Seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s is in the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time under coach Randy Bennett, but deep runs haven’t been part of the story.
The Gaels begin pursuit of a breakthrough experience when they face No. 10 seed Texas A&M on Thursday night in South Region first-round play at Oklahoma City.
Saint Mary’s (27-5) is making its fifth straight March Madness appearance but only once have the Gaels reached the Sweet 16 during Bennett’s 25 seasons. That was in 2010 when Saint Mary’s was a No. 10 seed and beat Richmond and Villanova before being routed 72-49 by Baylor.
Gaels guard Joshua Dent covets an extended run this time around.
“It’s cool being in this position now, but like we’ve been trying to say, we want to cement our legacy above some of these other (Saint Mary’s) teams,” Dent said. “No disrespect to them, but we want to get further and see what we can do.”
The Gaels lost to Alabama in the second round last year.
Saint Mary’s first reached the NCAA Tournament during Bennett’s reign back in 2005. That also was in Oklahoma City and the Gaels lost to Southern Illinois in the first round.
Saint Mary’s faced just three ranked teams this season – splitting with West Coast Conference power Gonzaga and losing to Vanderbilt in nonconference play.
Texas A&M (21-11) also struggled (0-4) against ranked teams but made the NCAA field for the fourth straight season.
First-year coach Bucky McMillan finds that satisfying after only one player — reserve walk-on Chris McDermott — returned from last season’s team.
“It means a lot,” McMillan said. “When we didn’t have a roster, we were piecing (it) together, a lot of people didn’t know, ‘Hey, could we get in (the field)?’ And I thought this group could. I did from the start.”
A big piece for the Aggies is seventh-year forward Rashaun Agee, who previously had stops at New Mexico State, Bowling Green and Southern California.
Agee leads Texas A&M in scoring (14.7 points per game) and rebounding (8.9) and set a school record with 13 double-doubles.
Agee expects the Aggies to have a long stay.
“Everybody knows that in this time of basketball, each one of us, players and coaches, this can change our lives,” Agee said.
Texas A&M struggled down the stretch with seven losses in 11 games. The Aggies were one-and-done in the Southeastern Conference tournament, falling 83-63 to Oklahoma.
McMillan was hoping the late slumber wouldn’t cost his team a spot in the Big Dance.
“The SEC is the toughest league in the country, top to bottom,” McMillan said. “To finish tied for fourth in that league, it would have been a travesty if these guys didn’t get the opportunity.”
The Aggies rank 15th nationally with 10.8 3-point makes per game. Ruben Dominguez (10.3 ppg) has a team-best 82, Rylan Griffen (11.6) has 63 and Pop Isaacs (10.1) has 59.
For Saint Mary’s, Paulius Murauskas leads in scoring (18.8), while Mikey Lewis ranks second at 14.2 and Dent third at 13.0. Lewis leads the Gaels with 67 treys.
Saint Mary’s won eight straight games before losing to Santa Clara in the WCC tourney semifinals. Still, Dent is confident the team can make a run.
“Obviously, we’re not going there to win one or two games,” Dent said. “We’re going there to win as much as we can. Like we say, it’s do or die at this point.”
This is the third meeting between the Gaels and Aggies. They split two matchups in the mid-1990s.
The winner draws a second-round matchup Saturday against No. 2 Houston or No. 15 Idaho.
