# 2018–19 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 18th season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, California as members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 22–12, to finish in 2nd place. In the WCC Tournament, they defeated San Diego in the semifinals and beat Gonzaga in the championship to win the WCC Tournament. Therefore, they received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and they lost in the first round to Villanova.

## Previous season

The Gaels finished the 2017–18 season 30–6, 16–2 in West Coast Conference play to finish in second place. As the No. 2 seed in the WCC tournament, they defeated Pepperdine in the quarterfinals before losing to BYU in the semifinals. They were one of the last four teams not selected for the NCAA tournament and as a result earned a No. 1 seed in the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Southeastern Louisiana in the first round and Washington in the second round before losing to Utah in the quarterfinals.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Emmett Naar | 3 | G | 6'1" | 195 | RS Senior | Sydney, Australia | Graduated |
| Evan Fitzner | 21 | C | 6'10" | 230 | RS Junior | San Diego, CA | Graduate transferred to Indiana |
| Calvin Hermanson | 24 | F | 6'6" | 200 | RS Senior | Lake Oswego, OR | Graduated |
| Jock Landale | 34 | C | 6'11" | 255 | Senior | Malvern East, Australia | Graduated |
| Cullen Neal | 34 | G | 6'4" | 191 | RS Senior | Albuquerque, NM | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Aaron Menzies | 41 | C | 7'3" | 285 | RS Senior | Manchester, England | Transferred from Seattle. Will eligible to play since Menzies graduated from Seattle. |

### 2018 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Matthias Tass C | Tallinn, Estonia | Tallinna Reaalkool | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Sep 26, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Quinn Clinton PG | Christchurch, New Zealand | Christchurch Boys' High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Alex Mudronja PG | Adelaide, Australia | Australia Institute of Sport | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Dan Fotu SF | New Zealand | New Zealand Breakers | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A | |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: nr Rivals: nr ESPN: nr ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "ESPN". ESPN.com. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 7, 2018* 7:00 pm | | McNeese State MGM Resorts Main Event campus-site game | W 87–65 | 1–0 | McKeon Pavilion (2,673) Moraga, CA |
| November 11, 2018* 5:00 pm | | Utah Valley MGM Resorts Main Event campus-site game | W 92–63 | 2–0 | McKeon Pavilion (2,751) Moraga, CA |
| November 14, 2018* 6:00 pm, FCS/Eleven | | at New Mexico State | W 73–58 | 3–0 | Pan American Center (6,660) Las Cruces, NM |
| November 19, 2018* 5:30 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. Utah State MGM Resorts Main Event Heavyweight semifinals | L 63–80 | 3–1 | T-Mobile Arena Paradise, NV |
| November 21, 2018* 5:30 pm, BD Global | | vs. No. 15 Mississippi State MGM Resorts Main Event Heavyweight 3rd place game | L 57–61 | 3–2 | T-Mobile Arena Paradise, NV |
| November 24, 2018* 6:00 pm | | Harvard | L 68–74 | 3–3 | McKeon Pavilion (3,247) Moraga, CA |
| November 28, 2018* 7:00 pm | | UC Irvine | L 75–80 | 3–4 | McKeon Pavilion (2,511) Moraga, CA |
| December 1, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | California | W 84–71 | 4–4 | McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| December 4, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Bethune–Cookman | W 93–61 | 5–4 | McKeon Pavilion (2,307) Moraga, CA |
| December 7, 2018* 4:00 pm, Flo Sports | | vs. New Mexico Basketball Hall of Fame Classic | W 85–60 | 6–4 | Staples Center (7,235) Los Angeles, CA |
| December 10, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Cal State Fullerton | W 81–66 | 7–4 | McKeon Pavilion (2,429) Moraga, CA |
| December 15, 2018* 7:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. LSU Neon Hoops Showcase | L 74–78 | 7–5 | T-Mobile Arena (5,107) Paradise, NV |
| December 19, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Bucknell | W 85–56 | 8–5 | McKeon Pavilion (2,622) Moraga, CA |
| December 22, 2018* 12:00 pm | | at Western Kentucky | L 68–71 | 8–6 | E. A. Diddle Arena (5,026) Bowling Green, KY |
| December 29, 2018* 5:00 pm | | San Jose State | W 75–45 | 9–6 | McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| WCC regular season ||||||
| January 3, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at San Francisco | L 72–76 | 9–7 (0–1) | War Memorial Gymnasium (3,005) San Francisco, CA |
| January 5, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | BYU | W 88–66 | 10–7 (1–1) | McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| January 12, 2019 7:00 pm, NBCSBA | | at Loyola Marymount | W 71–60 | 11–7 (2–1) | Gersten Pavilion (1,703) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 17, 2019 8:00 pm, NBCSBA | | Santa Clara | W 75–55 | 12–7 (3–1) | McKeon Pavilion (3,261) Moraga, CA |
| January 19, 2019 6:00 pm, NBCSBA | | San Diego | W 76–59 | 13–7 (4–1) | McKeon Pavilion (3,389) Moraga, CA |
| January 24, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at BYU | L 66–71 | 13–8 (4–2) | Marriott Center (11,427) Provo, UT |
| January 26, 2019 5:00 pm, NBCSCA | | Pepperdine | L 77–84 $^{OT}$ | 13–9 (4–3) | McKeon Pavilion (1,815) Moraga, CA |
| February 2, 2019 1:00 pm, NBCSCA | | San Francisco | W 86–80 | 14–9 (5–3) | McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| February 7, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | Pacific | W 78–66 | 15–9 (6–3) | McKeon Pavilion (2,764) Moraga, CA |
| February 9, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 4 Gonzaga Rivalry | L 46–94 | 15–10 (6–4) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| February 14, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Santa Clara | W 66–55 | 16–10 (7–4) | Leavey Center (2,176) Santa Clara, CA |
| February 16, 2019 8:00 pm, NBCSBA | | Pepperdine | W 72–65 | 17–10 (8–4) | McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| February 21, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Pacific | W 58–32 | 18–10 (9–4) | Alex G. Spanos Center (2,343) Stockton, CA |
| February 23, 2019 6:00 pm | | at San Diego | W 66–46 | 19–10 (10–4) | Jenny Craig Pavilion (3,189) San Diego, CA |
| February 28, 2019 8:00 pm, NBCSCA | | Portland | W 65–48 | 20–10 (11–4) | McKeon Pavilion (3,254) Moraga, CA |
| March 2, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 1 Gonzaga Rivalry | L 55–69 | 20–11 (11–5) | McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| WCC tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2019 8:30 pm, ESPN2 | (2) | vs. (7) San Diego Semifinals | W 69–62 | 21–11 | Orleans Arena (7,642) Paradise, NV |
| March 12, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN | (2) | vs. (1) No. 1 Gonzaga Championship/Rivalry | W 60–47 | 22–11 | Orleans Arena (7,771) Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 21, 2019* 4:20 pm, TBS | (11 S) | vs. (6 S) No. 23 Villanova First Round | L 57–61 | 22–12 | XL Center (14,695) Hartford, CT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||
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