# 2021–22 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team were led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 21st season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels played their home games at the University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, California, as members of the West Coast Conference (WCC). They finished the season 26–8, 12–3 in WCC play to finish in second place. As the No. 2 seed in WCC tournament, they defeated Santa Clara in the semifinals, before losing to Gonzaga in the Championship. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed in the East Region, where they defeated Indiana in the first round before losing to UCLA in the second round.

## Previous season

The Gaels finished the 2020–21 season 14–10, 4–6 in WCC play to finish in seventh place. They defeated Loyola Marymount before losing to Gonzaga in the semifinals of the WCC tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NIT where they lost to Western Kentucky in the first round.

## Offseason
### Departures

There were no Saint Mary's players that departed or transferred.

### 2021 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Chris Howell #38 PF | San Marcos, CA | Torrey Pines High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Sep 25, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Augustas Marčiulionis PG | Vilnius, Lithuania | BC Rytas Vilnius | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 181 lb (82 kg) | May 16, 2021 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| 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. "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., WCC Network | | Prairie View A&M | W 87–68 | 1–0 | University Credit Union Pavilion (2,283) Moraga, CA |
| November 12, 2021* 7:00 p.m., WCC Network | | Texas Southern | W 67–58 | 2–0 | University Credit Union Pavilion (2,602) Moraga, CA |
| November 15, 2021* 7:00 p.m., WCC Network | | Southern Utah | W 70–51 | 3–0 | University Credit Union Pavilion (2,031) Moraga, CA |
| November 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., WCC Network | | Bellarmine | W 73–64 | 4–0 | University Credit Union Pavilion (2,265) Moraga, CA |
| November 22, 2021* 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. Notre Dame Maui Invitational tournament quarterfinals | W 62–59 | 5–0 | Michelob Ultra Arena Paradise, NV |
| November 23, 2021* 5:00 p.m., ESPN | | vs. Oregon Maui Invitational Tournament semifinal | W 62–50 | 6–0 | Michelob Ultra Arena Paradise, NV |
| November 24, 2021* 2:00 p.m, ESPN | | vs. Wisconsin Maui Invitational Tournament championship | L 55–61 | 6–1 | Michelob Ultra Arena (2,901) Paradise, NV |
| November 29, 2021* 7:00 p.m., WCC Network | | UC Riverside | W 67–50 | 7–1 | University Credit Union Pavilion (2,594) Moraga, CA |
| December 2, 2021* 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Utah State | W 60–58 | 8–1 | Smith Spectrum (8,888) Logan, UT |
| December 4, 2021* 1:00 p.m., Stadium | | at Colorado State | L 58–74 | 8–2 | Moby Arena (7,004) Fort Collins, CO |
| December 11, 2021* 3:00 p.m., WCC Network | | UC Santa Barbara | W 80–59 | 9–2 | University Credit Union Pavilion (3,019) Moraga, CA |
| December 14, 2021* 7:00 p.m., WCC Network | | Stanislaus State | W 76–39 | 10–2 | University Credit Union Pavilion (631) Moraga, CA |
| December 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. San Diego State Jerry Colangelo Classic | L 53–63 | 10–3 | Footprint Center (1,500) Phoenix, AZ |
| December 22, 2021* 7:00 p.m., SCS Atlantic | | Missouri State | W 75–58 | 11–3 | University Credit Union Pavilion (2,716) Moraga, CA |
| December 28, 2021* 7:00 p.m., SCS Atlantic | | Yale | W 87–60 | 12–3 | University Credit Union Pavilion (2,904) Moraga, CA |
| WCC regular season ||||||
| January 8, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at BYU | L 43–52 | 12–4 (0–1) | Marriott Center (17,544) Provo, UT |
| January 13, 2022 8:00 p.m., NBCSBA | | at Pepperdine | W 77–62 | 13–4 (1–1) | Firestone Fieldhouse (580) Malibu, CA |
| January 15, 2022 4:30 p.m., NBCSCA | | Pacific | Canceled | Canceled | University Credit Union Pavilion Moraga, CA |
| January 20, 2022 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Santa Clara | W 73–65 | 14–4 (2–1) | University Credit Union Pavilion (3,056) Moraga, CA |
| January 22, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Loyola Marymount | W 83–51 | 15–4 (3–1) | Gersten Pavilion (1,027) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 27, 2022 7:00 p.m., Stadium | | at San Francisco | W 72–70 | 16–4 (4–1) | War Memorial Gymnasium (2,833) San Francisco, CA |
| January 29, 2022 5:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Pepperdine | W 81–57 | 17–4 (5–1) | University Credit Union Pavilion (3,029) Moraga, CA |
| February 3, 2022 8:00 p.m., NBCSCA | | at Portland | W 75–54 | 18–4 (6–1) | Chiles Center (1,113) Portland, OR |
| February 5, 2022 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Loyola Marymount | W 71–60 | 19–4 (7–1) | University Credit Union Pavilion (3,044) Moraga, CA |
| February 8, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 22 | at Santa Clara Rescheduled from Jan. 6 | L 72–77 | 19–5 (7–2) | Leavey Center (1,714) Santa Clara, CA |
| February 10, 2022 6:00 p.m., NBCSCA | No. 22 | San Diego | W 86–57 | 20–5 (8–2) | University Credit Union Pavilion (2,763) Moraga, CA |
| February 12, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 22 | at No. 2 Gonzaga Rivalry | L 58–74 | 20–6 (8–3) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| February 17, 2022 7:00 p.m., NBCSBA+ | | San Francisco Rescheduled from Jan. 1 | W 69–64 | 21–6 (9–3) | University Credit Union Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| February 19, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | BYU | W 69–64 | 22–6 (10–3) | University Credit Union Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| February 24, 2022 7:00 p.m., Stadium | No. 23 | at San Diego | W 60–46 | 23–6 (11–3) | Jenny Craig Pavilion (1,043) San Diego, CA |
| February 26, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 23 | No. 1 Gonzaga Rivalry | W 67–57 | 24–6 (12–3) | University Credit Union Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| WCC tournament ||||||
| March 7, 2022* 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (2) No. 17 | vs. (3) Santa Clara Semifinals | W 75–72 | 25–6 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| March 8, 2022* 6:00 p.m., ESPN | (2) No. 17 | vs. (1) No. 1 Gonzaga Championship | L 69–82 | 25–7 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 17, 2022* 4:20 p.m., TBS | (5 E) No. 18 | vs. (12 E) Indiana First Round | W 82–53 | 26–7 | Moda Center Portland, OR |
| March 19, 2022* 4:10 p.m., TBS | (5 E) No. 18 | vs. (4 E) No. 11 UCLA Second Round | L 56–72 | 26–8 | Moda Center (17,907) Portland, OR |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | 22 | RV | 23 | 19 | 17 | 18 | Not released |
| Coaches | — | —^ | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | RV | RV | 22 | RV | 23 | 20 | 17 | 16т | 20 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings. ^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.