Saint Mary\u2019s beat BYU 80-66 in a 71-possession game Saturday night. I was there. This is what I saw.<\/p>\n
Randy Bennett\u2019s track record on defending the three-point line is incredible.<\/b><\/p>\n
For eight consecutive seasons, Saint Mary\u2019s has finished in the top ten in three-point attempt defense<\/a>. They\u2019re on their way to a ninth consecutive season. I\u2019m not sure why this stat doesn\u2019t get more run, but the ratio of three-point percentage defense references to three-point attempt defense references is approximately 950:1 in the media, yet they\u2019re equally important.<\/p>\n Sure, opponents convert threes at a decent rate against the Gaels (35.6% this season), but since they\u2019re not taking that many three-pointers, it isn\u2019t a big issue. Not that anybody is going to overcome a 23-point second-half deficit to Saint Mary\u2019s anyway, but SMC’s ability to prevent three-point attempts makes it easier for them to protect a lead. <\/p>\n BYU normally takes a third of its shots from beyond the arc but in two games against Saint Mary\u2019s just 20% of their shots have been threes, and the Cougars have been playing with a double-digit deficit for most of those 80 minutes. BYU has needed<\/i> to shoot threes and they haven\u2019t been able to do it. Kudos to Gaels\u2019 head coach Randy Bennett, a man with an unwavering and yet largely unnoticed defensive strategy. <\/p>\n Saint Mary\u2019s now roots for BYU<\/b><\/p>\n Here\u2019s how things stand in Pool A of the WCC<\/a> <\/p>\n St. Mary\u2019s 3-0 The Gaels will clinch Pool A, and essentially the top seed in the WCC tournament, should BYU be able to regroup and knock off Gonzaga Thursday night. Otherwise, despite being unbeaten in WCC action, they may need to fight off Gonzaga in Spokane on February 9 to finally break the Zags strangehold on WCC regular-season titles.<\/p>\n Officials: Can\u2019t live with \u2018em. Pass the beer nuts.<\/a><\/b> <\/p>\n You are probably aware of the kerfuffle that took place earlier on Saturday when Karl Hess missed a blatant goaltend towards the end of the West Virginia\/Syracuse<\/a>. As is customary when these cases come up, Hess’s schedule was cited<\/a> as a contributing factor to the missed call. Hess worked every day this past week except Friday<\/a>. No doubt, a few days off here and there would make Hess a better official. However, officials are like people in any other profession in that some are better than others. Kendall Marshall is much more tired than Stilman White and the end of every North Carolina game, but that is hardly reason for Roy Williams to play Stilman White. <\/p>\n Where am I going with this? Well, the Saint Mary’s\/BYU game was not an officiating masterpiece. In fairness, it would have been a challenging game even for the best officials. The home fans are going to have a beef with the officiating no matter what when the home team is down by 12 at the half in a big game. And for whatever reason, many of the fans in the Marriott Center were armed with projectiles which eventually forced the officials to call a technical on the crowd early in the second half. In addition, the game was extremely physical with 48 fouls called and there could have been 10 more. <\/p>\n
\nGonzaga 0-1
\nBYU 0-2<\/p>\n