Saint Mary's Game Notes | San Francisco Game Notes
Moraga, Calif. – The Saint Francis men's basketball team opens its season in California this weekend with games at No. 22 Saint Mary's on Saturday, Nov. 11, and at the University of San Francisco on Monday, Nov. 13.
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Scouting Saint Mary's
The Gaels have established themselves as one of the premier mid-major programs in the country as evidence by their 29-5 overall record in 2016-17. Saint Mary's continued its success into the NCAA Tournament where it defeated VCU in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Arizona in the following round.
Saint Mary's returns four starters from last season's team, including senior center and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar finalist Jock Landale. An AP Honorable Mention All-American, he averaged 16.9 ppg and 9.5 rpg as a junior.
In addition to Landale, the Gaels return its next two top scorers in Calvin Hermanson and Emmett Naar. Hermanson joined Landale on the West Coast Conference All-Conference First Team, scoring 13.1 ppg and shooting 43.1% from three-point range.
Saint Mary's opens the season ranked #22 in both the AP Coaches' Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. It is also ranked No. 2 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.
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Scouting San Francisco
The Dons will provide another formidable test as they return West Coast Conference All-Freshman Team selections Charles Minlend and Jordan Ratinho from a team that won 20 games, its most since 2013-14. Like the Red Flash, the Dons were awarded with a bid in the postseason with a spot in the CBI and finished the season with an RPI of 100.
Chase Foster, a 40.0% three-point shooter, is the team's leading returning scorer with a 10.1 point scoring average. Minlend follows at 10.0 ppg and Ratinho comes in at 8.2 ppg.
Did you Know?
The last time Saint Francis beat a nationally-ranked opponent in any poll was during the 1993-94 season when it defeated a Xavier team that came to Loretto on Jan. 31, 1994 with a 14-2 record, 77-73. Saint Francis hasn't defeated an opponent ranked in the top 25 of the AP Coaches' Poll since a 92-81 victory over St. Bonaventure on Jan. 25, 1959. The Gaels will be the first ranked opponent coach Krimmel's side has seen since Dec. 24, 2015 when it took on AP No. 2 Maryland. The Red Flash are 2-54 all-time vs. the AP Top 25.
Star Power
Saint Francis was the only NEC program to place two players on the NEC Preseason All-Conference Team with junior Isaiah Blackmon and freshman Keith Braxton garnering the honors.
Braxton was the NEC and ECAC Rookie of the Year in 2016-17 after averaging 13.1 points and leading all Division I freshmen with 8.6 rebounds per game. The Second Team All-NEC selection ranked among the Top 10 in the NEC in rebounding, field goal percentage (53.2), assists (3.1) and steals (1.4). Braxton earned seven NEC Rookie of the Week awards, one shy of the conference record, posting 23 double-figure performances and nine double-doubles. .
Blackmon was a Third Team All-NEC selection, leading SFU in scoring with 13.7 points per game. He led the NEC in three-point percentage and ranked sixth in the nation, hitting 50 percent of his attempts. He scored in double digits in 23 games, including six 20-point games. His top performance of the year included a career-high 25 points at Wagner on January 26.
Let It Fly
Saturday's matchup is extra significant considering it features two of the top three-point shooting teams in the country from 2016-17. The Gaels hit on 39.4% of its three-point tries to rank T-19th nationally. The Red Flash followed closely behind, leading the NEC and ranking 24th nationally at 39.1%. Saint Mary's sat atop the WCC with its percentage. Blackmon was SFU's top three-point threat, ranking sixth in the country with a percentage of 50.0% behind the arc. Saint Mary's Hermanson made 88 three-pointers and shot 43.1% from deep.
