Northern Arizona at St. Mary’s, 10:00 PM Eastern, free streaming at thew.tv
The St. Mary’s Gaels are coming off of their biggest win of the season this past weekend, having headed to Omaha and pulled off a thrilling overtime win against the Creighton Bluejays. That victory moved the Gaels to 6-1 on the season, with the only blemish being a home loss to Boise State. It was also good enough to get them (just barely) into out bracket projection this week (click the link above for a look).
Tonight, the Gaels are sandwiching in a home contest against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks before heading on their longest road trip of the year, a cross-country journey to Madison Square Garden to take on nationally-ranked St. John’s Friday night. After the St. John’s game, the Gaels will return home for a contest against a very solid Northeastern team before West Coast Conference play starts December 27. The Gaels have been led offensively so far this year by Brad Waldow, though keep an eye on both Aaron Bright and Kerry Carter, the later of whom is shooting over 50% from behind the three point arc.
Northern Arizona has struggled so far this year, sitting at 3-6 with only wins over Southern, Fresno State and Loyola Marymount to their credit. The Lumberjacks needed overtime to defeat Southern and have an overtime loss at home to a fairly weak UTSA team. In other words, their best shot at a win tonight may be if the Gaels overlook them with this game coming in between two big road trips. Ako Kaluna has been their leader offensively so far this season, though watch out for Quinton Upshur and Aaseem Dixon, neither of whom will shy away from shooting a three.