Logan Johnson scored 16 points, grabbed a season-best nine rebounds and accumulated a career-high five steals to help No. 22 Saint Mary’s roll to an easy 86-57 victory over San Diego on Thursday night in West Coast Conference play at Moraga, Calif.
Tommy Kuhse added 13 points as the Gaels (20-5, 8-2 WCC) won for the eighth time in the past nine games. Alex Ducas tallied 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting as Saint Mary’s bounced back from Tuesday’s 77-72 loss to Santa Clara.
The Gaels led by as many as 32 points as they defeated San Diego for the 15th straight time and 20th in the past 21 meetings.
Marcellus Earlington had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Toreros (13-12, 6-6). Jase Townsend added 10 points for San Diego, which dropped its third consecutive game.
Saint Mary’s shot 52.4 percent from the field, including 10 of 23 from 3-point range.
The Toreros made 37.3 percent of their shots and were 5 of 13 from behind the arc. San Diego had just three assists on 19 baskets.
Johnson had 12 points and four steals in the first half as the Gaels led 42-21 entering the break.
San Diego trailed 22-18 after Joey Calcaterra drained a 3-pointer with 8:10 left in the half. But the Toreros missed their next eight field-goal attempts while Saint Mary’s went on a 17-1 run.
Johnson had back-to-back steals and fast-break layups in a 22-second stretch as the Gaels moved ahead 30-18. Ducas buried a 3-pointer to end the surge and make it 39-19 with 1:04 left.
Kyle Bowen hit a 3-pointer as time expired to give Saint Mary’s the 21-point halftime bulge.
The Gaels continued the onslaught by scoring the first eight points of the second half to push the lead to 50-21 with 17:08 remaining.
The lead moved over 30 when Dan Fotu’s layup made it 60-29 with 12:05 remaining and Saint Mary’s led by a large margin the remainder of the way.
–Field Level Media
