Mills leads Saint Mary’s to NIT victory over Cougs

MORAGA, Calif. – Maybe Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett should take the DVD and send it to the NCAA selection committee.

Tuesday night was the Gaels at their best.

This couldn’t have been the team the committee decided Sunday wasn’t one of the best 34 teams deserving of an NCAA at-large berth.

No, this Saint Mary’s team, with a healthy Patty Mills pouring in 27 points in every way imaginable, blew out Washington State early, weathered every Cougars comeback and won the first-round National Invitation Tournament game 68-57 at McKeon Pavilion.

“That was a tough deal, playing on Tuesday after Sunday,” the Gaels’ Bennett said of not having their named called.

It didn’t look that way, though, not the way they started.

The West Coast Conference runners-up, who have won a school-record 27 games (against six defeats, four of those without Mills), came out playing on fast-forward and the Cougars seemed stuck in pause.

“They were tremendous early,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said. “Mills was as good as advertised, their offensive rebounding was terrific, their physical play, how hard and tough-minded they were, was impressive.

“On the other hand, we didn’t handle the ball well, did not keep them off the glass and we weren’t together enough defensively.”

The first time Saint Mary’s touched the ball, Diamon Simpson flew in from the free-throw line and dunked an Omar Samhan miss, one of five offensive rebounds Simpson would have.

That got the crowd of 2,107 going and the Gaels responded, busting to a 7-0 lead. With the Cougars (17-16) contributing 12 first-half turnovers, Saint Mary’s stretched the lead to 13 at the half and 17 (41-24) a minute into the second.

Then Washington State started to play.

The difference for WSU was no turnovers until the last 4 minutes of the game.

“Us realizing it’s probably a good idea to take care of the ball,” Taylor Rochestie answered when asked what changed.

Plus Aron Baynes and DeAngelo Casto clamped down on the glass – Baynes had 10 rebounds, Casto five – and Rochestie finally found the range to help WSU claw back into it.

But Mills wouldn’t let them take it.

The 6-foot guard, in only his fourth game back from a broken wrist that cost him five weeks – and may have cost Saint Mary’s that NCAA berth - hit 8 of 15 shots, 5 of 9 from beyond the arc – and blunting every Cougar second-half rally.

“He’s not hype,” Rochestie said in a somber Cougars locker room. “He’s the real deal. He can shoot the ball. He pulled up in transition one time on me, another time he drove to the basket, finished while getting knocked over with the off hand.

“When you’re making plays like he can make, it’s tough.”

WSU pulled within 43-35 with a 7-0 run, then the Gaels jumped back ahead by 11. The Cougars clawed to within five twice, the first time on Casto’s putback, the next on Rochestie’s layup.

But it didn’t matter because, with WSU within 52-47, Mills showed why he’s projected high in the NBA Draft if he wants to leave after this, his sophomore year.

After Rochestie missed a chance to cut the lead to three, Mills pushed, got into the lane around Baynes, attacked Casto and scored on a reverse right-handed layup on the left side of the rim. Twenty-five seconds later he nailed a 3-pointer in transition and the lead was 10.

The Cougars pulled within four on Marcus Capers’ jumper but Mills got to the line hit both free throws, sparking a 7-0 run to end WSU’s hopes.

Mills wasn’t alone, as the 6-7 Simpson added 18 points and 11 rebounds. And 6-10 center Omar Samhan, though saddled with foul trouble, still had 11 points – including five in the last run – and seven rebounds.

Baynes (19 points despite a bad second-half headache) and Rochestie (14 points on 6-of-16 shooting) played as if they didn’t want their WSU careers to end, especially in the second half. But by then it was too late.

“Once again a poor start, similar to the UCLA game,” WSU’s Bennett said. “We needed to come in with a real high-level effort for 40 minutes to be in this deal, nothing less than that would get it done.”

Saint Mary’s 68, WSU 57

		FG	FT	Reb
WSU (17-15)	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	PTS
Capers	18	3-5	0-0	0-2	3	5	6
Thompson	37	2-11	2-2	0-5	3	0	7
Rochestie	40	6-16	1-1	2-5	1	2	14
Baynes	34	6-10	7-9	5-10	0	4	19
Forrest	17	1-3	0-0	1-4	1	2	2
Harthurn	14	1-5	0-0	0-1	0	1	3
Koprivica	10	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	0	0
Casto	24	2-2	2-2	2-5	0	2	6
Harmeling	6	0-1	0-0	1-1	1	0	0
Totals	200	21-53	12-14	11-34	10	16	57

Percentages: FG .396, FT .857. 3-Point Goals: 3-15, .200 (Rochestie 1-7, Thompson 1-5, Harthurn 1-2, Harmelin 0-1). Team Rebounds: 0. Blocked Shots: 4 (Baynes 2). Turnovers: 13 (Thompson, Baynes 3). Steals: 4 (Thompson, Rochestie, Baynes, Casto ). Technical Fouls: none.

		FG	FT	Reb
St. Mary’s (26-6)	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	PTS
Mills	38	8-15	6-6	0-2	2	1	27
Simpson	38	5-10	8-12	5-11	0	2	18
Hunter	31	2-8	2-2	1-2	1	0	7
McConnel	31	0-2	0-1	1-1	4	2	0
Samhan	34	5-11	1-1	1-7	1	3	11
Hughes	16	0-4	0-0	0-2	3	2	0
O’Leary	9	1-1	0-0	0-3	0	2	2
Smith	8	1-2	0-0	2-3	0	0	3
Totals	200	22-53	17-22	10-33	11	12	68

Percentages: FG .415, FT .773. 3-Point Goals: 7-18, .389 (Mills 5-9, Hunter 1-3, Smith 1-2, Hughes 0-3). Team Rebounds: 0. Blocked Shots: 1 (Simpson). Turnovers: 8 (Mills 2). Steals: 7 (Mills 2). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–Saint Mary’s 36, Washington State 26. A–N/A.