Santa Clara University’s men’s basketball team will host Saint Mary’s at the Leavey Center on Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. PT tip and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Anthony Passarelli and Henry Caruso providing commentary.
Saint Mary’s enters the matchup with a 17-2 overall record and an undefeated 6-0 mark in West Coast Conference (WCC) play. The Gaels are recognized in national polls, ranked No. 28 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), and are coached by Randy Bennett, now in his 25th season. The team has the third-best scoring offense in the WCC at 79.9 points per game and is known for its strong defense, allowing just 65.1 points per contest, which ranks them 19th nationally. Saint Mary’s also leads the nation in free throw percentage at 82%, is seventh in rebound margin, and ranks among the top teams nationally for three-point shooting accuracy.
Key players for Saint Mary’s include junior forward Paulius Murauskas, who leads the WCC with an average of 19.6 points per game. Mikey Lewis and Joshua Dent contribute about 13 points each per game, while sophomore center Andrew McKeever ranks fifth nationally with 184 total rebounds.
The rivalry between Santa Clara and Saint Mary’s dates back to 1910, with Saturday marking their 240th meeting. While Santa Clara holds a historical advantage at 136-103, Saint Mary’s has won the last eight matchups between the teams. Santa Clara’s most recent win against Saint Mary’s came on February 8, 2022.
Last season, Saint Mary’s won both regular-season games against Santa Clara. In their first meeting at Leavey Center on January 29, Santa Clara led at halftime but fell after a strong second-half run by Saint Mary’s resulted in a final score of 67-54. In Moraga two weeks later, despite missing leading scorer Adama-Alpha Bal, Santa Clara kept pace until late in the game before losing 73-64.
Santa Clara improved to a perfect home record this season after defeating Pacific with an 85-69 result earlier this week. Christian Hammond led scoring with 18 points; Elijah Mahi added 15 points and seven rebounds; Allen Graves contributed across multiple categories with 17 points, eight rebounds, three steals, and three blocks.
The Broncos have started their season strong at home with a current streak of ten consecutive wins inside Leavey Center—their best since opening the 2019-20 campaign with fifteen straight home victories.
In conference play this year, Santa Clara is currently third in NET rankings among WCC teams behind Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s and holds a league record of six wins to one loss. Their average margin of victory is plus-18.1 points per game while averaging over ninety-one points per contest—fifth nationally among teams during conference play—and leading the league in several statistical categories including turnover margin and steals.
Saturday’s matchup will feature one of the highest-scoring offenses against one of the strongest defenses within the conference: “Saturday’s showdown pits together one of the WCC’s top scoring offenses against the best scoring defense,” according to team notes.
Redshirt freshman Allen Graves has delivered standout performances recently for Santa Clara—averaging seventeen points along with significant contributions in rebounds, steals, blocks, and assists over his last three games.
Graves was named WCC Freshman of the Week earlier this season after notable performances against Utah Tech and New Mexico: “Allen Graves earned WCC Freshman of the Week honors (the first in program history) for the week of Dec. 8th after averaging 12.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks while shooting 47.8 percent in SCU’s two games against Utah Tech and New Mexico.”
Other weekly award winners from Santa Clara include Elijah Mahi as WCC Player of the Week following his performance against Oregon State: “Elijah Mahi was honored by the WCC as the league’s Player of the Week for the week of Dec.29 after his 23-point performance at Oregon State.” Sash Gavalyugov shared Freshman of the Week honors following his career-high performance versus LMU: “Sash Gavalyugov’s 37-point performance against LMU earned him a share of the WCC’s Freshman of the Week award for the week of Jan.12.”
The upcoming game is expected to draw attention due to both teams’ high level of play within conference competition this season.
