GAMEDAY Mens Basketball
Saint Mary's 71, Brigham Young 65
(AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vsquez)
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Sports Writer
MORAGA, Calif. - Logan Johnson scored 27 points and Aidan Mahaney delivered once again in the second half to lead No. 17 Saint Mary's to a 71-65 victory over BYU for the Gaels' 15th win in 16 games.
Mahaney scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Mitchell Saxen added 13. The Gaels (24-5, 13-1 West Coast Conference) won their 16th straight conference home game to maintain a one-game lead over Gonzaga in the standings.
Fousseyni Traore scored 16 points to lead the Cougars (16-14, 6-9). BYU has lost four straight and was swept in the season series by the Gaels.
Mahaney hit the game-winner in the closing seconds of a 57-56 win at BYU three weeks ago. He stepped up again in the second half of the rematch.
With the Gaels leading by two early in the second half, Mahaney got a steal and assist on Johnson's fast-break basket to start the key sequence. He then hit a step-back 3-pointer and two more free throws to build a 50-41 lead.
The Cougars then cut a 13-point deficit to 63-60 on a 3-pointer by Dallin Hall just before the shot clock expired with about four minutes left.
Hall missed two 3-pointers that could have tied the game before Traore's layup cut it to 63-62 with two minutes left.
Johnson answered with a layup at the other end for Saint Mary's and Mahaney put the game away with a 3-pointer with 46.8 seconds to play to give the Gaels the win in the final regular-season meeting between the teams before BYU leaves for the Big 12 next season.
Johnson scored 14 points in the first half - mostly on drives - and Saint Mary's led 33-27 at the break.
BIG PICTURE
BYU: The Cougars will be glad to be done with their annual trip to Saint Mary's after falling to 3-11 all-time here. BYU is 10-17 against the Gaels since joining the WCC in the 2011-12 season. The Cougars have won more than 70% of the games against every other team in the conference other than Gonzaga.
Saint Mary's: The Gaels maintained their one-game lead over Gonzaga in the race for the regular-season conference title. Saint Mary's can clinch its first outright WCC title since 2012 by beating the Bulldogs next Saturday night on the road.
February 18, 2023
| BYU | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| F. Traore | F | 31 | 7-11 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 2-6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| G. George | F | 18 | 0-5 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| S. Johnson | G | 35 | 5-10 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1-7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| D. Hall | G | 23 | 2-9 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| J. Robinson | G | 20 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| N. Waterman | 26 | 4-6 | 1-1 | 2-3 | 1-3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 11 | |
| R. Williams | 17 | 4-9 | 2-2 | 2-4 | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 12 | |
| R. Saunders | 16 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| A. Ally Atiki | 9 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| T. Stewart | 6 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Totals | 201 | 24-57 (.421) |
8-10 (.800) |
9-19 (.474) |
11-31 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 19 | 65 | |
| Saint Mary's | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| K. Bowen | F | 35 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1-5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| M. Saxen | C | 33 | 5-10 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 4-7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 13 |
| L. Johnson | G | 40 | 12-19 | 3-5 | 0-2 | 0-7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 27 |
| A. Ducas | G | 35 | 1-7 | 3-3 | 1-5 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| A. Mahaney | G | 35 | 5-12 | 4-6 | 2-4 | 1-3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 16 |
| H. Wessels | 7 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| L. Barrett | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| J. Jefferson | 5 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| A. Marciulionis | 5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| C. Howell | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 200 | 26-52 (.500) |
15-21 (.714) |
4-13 (.308) |
7-30 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 71 | |
