CLEVELAND, Ohio – An alarm clock is an everyday reminder of refocus.
This year’s Saint Mary’s Gaels have a human-form alarm clock among them in associate head coach Mickey McConnell.
And instead of a loud ringing noise, McConnell simply mentions a year: 2010.
The present-day Gaels have continuously heard the story.
McConnell, a Gael from 2007-11, was alongside Matthew Dellavedova and Omar Samhan in 2010, when the No. 10 seed Gaels made it to the Sweet 16.
However, big man Mitchell Saxen and the Gaels don’t need that alarm clock anymore.
As the No. 7 seed Gaels gear up to play No. 2 Alabama on Sunday in the second-round of the NCAA Tournament, 2010 stays with them.
“(McConnell) doesn’t almost have to say it anymore. Anytime Coach (Randy) Bennett brings how hard it is to punch your way through to the Sweet 16, referenced that there was one team, and we’ll just be like, who was on that team again?” Saxen said. “(McConnell) just gives us a smile, and he’s got that swag about him. He was a heck of a player.”
Friday’s win over Vanderbilt advanced the Gaels to the round of 32 for the third time in four seasons.
They could care less.
Not that it doesn’t mean anything to them, but their season has consistently ended at this point in March.
The Gaels were bested in the round of 32 by UCLA in 2022 and UConn in 2023. Last year, it was an unexpected upset loss to No. 12 seed Grand Canyon.
The senior trio of Saxen, Augustas Marčiulionis, and Luke Barrett were all present in those losses, and know their time of joining the squads of 1959 and 2010 to make the Sweet 16, is dwindling.
“It’s not as much excitement to be here anymore. We’re very happy with the win last night, but … we turned the page pretty quick, and we didn’t come here to just win one game,” Barrett said. “We’re trying to leave a legacy on this program, and we’re trying to do something special this year…the start of that means winning this game tomorrow, too.”
The game Sunday is a matchup with the nation’s best offense.
Coming off a Final Four appearance, the Crimson Tide lead the nation in points (91.1) and rebounds (42.9). They run like no other team out there, and it’s translated to ranking first in adjusted tempo (75.0), per KenPom.
Those track meets start with their backcourt in Mark Sears and Labaron Philon, which the Gaels aim to limit defensively.
“It’s really impressive how relentlessly their guards are kind of attacking, and Sears just keeps on coming, and Philon just keeps on coming in on-ball,” Saxen said. “It’s really about doing a job over and over again in on-balls and helping where you can help because you kind of need to take out the roll on those lob threats.”
The Gaels have size and it’s worked with a 16th ranking in rebounds (39.8), but will have to somehow mark territory versus a Crimson Tide frontcourt with Grant Nelson, Clifford Omoruyi, and Jarin Stevenson all standing 6-foot-11.
An advantage all season for the Gaels has been there defense. They currently rank fourth in both points (60.5) and rebounds (29.1), and sit fifth in 3-pointers allowed (5.4).
Then again, when you’ve seen it all by this point, the numbers and size mean even less to you.
It’s about results, and the only result worth mentioning is winning.
“The excitement is gone, and we’re just focused on playing a good team in a tough environment, and that’s our job, and that’s what we’re going to try to do,” Marčiulionis said.
When head coach Randy Bennett thinks about that 2010 run, he remembers it like it was yesterday. He likens their first-round win over No. 7 seed Richmond to the present-day first-round win over the Commodores.
But then they met No. 2 seed Villanova in the second round, and just like Alabama, they could score in their sleep and ranked fourth in points that year (81.8).
“We had a little chip on our shoulders,” Bennett said.
The Gaels used that chip as fuel for the 75-68 upset win, and big man Samhan led the way with 32 points and seven boards.
“We didn’t look like we were that good a team, but we were a good team, and we didn’t play that many guys, but the guys we played were good and they fit together, pieces fit well,” Bennett said. “It just kind of happened.”
Fifteen years later, and Bennett believes it can happen again.
“We’ve been in this position three out of the last four years to get to the next round,” Bennett said. “Like Saxen said, forget about Mick and those guys, let’s get a new team we’re talking about in that position.”
