Ducas' hot start powers No. 21 Saint Mary's past Santa Clara 79-65 and into WCC title game
LAS VEGAS (AP) Alex Ducas set the tone with 18 of his 21 points in the first half, and No. 21 Saint Mary's went on to beat Santa Clara 79-65 on Monday night to make the West Coast Conference Tournament championship game.
The Gaels (25-7) will play No. 17 Gonzaga or San Francisco on Tuesday night in the title game.
“We have a big challenge ahead of us tomorrow, but I was really proud of the way our guys played,” Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett said. “There's a lot of pressure in that game. It's a tough game to play. These guys came ready to play.”
Ducas made 7 of 11, all 3-pointers, and at halftime appeared well on his way to breaking his personal high of 25 points before becoming more of a facilitator in the second half.
“Every time I shoot the ball, I feel like it's going in,” Ducas said. “It's what I bring to the team, to space the floor and shoot the ball. My teammates and my coaches ... give me all the confidence in the world to keep doing it even if I miss a couple.”
The Gaels also had plenty more offensive weapons, with three other players also scoring in double figures that included Mason Forbes with 18 points. Forbes' sister, McKenzie, scored 26 points Sunday to lead No. 5 USC to a 74-61 victory over No. 2 Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament women's championship that also was in Las Vegas.
Forbes wasn't quite ready to claim equal sibling bragging rights.
“We have one more game until I can be in that conversation,” Forbes said. “We knew that was going to be a scrappy game. That was definitely the mindset I had going into the game, to be physical and kind of take the punch to them.”
Carlos Marshall Jr. led Santa Clara (20-13) with 26 points, and Christian Hammond had 13.
“We faced this team before and we felt like we were ready to go today,” Marshall said. “They capitalized on our mistakes.”
Saint Mary's is in the WCC title game for third year in a row and fifth time in six years. The Gaels, who won the regular-season championship outright for the first time in 12 years, last took home the tournament crown in 2019.
They head into the championship having won 22 of 24 games, though the Gaels ended the regular season with a 70-57 loss to Gonzaga on March 2.
Saint Mary's got going right away against Santa Clara when Ducas made two 3-pointers, prompting Broncos coach Herb Sendek to called a timeout just 59 seconds into the game.
The Gaels used an eight-point run to pull ahead for good at 31-23.
Mitchell Saxen, the WCC defensive player of the year, picked up his fourth foul with 12:13 left and played only 25 minutes. He finished with nine points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 2:45 left.
Saint Mary's had plenty of firepower even without Saxen. The Gaels made nine shots in a row at one point and finished shooting 53.6%.
---
Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here.
---
AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
20:00 | (Gaels gains possession) | |||
19:48 | +3 | Alex Ducas makes three point jump shot | 0-3 | |
19:25 | Jalen Benjamin misses two point jump shot | |||
19:23 | Mitchell Saxen defensive rebound | |||
19:04 | +3 | Alex Ducas makes three point jump shot (Mitchell Saxen assists) | 0-6 | |
19:01 | Broncos 30 second timeout | |||
18:50 | Mason Forbes shooting foul (Christoph Tilly draws the foul) | |||
18:50 | +1 | Christoph Tilly makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 1-6 | |
18:50 | +1 | Christoph Tilly makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 2-6 | |
18:30 | Christoph Tilly blocks Augustas Marciulionis's two point layup | |||
