Saint Mary’s Australian pipeline continues to pay dividends.
Point guard Joshua Dent is the 25th Australian to ever suit up for the Gaels, and he’s a big part of the reason they’re in the running for their third-straight West Coast Conference regular-season championship.
The 6-foot-3 sophomore from Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, will lead Saint Mary’s (22-4, 11-2 WCC) on the road against Pacific (17-10, 8-6 WCC) on Saturday. The Gaels need a win to keep pace with conference-leading Santa Clara (22-5, 13-1) and No. 12 Gonzaga (24-2, 12-1). The Zags play at Santa Clara on Saturday.
Dent has not only shown that he has a knack for lighting up the scoreboard, but he also has a command of the Gaels’ offense that is usually reserved for more veteran players. The 6-foot-3 sophomore is in his first full season as a starter, but he’s No. 2 on the team with 13.1 points a game and No. 3 in the WCC with 149 assists.
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Dent has posted double-doubles in Saint Mary’s past two games. He put up 12 points and 11 assists in an 88-60 win over Pepperdine on Wednesday, and 13 points and 11 assists against San Francisco on Feb. 7. He also finished with 16 points and 11 assists in an 81-51 win over Oregon State on Jan. 21.
Paulius Murauskas has to be up there with Gonzaga’s Graham Ike as the favorites to be named WCC Player of the Year. He leads the Gaels and ranks No. 2 in the conference with 18.7 points a night, and he leads the team with 7.1 rebounds a game.
Murauskas is always going to be a force in the paint, and Mikey Lewis is a savvy, explosive scorer. Adding a talented facilitator like Dent to the mix makes a good offense great.
Pacific has won back-to-back games and five of its past seven, thanks in large part to its ability to control the boards. The Tigers rank No. 3 in the WCC with 38.5 rebounds a game. Six-foot-7 fifth-year senior Elias Ralph leads the team with 16.6 points and 6.7 rebounds. Point guard Jaden Clayton ranks No. 2 in the WCC with 166 assists.
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Saint Mary’s at Pacific Odds
Saint Mary’s is an 8.5-point college basketball betting odds favorite on BetMGM as of this writing, and the Over/Under is 135.5 points.
The Moneyline is at -400 for Saint Mary’s and +300 for Pacific.
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Saint Mary’s at Pacific on TV
The West Coast Conference game featuring Saint Mary’s and Pacific will be televised on ESPN2.
Tip-off is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET.
Saint Mary’s at Pacific Prediction
I predict Saint Mary’s wins, 86-74.
Pacific is sneaky good on the boards, but Saint Mary’s is just better all the way around.
Murauskas is dominant in the paint, Lewis has a lightning-quick first step and isn’t shy about driving to the basket, and Dent is a dangerous scorer in his own right. The Gaels are one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the WCC, and 7-3 center Andrew McKeever is averaging 8.5 points and 9.5 rebounds a night.
The Tigers aren’t going to have an answer for Murauskas inside, especially if Lewis, Dent, or Dillan Shaw get hot from 3-point range.
Saint Mary’s needs to win its next three games before ending the regular season with back-to-back home games against Santa Clara (Feb. 25) and Gonzaga (Feb. 28).
