Randy Bennett leaving Saint Mary's to become Arizona State's coach
Arizona State has lured Randy Bennett away from Saint Mary's to become its next men's basketball coach.
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Arizona State has lured Randy Bennett away from Saint Mary's to become its next men's basketball coach.
Sash Gavalyugov scored 23 points including a back-breaking 3-pointer to lead Santa Clara to a 76-71 victory over No. 21 Saint Mary's in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament to take a big step toward making the Big Dance.
Braden Huff scored 18 points and Gonzaga avenged two regular-season losses to Saint Mary's to beat the 19th-ranked Gaels 58-51 in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship.
Graham Ike totaled 27 points and 10 rebounds, Khalif Battle scored 21 and Gonzaga advanced to its 28th straight West Coast Conference Tournament championship game after an 85-76 victory over San Francisco at Orleans Arena in a West Coast Conference semifinal.
The Gales (27-4) are ranked 21st in the country after winning back-to-back outright regular-season titles in the West Coast Conference and head into the conference tournament with a chance to repeat as champions.
Aidan Mahaney scored 23 points, Mitchell Saxen had 19 points and 15 rebounds and No. 21 Saint Mary's led nearly the entire way beat No. 17 Gonzaga 69-60 on Tuesday night and interrupt the Bulldogs' stranglehold on the West Coast Conference Tournament title.
Augustas Marciulionis had 17 points and 11 assists, Luke Barrett added 14 points and No. 17 Saint Mary's beat Pepperdine 83-57 on Thursday night to win the West Coast Conference regular-season championship.
Saint Mary's has engineered an impressive turnaround after stumbling to five losses in the first eight games of a season that began with high expectations.
Gonzaga's players heard the criticisms this wasn't the same Bulldogs team that has been among the nation's elite in recent years, and they even struggled themselves to live up to the program's enormous expectations.
No. 12 Gonzaga (23-5, 12-2) is a game back of No. 15 Saint Mary's (24-5, 13-1) in what is shaping up to be one of the most hotly contested races in the West Coast Conference in years.
