No. 18 Saint Mary's goes for 6th straight (Feb 04, 2017)
No. 18 Saint Mary's will conclude a three-game road trip when it visits San Diego in a West Coast Conference game on Saturday at Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego.
Saint Mary's (20-2, 10-1 WCC) has won five in a row and 14 of its last 15. San Diego (11-12, 4-7) has lost three of four and seven of its last 11, including a 72-60 loss to Saint Mary's on Dec. 31.
The Gaels are coming off a 74-70 victory over Pacific. They led by 19 points in the second half before the Tigers stormed back to get within three.
Jock Landale recorded his 10th double-double of the season for Saint Mary's, posting 22 points and 12 rebounds. It was his fourth double-double in the past five games.
Landale leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 17 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He had 14 points and nine rebounds against San Diego in December.
Saint Mary's remains one game behind top-ranked Gonzaga in the WCC. Guard Emmett Naar was recently asked if the Gaels feel pressured to keep pace with the Bulldogs.
"I wouldn't say there's any pressure," Naar said. "Every game is going to be tough. We just concentrate on the next one. Every team in this league is pretty good this year, so we don't want to put pressure on ourselves. We just want to go out there and play as hard as we can."
Forward Calvin Hermanson said Saint Mary's is eagerly anticipating the Feb. 11 rematch with Gonzaga. The Bulldogs beat the Gaels 79-56 when they met Jan. 14 in Spokane, Wash.
"We're trying to win another championship, so we're trying to win every game," Hermanson said. "We know that (Gonzaga) is at the top right now and we're looking forward to the next time we see them. At the same time, we have to take it one game at a time."
San Diego is coming off a 72-53 loss to Loyola Marymount. Brett Bailey scored 21 points against the Lions. He made 7 of 12 field goal attempts and 3 of 5 from 3-point range. The Toreros shot 39.1 percent from the field and made nine 3-pointers.
Bailey is the team's top scorer and rebounder. He averages 17 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest. Bailey had 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting against Saint Mary's in December.
Olin Carter III is San Diego's second-leading scorer, averaging 15.9 points per game.
Rebounding has been a focal point for the Toreros recently. In the loss to Loyola Marymount, San Diego was outrebounded 30-25. In last week's 68-52 victory over Portland, the Toreros amassed a huge 37-14 rebounding advantage.
"We did an excellent job on the glass," San Diego coach Lamont Smith said. "That was a key going into the game, especially on the offensive glass. We did a great job boxing out and only gave up two offensive rebounds. That was outstanding."
