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The Saint Mary's Gaels (16–3, 6–0 West Coast Conference) continued to defensively shut down every team in their path, defeating Pepperdine (7–12, 1–5 WCC) on Saturday night in Malibu to complete the season sweep of the Waves. The Gaels remain the only unbeaten team in WCC play, with every other team in conference having at least two losses. Saint Mary’s has now won 13 in a row on the road—the leading road winning streak in the NCAA. And this is the fifth straight opponent that SMC has held to fewer than 60 points.

Luke Barrett led the Gaels with 14 points, making him SMC's leading scorer against Pepperdine in both meetings this season. Barrett led the Gaels in rebounding as well with seven boards, including four offensive. Mitchell Saxen and Jordan Ross each added 13 points, with Saxen scoring 10 of his in the paint, and Ross scoring nine of his on a perfect 3–3 clip from beyond the arc. Augustas Marciulionis scored 10, all in the second half, to reach 1,000 points for his career. He also dished out a team-high six assists and led the Gaels with two steals. 

Good Looks and Great Looks

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The Gaels fell into an early 6–3 hole, scoring the opening bucket before surrendering a 6–0 run to the Waves. The Gaels pulled level at nine on a sweet connection from Augustas Marciulionis to Paulius Murauskas for a slam. They managed a 32–16 run over the final 16 minutes of the half, riding to a 35–22 lead at halftime. 

Luke Barrett led the Gaels with 12 first half points on 5–7 shooting, not leaving the floor in the half. Jordan Ross chipped in 10, going a perfect 2–2 from three. Paulius Murauskas was limited to just two points, but he ripped down a team high six rebounds. Fellow Lithuanian Augustas Marciulionis played the entire 20 minutes of the first half and, while held scoreless, assisted on four buckets. The Gaels had just three turnovers in the first half, as they were able to run their offense and often pass up good looks for great looks. 

The Gaels again doubled up on the Waves in the first 16 minutes of the second half, outscoring Pepperdine 35–17 to extend their lead out to 31, their largest of the night at 70–39. Eventually going to their bench, the Gaels took their foot off the gas pedal, winning 74–50. In addition to Augustas Marciulionis’ 10 points, Harry Wessels added six points and a team-high five boards in the second frame, while Ashton Hardaway dished out three second half dimes. Again, the Gaels limited their turnovers to just three in the second half.

Overall Wessels was the biggest contributor off the bench, with seven points, seven boards, and two blocks in just 13 minutes. Of the Gaels’ 74 points, 46 came in the paint. In terms of turnovers, Saint Mary's also matched their season low with just six—just as they had done in their last game. 

Welcome to the 1,000 Point Club, Goose

Point guard Augustas Marciulionis reached the 1,000 point mark for his career with his 10th point of the evening. He’s the second Gael this season, and the sixth in the last six years, to hit that milestone, joining Jordan Ford, Tommy Kuhse, Logan Johnson, Alex Ducas, and Mitchell Saxen. A total of 41 Gaels have scored 1,000 points. Marciulionis has been the Gaels’ leading scorer this season, in his quest to repeat as WCC Player of the Year. 

Barrett Shreds These Waves

Earlier this month in Moraga, in the first meeting between Saint Mary’s and Pepperdine this season, fifth year senior Luke Barrett scored a team-high 16 points while ripping down seven boards. On Saturday night in Malibu, he kept his hot streak against Pepperdine going with a team best 14 points and seven rebounds. 

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“I'm not a guy who has the ball in my hands a lot, so my strong offense tonight and any night is always a result of my teammates giving me good looks,” Barrett said. “And they are always doing that.”

Defensively, Barrett once again shined with his matchup against the WCC's second leading scorer, the Waves’ Stefan Todorovic. After limiting Todorovic to 10 points in Moraga earlier this month, Barrett again gave him very little space: Todorovic jacked up 16 shots but converted on just seven of them, with a majority of those shots extremely contested by Barrett. 

“Luke's development has been awesome to watch,” said Associate Head Coach Mickey McConnell. “It's a testament to all of the hard work and time that he has put in. When we took him five years ago, we thought he could be good for us, we just didn't know how long he would take to develop, and he's really become an incredible leader and an incredible hard worker. He's really a product of what we want our program to be all about!"

UP NEXT: The Gaels host San Francisco on Thursday, January 23. It’s Australian Heritage Night at Saint Mary’s. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. inside UCU Pavilion.