Meet Andrew McKeever: The 7’1” redshirt freshman makes his Saint Mary’s debut with 10 points, seven rebounds, and a pair of blocks. His performance earned him accolades as West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week. / Photo by Tod Fierner for SMC Athletics
Everyone Contributes in Gaels’ 40-Point Victory over Stanislaus State, and SMC is Now 5–0
Harry Wessels leads SMC with 14 points, Andrew McKeever makes his college debut with 10 points, four Gaels rack up double digits, and multiple players mark career-high tallies.
All 12 active players for Saint Mary’s (5–0) saw at least seven minutes of action in Wednesday night’s game at the UCU Pavilion as the Gaels cruised to a 78-38 victory over the Stanislaus State Warriors (3–1) of the NCAA DII ranks. The Gaels led wire-to-wire for the second time this season, once again flexing their muscles against an undersized team to the tune of 51 rebounds, 13 offensive rebounds, 48 points in the paint, and 15 second chance points.
Four different Gaels scored in double figures, led by Harry Wessels, who scored 14, shooting 71% from the field and a perfect 4–4 from the charity stripe. Right behind Wessels was defending West Coast Conference Player of the Year Augustas Marciulionis, who chipped in 14, knocking down three triples for the second time this season. Paulius Murauskas scored 10 with 11 rebounds. Redshirt freshman Andrew McKeever made his college debut and scored 10 points, including a layup in the final possession, along with seven rebounds.
Head Full of Steam
The Gaels opened the game by converting on each of their first four field goals as well as a pair of free throws to build an early 10–4 lead. It wasn't until the 15:51 mark in the first half that Saint Mary’s missed their first shot—but the Warriors kept up the intensity, limiting the score deficit between two and three possessions for the first seven minutes and change. Just shy of the second media timeout, however, the Gaels began to string together long runs of stops and scores, outscoring Stanislaus 29–9 over the final 12:30 of the first half, taking a 44-18 lead into the break.
Augustas Marciulionis led the way for the Gaels with 10 points, converting on 4–5 field goal attempts, including a pair of threes. Paulius Murauskas added six points and a team-high seven rebounds in the first frame. Jordan Ross also scored six and had two assists; Cade Bennett also chipped in a pair of assists. The Gaels demonstrated their physicality throughout the first half, finishing out the frame +13 on the boards, +7 on second chance points, and +14 on points in the paint.
Momentum from the first rolled into the second, as the Gaels widened their lead to 37 points with 10:52 remaining, riding a 16–5 stretch to open the half. The Saint Mary's lead remained in the 30s until Andrew McKeever scored a layup in the final possession to push it out to 40 at 78–38, the final score. In his collegiate debut, McKeever went for 10 points and seven boards, all coming in 10:40 of play in the second half.
The Gaels recorded 10 of their 14 made field goals in the second half off of assists. Cade Bennett accounted for five of those assists and added a career-high seven dimes to just one turnover. Jordan Ross dished out five with just one turnover. Twenty-three of the Gaels’ 34 second half points came from the bench, while 24 of their 34 were scored in the paint.
Career Highs Aplenty
Plenty of Gaels were able to record career marks in a number of categories. In his collegiate debut, every number was a career-high for Andrew McKeever, but most notably, the redshirt freshman out of Livermore, California, scored 10 points, connecting on 5–6 field goal attempts, and ripping down seven rebounds, including three of the offensive variety. On the other end of the floor McKeever used his 7’1” size to his advantage defensively, with two massive rejections.
Cade Bennett’s five points also marked a career-high scoring output, as he connected on multiple field goal attempts for the first time in his career. Bennett also had career highs in rebounding (3), assists (7), and minutes played (17).
Ashton Hardaway set a new career high with seven rebounds to go along with his new Saint Mary's scoring high of seven points. Jordan Ross had a career-best five assists, to go along with eight points. Rounding out the group, Joshua Dent picked up his first two collegiate rebounds and his first collegiate assists.
Andrew McKeever’s performance during this week of play earned him accolades as the . That makes back-to-back honors in this category for the Gaels, after Mikey Lewis earned props as both Player of the Week and Freshman of the week.
Luke Barrett, a Must Play
Luke Barrett may not have put up jaw-dropping numbers—seven points, seven rebounds, two steals—but he made his presence felt when he was on the court: The Gaels were +45 when the Piedmont native was on the floor. Barrett played nearly 29 minutes, often leading the Gaels on long scoring runs, due in part to both his savvy offense and stellar defense.
This season, overall the Gaels are +92 when Barrett is on the floor. More impressively, Barrett leads the team with 177 minutes played in the first five games of the year, as he has gone from spark plug off the bench to spark plug on the floor for a majority of the Saint Mary’s contests.
UP NEXT: The Gaels welcome Cal Poly to UCU Pavilion on Saturday, November 23. Tip off is set for 5 p.m.
Story updated November 27, 2024 to note Andrew McKeever’s honors as WCC Freshman of the Week.
