Moraga has quietly been home to the Bay Area’s most consistent college basketball team over the past two decades under coach Randy Bennett.
Since taking over the program in 2001, Bennett has transformed St. Mary’s College into a mid-major power. On Saturday, St. Mary’s fans flooded the court after the Gaels knocked off West Coast Conference rival and No. 1 ranked Gonzaga 67-57. It marked the exclamation point of a wild Saturday in college hoops that featured the top six teams in the country going down.
Bennett joined 95.7 The Game’s “Steiny & Guru” Tuesday to discuss the win over Gonzaga, the revamped WCC Tournament and more. You can hear the full interview above.
McKeon Pavilion is more like a high school gym than a college arena, but can be a special place to watch a game. Saturday night, the student section brought the energy reminiscent of the Gaels Gone Wild heyday.
“When you have No. 1 next to your name, it’s going to be a storm-the-court night,” Bennett told hosts Matt Steinmetz and Daryle “The Guru” Johnson.
St. Mary’s defense shut down Drew Timme and Gonzaga’s offense, holding the Bulldogs more than 31 points below their NCAA-best average of 88.3 points per game.
With the victory, St. Mary’s (24-6) went 16-0 at home for the first time in program and earned its first win over Gonzaga since the 2019 conference tournament. The 10-team WCC has changed the format for this year’s tournament and granted the top two seeds – in this case Gonzaga and St. Mary’s – automatic berths to the semifinals. USF has made it to the quarterfinals by virtue of its No. 4 seed.
Bennett said he’s in favor of the new-look WCC tourney, as it gives the conference’s top teams a better chance to qualify for The Big Dance.
“You only end up playing a 300 net [rating] team,” Bennett said of previous early-round matchups. “No matter how many you win by, you’re not moving your net number up. It’s only going down and if you lose, it’s really going down. That will affect whether you get in the NCAA Tournament or not.
“I think our league, we’ve been pretty ahead of the curve on this. Protect your top seeds so that you can get multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament, then you have a multiple-bid league. It continues to build on itself.”
Like many things, the decision ultimately comes down to money.
“What you’re trying to do as a conference is get teams into the NCAA Tournament,” Bennett said. “That’s the deal. That makes your league good, that makes your league money that basically runs our league – the money that you make in the NCAA Tournament. You want to give your best teams a chance to get in.”