18:28 | Johnny O'Neil defensive rebound | |||
18:18 | Christoph Tilly misses two point jump shot | |||
18:16 | Alex Ducas defensive rebound | |||
18:01 | Christoph Tilly blocks Mitchell Saxen's two point hook shot | |||
17:59 | Adama-Alpha Bal defensive rebound | |||
17:47 | +2 | Carlos Marshall Jr. makes two point layup (Johnny O'Neil assists) | 4-6 | |
17:22 | Mitchell Saxen misses two point hook shot | |||
17:20 | Mitchell Saxen offensive rebound | |||
17:16 | +2 | Mitchell Saxen makes two point layup | 4-8 | |
17:08 | Adama-Alpha Bal misses two point layup | |||
17:06 | Christoph Tilly offensive rebound | |||
17:02 | Johnny O'Neil misses three point jump shot | |||
17:00 | Carlos Marshall Jr. offensive rebound | |||
16:56 | +2 | Carlos Marshall Jr. makes two point jump shot | 6-8 | |
16:44 | Christoph Tilly shooting foul (Mason Forbes draws the foul) | |||
16:44 | Mason Forbes misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
16:44 | Mason Forbes misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | |||
16:44 | Alex Ducas offensive rebound | |||
16:31 | Alex Ducas misses three point jump shot | |||
16:29 | Carlos Marshall Jr. defensive rebound | |||
16:21 | +2 | Carlos Marshall Jr. makes two point jump shot | 8-8 | |
15:51 | Aidan Mahaney misses three point jump shot | |||
15:49 | Johnny O'Neil defensive rebound | |||
15:28 | Mitchell Saxen blocks Carlos Marshall Jr.'s two point layup | |||
15:26 | Mitchell Saxen defensive rebound | |||
15:21 | +2 | Augustas Marciulionis makes two point layup | 8-10 | |
14:51 | +3 | Carlos Marshall Jr. makes three point jump shot (Jalen Benjamin assists) | 11-10 | |
14:27 | +2 | Aidan Mahaney makes two point layup | 11-12 | |
14:06 | Carlos Marshall Jr. misses three point jump shot | |||
14:04 | Augustas Marciulionis defensive rebound | |||
14:03 | Camaron Tongue personal foul | |||
14:03 | TV timeout | |||
13:49 | Carlos Marshall Jr. shooting foul (Mitchell Saxen draws the foul) | |||
13:49 | +1 | Mitchell Saxen makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 11-13 | |
13:49 | Mitchell Saxen misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | |||
13:49 | Jake Ensminger defensive rebound | |||
13:19 | Carlos Marshall Jr. misses two point jump shot | |||
13:17 | Mitchell Saxen defensive rebound | |||
13:01 | +2 | Augustas Marciulionis makes two point layup | 11-15 | |
12:39 | +2 | Christian Hammond makes two point jump shot (Carlos Marshall Jr. assists) | 13-15 | |
12:05 | Mitchell Saxen misses two point jump shot | |||
12:03 | Camaron Tongue defensive rebound | |||
11:56 | Tyeree Bryan misses three point jump shot | |||
11:54 | Augustas Marciulionis defensive rebound | |||
11:46 | +3 | Alex Ducas makes three point jump shot (Augustas Marciulionis assists) | 13-18 | |
11:12 | +3 | Camaron Tongue makes three point jump shot (Adama-Alpha Bal assists) | 16-18 | |
10:50 | Jake Ensminger blocks Aidan Mahaney's two point layup | |||
10:48 | Luke Barrett offensive rebound | |||
10:41 | Christian Hammond personal foul | |||
10:41 | TV timeout | |||
10:30 | Mitchell Saxen misses two point hook shot | |||
10:28 | Adama-Alpha Bal defensive rebound | |||
10:19 | Adama-Alpha Bal misses three point jump shot | |||
10:17 | Christoph Tilly offensive rebound | |||
10:05 | Augustas Marciulionis personal foul | |||
9:59 | Christoph Tilly misses two point jump shot | |||
9:57 | Luke Barrett defensive rebound | |||
9:38 | Jump ball. (Broncos gains possession) | |||
9:38 | Mitchell Saxen turnover (lost ball) (Christoph Tilly steals) | |||
9:28 | +2 | Adama-Alpha Bal makes two point jump shot (Christoph Tilly assists) | 18-18 | |
9:07 | Luke Barrett misses three point jump shot | |||
9:05 | Jalen Benjamin defensive rebound | |||
