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LAS VEGAS – Alex Ducas scored 23 points to lead four Saint Mary’s players in double digits, and No. 16 Gaels held off a late BYU rally to a 76-69 Monday night win in the West Coast Conference Semifinals.
The Gaels (26-6) will play for their fourth WCC title in five years on Tuesday night, taking on No. 9 Gonzaga or San Francisco. Saint Mary’s will be looking to win their first championship since 2019.
BYU (19-15) will wait to see if the NIT has an opening. The Cougars have a NET rating of No. 85, so they are at best on the bubble. If they don’t make the postseason, this will be their last game as a WCC team; the program joins the Big 12 Conference next season.
Aidan Mahaney scored 18 points, Mitchell Saxen had 12 and Logan Johnson 10 for Saint Mary’s.
Spencer Johnson led BYU with 13 points, Richie Saunders scored 11 and Rudi Williams added 10.
It was BYU’s first loss on a neutral court this season after going 7-0, including 3-0 in Las Vegas. The Cougars won the then-No. 21 Creighton in November and won their first two games of this tournament.
Both of the regular season games between Saint Mary’s and BYU were close, with the Gaels winning by a combined seven points.
The third meeting felt like an early escape. Saint Mary’s surged 11-1 to go up 20-8 and ended the first half with a five-point possession courtesy of a technical set piece to go into halftime ahead 37-20.
BYU also entered a cold spell, going scoreless between a Jaxson Robinson field goal with 4:54 left in the first half to Spencer Johnson’s layup 11 seconds into the second period.
Saint Mary’s advanced by 26 in the second half before the Cougars made a 10-point run to cut the deficit to 56-40. The Gaels played the rest of the game like they couldn’t wait for Tuesday, and BYU had a nine-point run to make it 64-56 with 4:50 left.
The Cougars made it 72-69 with 32.1 seconds left before Kyle Bowen made a breakaway layup and Mahaney hit a free throw to give Saint Mary’s some breathing room again.
BIG PICTURE
BYU: With this being the final WCC event for the Cougars, they clearly need an upgrade if they’re going to compete in the Big 12. They’re young, with seven players in their first or second year on the roster, but picking up some key players on the transfer portal it will be crucial.
Saint Mary’s: The Gaels played far from a perfect game. They went more than five minutes into the second half without a field goal and missed 13 free throws. Saint Mary’s was on a roll after BYU put on a 10-point run. This type of play could easily result in a loss of the WCC Championship or the NCAA Tournament.
NEXT
Saint Mary’s will play for seeding in the NCAA Tournament when they face Gonzaga or San Francisco. BYU will wait to see if the NIT league or perhaps another tournament like the CBI if the Cougars would accept an offer.
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