March Madness: Saint Mary’s advances, calmly
ALBANY, N.Y. — Mitchell Saxen had 17 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, and Saint Mary’s beat ailing VCU 63-51 in the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
The Gaels will play Saturday against fourth-seeded Connecticut, which rallied from a halftime deficit to rout Iona 87-63, preventing an all-Gaels matchup.
Saint Mary’s won in characteristic fashion — deliberate offense, solid defense — except for one thing. Aidan Mahaney, the freshman sensation who led the team in scoring most of the season, went scoreless in 18 foul-plagued minutes. But the Gaels compensated with Saxen and Alex Ducas (17), Augustas Marciulionis (13) and Logan Johnson (13 points, 10 rebounds).
Ace Baldwin led VCU (27-8) with 13 points, but he appeared to sprain his right ankle on his landing after taking a jumper with just over 14 minutes left in regulation. The Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year lay on the court for a couple of minutes before receiving treatment on the bench and back in the locker room.
VCU was down 38-34 when Baldwin left and 48-39 when he came back with 9:03 left after the Gaels of the West Coast Conference went on a 10-5 spurt sparked by a three-point play by Kyle Bowen.
Saint Mary’s, which held a 37-29 rebounding edge, will play No. 4 seed UConn or 13th-seeded Iona and coach Rick Pitino on Sunday.
The NCAA appearance was the first for 12th-seeded VCU since it had to forfeit a game in the 2021 tournament because of a COVID-19 outbreak. The Rams had won nine in a row.
Saint Mary’s held a 29-28 halftime lead in a rugged contest where neither team led by more than four points and tight, tough defense was the norm.