8:57 | Alex Ducas blocks Johnny O'Neil's two point layup | |||
8:55 | Alex Ducas defensive rebound | |||
8:49 | +2 | Augustas Marciulionis makes two point layup (Luke Barrett assists) | 18-20 | |
8:39 | Adama-Alpha Bal misses two point layup | |||
8:37 | Mitchell Saxen defensive rebound | |||
8:27 | Carlos Marshall Jr. personal foul | |||
8:25 | Augustas Marciulionis turnover (bad pass) (Christoph Tilly steals) | |||
8:19 | +2 | Jalen Benjamin makes two point layup (Johnny O'Neil assists) | 20-20 | |
7:54 | Mason Forbes turnover (lost ball) (Tyeree Bryan steals) | |||
7:39 | Jalen Benjamin turnover (bad pass) (Augustas Marciulionis steals) | |||
7:35 | Augustas Marciulionis misses two point layup | |||
7:33 | Johnny O'Neil defensive rebound | |||
7:33 | TV timeout | |||
7:10 | Adama-Alpha Bal turnover (bad pass) (Aidan Mahaney steals) | |||
6:48 | +3 | Alex Ducas makes three point jump shot (Augustas Marciulionis assists) | 20-23 | |
6:36 | Christoph Tilly turnover (lost ball) (Mason Forbes steals) | |||
6:29 | Luke Barrett misses three point jump shot | |||
6:27 | Tyeree Bryan defensive rebound | |||
6:20 | Augustas Marciulionis shooting foul (Jalen Benjamin draws the foul) | |||
6:20 | Jalen Benjamin misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
6:20 | +1 | Jalen Benjamin makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 21-23 | |
5:55 | Luke Barrett misses two point jump shot | |||
5:53 | Tyeree Bryan defensive rebound | |||
5:43 | Adama-Alpha Bal misses two point jump shot | |||
5:41 | Mason Forbes defensive rebound | |||
5:13 | Chris Howell misses three point jump shot | |||
5:11 | Adama-Alpha Bal defensive rebound | |||
5:04 | +2 | Jake Ensminger makes two point layup (Adama-Alpha Bal assists) | 23-23 | |
4:47 | Luke Barrett misses three point jump shot | |||
4:45 | Jake Ensminger defensive rebound | |||
4:40 | Aidan Mahaney personal foul | |||
4:19 | Adama-Alpha Bal misses three point jump shot | |||
4:17 | Gaels defensive rebound | |||
3:53 | +3 | Alex Ducas makes three point jump shot (Mason Forbes assists) | 23-26 | |
3:23 | Adama-Alpha Bal misses two point jump shot | |||
3:21 | Mitchell Saxen defensive rebound | |||
2:59 | +2 | Mason Forbes makes two point layup (Alex Ducas assists) | 23-28 | |
2:45 | Jalen Benjamin misses two point layup | |||
2:43 | Chris Howell defensive rebound | |||
2:36 | +3 | Alex Ducas makes three point jump shot (Chris Howell assists) | 23-31 | |
2:18 | Broncos 30 second timeout | |||
2:18 | TV timeout | |||
2:04 | Carlos Marshall Jr. misses two point jump shot | |||
2:02 | Gaels defensive rebound | |||
1:35 | Christian Hammond personal foul | |||
1:30 | Mitchell Saxen offensive foul | |||
1:30 | Mitchell Saxen turnover (offensive foul) | |||
1:19 | Mitchell Saxen personal foul | |||
1:15 | Carlos Marshall Jr. turnover (out of bounds) | |||
1:12 | Chris Howell turnover (bad pass) (Christian Hammond steals) | |||
1:04 | +2 | Christian Hammond makes two point layup | 25-31 | |
0:43 | Aidan Mahaney misses three point jump shot | |||
0:41 | Luke Barrett offensive rebound | |||
0:39 | Johnny O'Neil personal foul (Luke Barrett draws the foul) | |||
0:39 | +1 | Luke Barrett makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 25-32 | |
0:39 | +1 | Luke Barrett makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 25-33 | |
0:24 | Mason Forbes shooting foul (Christoph Tilly draws the foul) | |||
0:24 | +1 | Christoph Tilly makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 26-33 | |
0:24 | Christoph Tilly misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | |||
0:24 | Luke Barrett defensive rebound | |||
0:04 | Gaels 30 second timeout | |||
0:00 | End of period |