MORAGA, Calif. — A little over a year ago, a 3-4 Saint Mary’s squad, coming off of a narrow seven point loss to Utah, made its way to Idaho Falls to take on Boise State. The Gaels fell into an 11-0 hole in that one, and while they found their stride in the second half, would narrowly fall 63-60. Flash forward 54 weeks and you will see the same two teams matched up in the same venue, but with a very different scene set. The Gaels have opened up the 2024-25 campaign 9-1, fresh off of their first win over the Utes in Salt Lake City in nearly 70 years. There’s no doubt that momentum is squarely on the Gaels side coming into this one, unlike a season ago, as Boise State has lost two of their last three after starting 4-1, but still run out an experienced group, many of whom played key roles in last season’s win over the Gaels. This rematch between the Gaels and Broncos is now set to take center stage at the Mountain America Center in what should be an extremely entertaining Saturday night clash.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary’s Gaels (9-1) vs. Boise State Broncos (6-3)
Saturday, December 14 at 6 PM PST
Mountain America Center – Idaho Falls, ID
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
CONTINUED NON-CONFERENCE DOMINANCE
Between 2007 and 2023, the Saint Mary’s Gaels have enjoyed extreme success in regular season non-conference play. In fact, in that time period, Saint Mary’s has experience more than four losses in regular season non-conference competition just twice (2018-19 and 2023-24). Well, you can add another year to the “four loss or less” list as with Saturday night’s win over Utah, the Gaels guaranteed a regular season non-conference record to fall anywhere between 12-1 and 9-4. In the Bennett era at Saint Mary’s, the Gaels have enjoyed three one loss regular season non-conference slates, 2008-09 (13-1), 2015-16 (8-1) and 2016-17 (10-1). The Gaels will hope to add 2024-25 to that list, with their final three non-conference regular season clashes come against Boise State, Merrimack and Utah State.
CAN’T TAKE HIM OFF THE FLOOR
In his first season as a starter, Luke Barrett continues to show himself as the ultimate energy guy for the Gaels. A season ago, Barrett was a 17 minute a game spark plug who added a burst of energy to the lineup both offensively and defensively. This year, Barrett has expanded on that role, bringing the same jolt of energy for the Gaels, for nearly 40 minutes per game. Luke currently ranks third in the country, averaging 37.4 minutes per game. While his overall numbers are the best they’ve been in his career (10.6 PPG 44% FG 7.7 RPG), it’s everything that he does on the court not reflected in the stat sheet, that has made it so hard for the coaching staff to take him off the floor.
ABOUT THE BRONCOS
2024-25 preseason Mountain West Favorites Boise State will enter Saturday’s game with a 6-3 record, including two losses in their last three contests. Included in those three total losses are a pair of losses to WCC opponents San Francisco and Washington State. Head Coach Leon Rice is in his 15th season at the helm, and has taken his team to three straight NCAA Tournaments. Coach Rice retained six players from last year’s NCAA Tournament squad, including starters Tyson Degenhart (last year’s and this year’s leading scorer) and O’Mar Stanley (last year’s and this year’s leading shot blocker). New to the fold for the Broncos this season is point guard Alvaro Cardenas. After spending three seasons at Mountain West rival San Jose State, Cardenas has now become the most sure-handed playmaker for the Broncos, averaging 5.8 assists per game and a 2.60 assist to turnover ratio. A season ago, the Broncos bested the Gaels 63-60 in Idaho Falls on the back of a 17 point, five assist showing from Degenhart. This upcoming matchup will be the 15th all-time between the Gaels and Broncos, and the fourth all-time meeting between Coach Bennett and Coach Rice. Boise State leads the All-Time series 9-5, including a 2-1 record over the Gaels during the Bennett and Rice eras.
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