Back in October, before the season-opening win over St. Francis, before the school-record 19-game winning streak, before the stumbles down the stretch that led to the disappointment of not receiving an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, St. Mary?s scrimmaged Utah.
On Wednesday night at McKeon Pavilion, the stakes will be quite a bit higher than a mere scrimmage: One of those teams will earn a trip to New York for the NIT semifinals and the other?s season will end.
St. Mary?s head coach Randy Bennett didn?t follow Utah during the season, but he knows what Larry Krystowiak has built with the Utes.
?I?m familiar with their program,? Bennett said Monday night. ?? They?re tough, physical, well-coached.?
Utah (21-11) advanced to Wednesday?s quarterfinal with a 95-71 rout of visiting LSU on Monday evening. St. Mary?s (30-5) advanced by outlasting Washington 85-81 at McKeon.
Guard Jordan Ford had a game-high 26 points. The sophomore scored 10 of the Gaels? final 12 points, including six in the last 47 seconds.
He?s awesome. He?s fun to play with, fun to watch,? said forward Evan Fitzner, who came off the bench to score 20 points. ?It?s cool because you see how hard he works every day. ? He puts a lot into it, so it?s really cool to see the rewards he gets out of it.?
The winner Wednesday gets rewarded with a spot in Tuesday?s semifinals at Madison Square Garden against the winner of the Western Kentucky-Oklahoma State game. For what it?s worth, Ford has not been to New York City.
?I?ve actually wanted to go there since I was a little kid,? he said.
Ford and his teammates have to deal with Utah guard Justin Bibbins. The 5-foot-8 first-team All-Pac-12 selection hit four of Utah?s 14 three-pointers Monday night.
Briefly: St. Mary?s beat Utah 70-58 in Moraga in a 2014 NIT matchup, a game the Utes led 11-0. ? Twice in the past decade, the Gaels reached the NIT quarterfinals but lost road games, to San Diego State in 2009 and Valparaiso in 2016. ? Seniors Calvin Hermanson, Jock Landale and Emmett Naar have become the winningest players (109) in St. Mary?s history. Matthew Dellavedova, Clint Steindl, Tim Williams and Mitch Young were on teams that won 108 games. ? This is the Utes? first appearance in the Bay Area this season. They did not play at Cal or Stanford, but did beat both the Bears and Cardinal in Salt Lake City last month.
On Wednesday night at McKeon Pavilion, the stakes will be quite a bit higher than a mere scrimmage: One of those teams will earn a trip to New York for the NIT semifinals and the other?s season will end.
St. Mary?s head coach Randy Bennett didn?t follow Utah during the season, but he knows what Larry Krystowiak has built with the Utes.
?I?m familiar with their program,? Bennett said Monday night. ?? They?re tough, physical, well-coached.?
Utah (21-11) advanced to Wednesday?s quarterfinal with a 95-71 rout of visiting LSU on Monday evening. St. Mary?s (30-5) advanced by outlasting Washington 85-81 at McKeon.
Guard Jordan Ford had a game-high 26 points. The sophomore scored 10 of the Gaels? final 12 points, including six in the last 47 seconds.
He?s awesome. He?s fun to play with, fun to watch,? said forward Evan Fitzner, who came off the bench to score 20 points. ?It?s cool because you see how hard he works every day. ? He puts a lot into it, so it?s really cool to see the rewards he gets out of it.?
The winner Wednesday gets rewarded with a spot in Tuesday?s semifinals at Madison Square Garden against the winner of the Western Kentucky-Oklahoma State game. For what it?s worth, Ford has not been to New York City.
?I?ve actually wanted to go there since I was a little kid,? he said.
Ford and his teammates have to deal with Utah guard Justin Bibbins. The 5-foot-8 first-team All-Pac-12 selection hit four of Utah?s 14 three-pointers Monday night.
Briefly: St. Mary?s beat Utah 70-58 in Moraga in a 2014 NIT matchup, a game the Utes led 11-0. ? Twice in the past decade, the Gaels reached the NIT quarterfinals but lost road games, to San Diego State in 2009 and Valparaiso in 2016. ? Seniors Calvin Hermanson, Jock Landale and Emmett Naar have become the winningest players (109) in St. Mary?s history. Matthew Dellavedova, Clint Steindl, Tim Williams and Mitch Young were on teams that won 108 games. ? This is the Utes? first appearance in the Bay Area this season. They did not play at Cal or Stanford, but did beat both the Bears and Cardinal in Salt Lake City last month.
