No. 23 Saint Mary's beats Division II Stanislaus State 107-28 in season opener

Tue, Nov 7, 2023
NCAAB News (AP)

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) - Aidan Mahaney scored 15 points and No. 23 Saint Mary's rolled to a season-opening 107-28 victory over Division II Stanislaus State on Monday night.

The Gaels (1-0) come into this season with high hopes after making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.

Saint Mary's was ranked in the preseason for the fourth time ever thanks to the return of key starters Mahaney, Alex Ducas and Mitchell Saxen.

Mason Forbes scored 19 points to lead Saint Mary's and Rory Hawke added 13.

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The opener against Stanislaus State hardly provided a test for the Gaels, who were in complete control the whole way.

Saint Mary's outscored Stanislaus State 42-4 over the final 15:31 of the first half, holding the Warriors to 1-for-24 shooting from the floor to take a 50-11 halftime lead.

John Wade III scored seven points to lead Stanislaus State. This game was the second exhibition against a Division I team for the Warriors before they open their season this weekend. They lost 84-80 to Nevada last week.

BIG PICTURE

Stanislaus State: The Warriors are coming off a 10-18 season at the Division II level so weren't expected to give provide much of a challenge. They shot 15.5% for the game.

Saint Mary's: The Gaels opened the season with a mismatch but do have a challenging nonconference schedule starting with Thursday night's game against New Mexico, which ended a school-record 23-game home winning streak last season. The Gaels also play 2023 national runner-up San Diego State, either Xavier or Washington, Pac-12 foe Utah and Boise State in their first eight games of the season.

UP NEXT

Stanislaus State: Visit Point Loma on Friday night.

Saint Mary's: Host New Mexico on Thursday night.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-pol l and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

JOSH DUBOW Josh is an NFL writer who covers Raiders and 49ers "