Seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s rallied from a sluggish offensive start and a second-half deficit of 12 points to upend No. 10 seed Vanderbilt 59-56 in the first round of NCAA Tournament East Region play on Friday in Cleveland.
The Gaels (29-5) fell behind 39-27 just before the first media timeout of the second half when Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner connected on a 3-pointer. Saint Mary’s chipped away at the deficit over the ensuing eight minutes, however, embarking on a 16-4 run.
That set up a tightly contested final eight minutes, during which Saint Mary’s led most of the way but never by more than six points.
The Commodores (20-13) got 3-pointers from Devin McGlockton and Tyler Nickel in the final two minutes, bringing Vanderbilt to within a basket. Saint Mary’s Luke Barrett missed a jumper with 30 seconds remaining, but teammate Mitchell Saxen came up with the offensive rebound in traffic — one of his 11 boards on the day — and drew a foul.
Saxen made 1 of 2 free throws, giving Vanderbilt a final possession to force overtime. Jason Edwards missed a contested step-back 3-point attempt, and McGlockton’s clean look off the offensive rebound was no good.
Jordan Ross skied for the rebound to seal Saint Mary’s third first-round win in the last four years. The Gaels will face No. 2 Alabama in the next round.
Ross led the Gaels with 15 points, while both Saxen and Barrett finished with double-doubles. Each scored 12 points, with Barrett grabbing 10 rebounds. Augustas Marciulionis scored 14 points, and he and Ross went a combined 4-of-6 from 3-point range in the second half, a dramatic departure from the first half when the Gaels shot a dismal 2-of-16 from outside.
Of Saint Mary’s two first-half 3-pointers, one came from the unlikely source of Saxen, who was 0-for-1 on attempts from long range this season coming into Friday’s contest.
“That kind of helped keep us in it for a little bit,” Saxen said of the shot, which came late in the half with the Gaels trailing 20-13. “End of (the) shot clock, (I) threw it up, and got a little lucky. Better to be lucky than good sometimes.”
Vanderbilt went 8-of-26 from 3-point range on the day. Edwards, who finished with a game-high 18 points, finished just 2-of-9 from beyond the arc.
The Commodores committed only four turnovers, but their shooting woes — going 22-of-55 from the floor overall — contributed to a 41-28 rebounding gap in Saint Mary’s favor.
“Our main emphasis coming into the game was rebounding,” McGlockton said. “We did a tremendous job in the first half.”
Saint Mary’s outrebounded Vanderbilt in the first half, but only by a 17-15 margin — particularly with the Gaels only grabbing one on the offensive end. Saint Mary’s snatched nine offensive boards in the second half, however, and scored eight second-chance points.
McGlockton said fatigue was a factor in the second-half rebounding struggles for Vanderbilt.
“(The Gaels) were deep, they had a couple bigs that came in and out of the game,” he said, “and they got some offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds that helped them win down the stretch.”
–Field Level Media
