 1.5 5th 3-pt FG Made 209 8th Winning Percentage 87.5 8th Assists per game 17.2 8th Field Goal Percentage 49.3 8th Total Points 1953 8th Field Goals Made 699 9th 3-pt FG Made per game 8.7 10th Scoring Average 81.4 10th Scoring Margin +15.0 11th Turnovers per game 11.3 19th Blocks per game 5.7 20th
SAMHAN LEADING THE WCC Omar Samhan leads the West Coast Conference in scoring (21.7 ppg), rebounds (11.1 rpg), and blocked shots (3.0 bpg), and is one of the top players in the country in all three categories. He is looking to become the first player to lead the conference in all three categories since Bill Cartwright led the WCC in scoring (24.5 ppg), rebounds (15.7 rpg) and blocks (2.7 bpg) in 1977-78.
SAMHAN TOP-30 NATIONALLY IN 6 CATEGORIES Senior center Omar Samhan continues to be one of the nation's best players, and his numbers more than prove it. Below is where Samhan ranks nationally: Category Totals Rank FG Made 201 2nd Total Points 520 5th Points per game 21.7 12th Total Rebounds 267 6th Rebounds per game 11.1 7th Blocks 71 10th Blocks per game 3.0 13th Double-Doubles 14 5th Samhan is one of two players (Artsiom Parakhouski-Radford) to rank in the top-20 nationally in scoring and rebounds.
SAMHAN GOES OVER 1,600 CAREER POINTS; RANKS THIRD ALL-TIME IN SCORING With 24 points against San Francisco on Thursday, Omar Samhan has 1,642 career points. When he scored 22 against Santa Clara on Feb. 4, he became the fourth player in school history to score 1,600 points, while passing Diamon Simpson (1,603) for third all-time. Samhan became the 26th player in school history to score 1,000 points when he had 17 points against Utah State on Feb. 23, 2009. He opened the year ranked 18th in scoring (1,124 points), and has moved up 14 spots to fourth all-time. He became the sixth player in school history to score 1,400 points, following a 15-point game against Binghamton on Dec. 29, and became the fifth player in school history to score 1,500 points when he scored 31 points against Gonzaga on Jan. 14.
SAMHAN SECOND IN CAREER BLOCKS AT SMC; FOURTH ALL-TIME IN WCC HISTORY With a WCC-leading 71 blocks this season, Samhan now has 230 rejections for his career and is second all-time at SMC behind Diamon Simpson (239). He is one of five players in the history of the WCC with 200 blocked shots, and ranks fourth in the WCC, moving ahead of Casey Calvary (205) of Gonzaga (Simpson is third). He needs 10 blocks to pass Simpson, and has to average 1.6 blocks the rest of the season for the record.
GAELS 3RD IN THE COUNTRY FROM 3-PT LAND This season, SMC has hit 209 3-pointers, and are third (3rd) in the country with a 41.6 3-point field goal percentage. The 209 made threes lead the West Coast Conference and rank eighth in the country. Saint Mary's is averaging 8.7 made three per game (8th nationally). SMC has made at least five three pointers in every game, while making 10 3-pointers in a game seven times this season; against New Mexico State (12), San Diego State (13), Northeastern (10), Binghamton (13), Pepperdine (10), LMU (12), and Santa Clara (10).
MICKEY DIALS LONG DISTANCE; 3RD IN COUNTRY Mickey McConnell is one of the nation's most accurate 3-point shooters, ranking 3rd in the country with a 52.9 3-point FG percentage. McConnell has made 54-of-102 shots from 3-point land, and is one of three players in the top-10 with more than 100 attempts. Ricky Davison of Arkansas-Little Rock leads the nation with a 57.1 (32-56) 3-point FG percentage, Aaron Thompson of CS Fullerton is shooting 54.7 percent (35-64) from behind the arc for second.
UP NEXT FOR THE GAELS Following the two-game road trip to the Pacific Northwest, Saint Mary's will have a light week, and play just one game next week. That game will have the Gaels on the road at San Diego on Thursday, February 18. The game between SMC and San Diego will tip-off at 8 p.m. from the Jenny Craig Pavilion, and will be televised on ESPN2. Saint Mary's defeated the Toreros 71-56 earlier this season, when the teams squared off in Moraga on Jan. 21.
Courtesy: Tod Fierner
