Moraga, Calif. ? Yusef Smith came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points, and Saint Mary’s reached the 20-win mark with a 76-51 victory against Eddie Sutton’s San Francisco squad Friday night.
Omar Samhan had 12 points and nine rebounds, Patty Mills added 10 points and five steals, and Diamon Simpson 10 points and four boards in the Gaels’ third straight win after beating Gonzaga 89-85 in an overtime thriller Monday night.
Simpson scored the first four points of a 12-0 run out of halftime by the Gaels (20-3, 7-1 WCC), who downed the Dons for the ninth time in the last 10 meetings and fifth in a row.
Saint Mary’s will stay in the rankings for three consecutive weeks for the first time since 1988-89. The Gaels play at Santa Clara on Monday night. Smith shot 5-for-8 and had 12 of his points in the first half.
Todd Golden, the co-West Coast Conference Player of the Week, followed his 19-point performance – including 6-for-6 from three-point range – with six points and five assists. He also earned his 79th win, the most by any player in school history.