Saint Mary’s outclasses Indiana in NCAA Tournament opener

Saint Mary’s had an emphatic answer Thursday night for anyone who wondered whether it was worthy of a fifth seed and capable of doing damage in the NCAA Tournament.

Playing one of their best games of the season, the Gaels dominated Indiana 82-53 at Moda Center in Portland to move into the second round against either UCLA or Akron Saturday.

In the latter stages of the first half and early in the second half, the Gaels put on a clinic at both ends of the floor and a game that looked to be challenging intead turned into a rout.

Guards Logan Johnson had Tommy Kuhse had 20 and 19 points for Saint Mary’s, which improved to 26-7, with forward Alex Ducas scoring 13 points and Matthias Tass 12.

“We know once we get going defensively, that’s when teams are in trouble and they find out what they’re stepping into,” Johnson said. “People can say what they want, that Saint Mary’s is a small school, a mid-major. You don’t know until you set foot in the arena and it’s 5-on-5 and you have to defend us like we defend you.”

For Indiana (21-14), forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, who was averaging 26.2 points over his previous four games, had 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting, with Xavier Johnson scoring 11.

Before facing Saint Mary’s, the most one-sided loss in the history of the Indiana program was a 25-point defeat to St. John’s in 1999.

At one point, when Saint Mary’s had a 31-point lead with just over seven minutes to play, Johnson and Kuhse had combined 39 points — which was Indiana’s point total at the time trailing 70-39. Kuhse had six assists and Johnson had three steals and just one turnover.

“A lot of things have gone right to help us get where we’re at, but nothing more than these two,” Bennett said of his guards.

Indiana was coming off what coach Mike Woodson called a “brutal” stretch of four games in six days. The Hoosiers played three times in the Big Ten Tournament, losing to Iowa in the title game, and then defeated Wyoming 66-58 Tuesday night in an NCAA play-in game in Dayton, Ohio.

After a flight delay, the Hoosiers got to Portland Wednesday bleary-eyed but proclaimed themselves ready to play.

St. Mary’s, on the other hand, had nine days off since losing to Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference championship game in Las Vegas.

“The situation they had was tough,” Bennett said. “These teams are more even than that. They fly in yesterday, maybe get a walkthrough. It’s hard to guard us if you can’t get a prep on us and we were able to get a prep on them.”

Any jitters or nervousness from being in the NCAA Tournament had already been experienced by Indiana against Wyoming. The Gaels, on the other hand, had plenty of time to either get ready or work up some angst before their first game as a favorite and the No. 5 seed.

The jitters for Saint Mary’s lasted about eight minutes. The Gaels were more rested, fresh, crisp and simply better at both ends of the floor.

“Indiana is a physical team so the combination of us being off got us off balance to start, but we were able to match them physically and separate,” Kuhse said.

A tip by Tass with 11:56 put the Gaels up 61-33 and at that point Indiana looked out of gas both physically and mentally.

“I think we wore ’em down, but I don’t want to negate the fact that our guys played well,” Bennett said. “I’m proud of ’em. Indiana is a good team, a great program. We understand what just happened. We beat a real good program and are moving on to the second round.”

Saint Mary’s had a 40-28 lead at halftime after one of their best offensive first halves of the season. The Gaels were 14 of 30 from the floor and hit 5 of 10 3-point attempts, including three from Ducas. Ducas and Johnson had 11 points each for Saint Mary’s, with Kuhse scoring eight.

Johnson, who drove aggressively to the basket throughout the half, had a steal at one end and then drew a foul at the other against Race Thompson at the other — hitting both free throws — for a 37-28 lead with 1:46 left.

Indiana made just three shots outside the paint in the first 20 minutes — a pair of 3-point shots and one just off the left elbow — and was just 11-for-27 in the half as Saint Mary’s tightened up defensively after a slow start.

Jackson-Davis led Indiana with 10 points, with Johnson scoring seven. The Hoosiers, however, were outrebounded 20-13 in the half and Jackson-Davis had four boards but none on the offensive end.

The first eight and a half minutes featured seven lead changes and seven points from Johnson, who scored both inside and out for Saint Mary’s.