2015–16 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Randy Bennett's fifteenth season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels competed in the West Coast Conference and played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion. They finished the season 29–6, 15–3 in WCC play to win a share of the WCC regular season conference championship. They defeated Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine to advance to the championship game of the WCC tournament where they lost to Gonzaga. As a regular season conference champion, and #1 seed in their conference tournament, who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. As a #2 seed, they defeated New Mexico State and Georgia to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Valparaiso.

2015–16 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball
WCC regular season co-champion
NIT, Quarterfinals
Conference	West Coast Conference
Record	29–6 (15–3 WCC)
Head coach	Randy Bennett (15th season)
Assistant coaches	Marty Clarke Marcus Schroeder David Carter
Home arena	McKeon Pavilion
Seasons ← 2014–15 2016–17 →

2015–16 West Coast Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Saint Mary's	15	–	3		.833			29	–	6		.829
Gonzaga †	15	–	3		.833			28	–	8		.778
BYU	13	–	5		.722			26	–	11		.703
Pepperdine	10	–	8		.556			18	–	14		.563
San Francisco	8	–	10		.444			15	–	15		.500
Santa Clara	7	–	11		.389			11	–	20		.355
Portland	6	–	12		.333			12	–	20		.375
Loyola Marymount	6	–	12		.333			14	–	17		.452
Pacific*	6	–	12		.333			8	–	20		.286
San Diego	4	–	14		.222			9	–	21		.300
† Conference tournament winner *ineligible for postseason due to self probation

Previous season

The Gaels finished the 2014–15 season 21–10, 13–5 in WCC play to finish in a tie for second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the WCC tournament to Portland. They were invited to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Vanderbilt.^[1]

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Brad Waldow	00	F	6'9"	260	RS Senior	Shingle Springs, CA	Graduated
Kerry Carter	3	G	6'2"	205	Senior	West Covina, CA	Graduated / Playing for Iberostar Tenerife (Spain)
Joe Coleman	10	G	6'4"	210	RS Junior	Minneapolis, MN	Left the team for personal reasons
Tyler Harville	12	G	5'11"	170	Freshman	Lexington, KY	Transferred to Berry College
Aaron Bright	20	G	5'11"	175	Senior	Bellevue, WA	Graduated
Garrett Jackson	22	F	6'6"	225	RS Senior	Portland, OR	Graduated
Treaven Duffy	25	G	6'2"	190	RS Sophomore	Walnut Creek, CA	Transferred to San Francisco State
Desmond Simmons	30	F	6'7"	225	RS Senior	Vallejo, CA	Graduated

Recruiting

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Stefan Gonzalez PG	Pocatello, ID	Highland High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sep 24, 2014
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (60)
Franklin Porter SG	Portland, OR	Titon School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Apr 15, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:   Scout: nr    Rivals: nr    ESPN: nr
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "ESPN". ESPN. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Roster

2015–16 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 00 Tanner Krebs 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Lake Ginninderra College Hobart, Australia F 1 Jordan Hunter 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr St. Ignatius College Vaucluse, Australia G 2 Stefan Gonzalez 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Highland Pocatello, ID G 3 Emmett Naar 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS So Sydney Boys Sydney, Australia G 11 Jack Biebel (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Archbishop Mitty Foothill College San Jose, CA C 21 Evan Fitzner 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Fr Francis Parker School San Diego, CA F 22 Dane Pineau 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Melbourne Grammar Melbourne, Australia F 24 Calvin Hermanson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So Lake Oswego Lake Oswego, OR G 25 Joe Rahon 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Jr Torrey Pines San Diego, CA F 33 Kyle Clark 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Hellyer College Wynyard, Australia C 34 Jock Landale 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 255 lb (116 kg) So Geelong Grammar Malvern East, Victoria, Australia G 43 Franklin Porter 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Tilton School Portland, OR	Head coach Randy Bennett (UC San Diego) Assistant coach(es) Marty Clarke (Victoria) Marcus Schroeder (Princeton) David Carter (Saint Mary's) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
11/13/2015* 8:00 pm, TheW.tv		San Francisco State	W 80–56	1–0	McKeon Pavilion (2,589) Moraga, CA
11/16/2015* 7:00 pm, TheW.tv		Manhattan	W 89–63	2–0	McKeon Pavilion (2,242) Moraga, CA
11/22/2015* 8:00 pm, ESPNU		Stanford	W 78–61	3–0	McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA
11/29/2015* 5:00 pm, CHN		Cal State Bakersfield	W 94–59	4–0	McKeon Pavilion (2,340) Moraga, CA
12/04/2015* 7:00 pm, TheW.tv		UC Davis	W 81–67	5–0	McKeon Pavilion (2,506) Moraga, CA
12/06/2015* 5:00 pm, CHN		UC Irvine	W 70–60	6–0	McKeon Pavilion (2,333) Moraga, CA
12/12/2015* 12:30 pm, P12N		at California	L 59–63	6–1	Haas Pavilion (10,074) Berkeley, CA
12/14/2015* 7:00 pm, CHN		Cal Poly	W 93–63	7–1	McKeon Pavilion (2,183) Moraga, CA
12/16/2015* 7:00 pm, TheW.tv		Southern Utah	W 92–36	8–1	McKeon Pavilion (1,836) Moraga, CA
12/21/2015 8:00 pm, CSNCA		at San Francisco	W 74–52	9–1 (1–0)	McKeon Pavilion (2,408) Moraga, CA
12/23/2015 8:00 pm, CSNCA		at Santa Clara	W 81–59	10–1 (2–0)	Leavey Center (1,950) Moraga, CA
12/28/2015* 7:00 pm, TheW.tv		Utah Valley	W 65–50	11–1	McKeon Pavilion (2,113) Moraga, CA
12/31/2015 8:00 pm, ESPNU		BYU	W 85–74	12–1 (3–0)	McKeon Pavilion (3,183) Moraga, CA
01/02/2016 7:00 pm, TheW.tv		San Diego	W 79–46	13–1 (4–0)	McKeon Pavilion (2,185) Moraga, CA
01/07/2016 7:00 pm, TheW.tv		at Loyola Marymount	W 73–48	14–1 (5–0)	Gersten Pavilion (1,791) Los Angeles, CA
01/09/2016 1:00 pm, CSNCA		at Pepperdine	L 64–67	14–2 (5–1)	Firestone Fieldhouse (1,423) Malibu, CA
01/14/2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU		Pacific	W 78–62	15–2 (6–1)	McKeon Pavilion (2,983) Moraga, CA
01/21/2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU		Gonzaga	W 70–67	16–2 (7–1)	McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA
01/23/2016 8:00 pm, CSNBA		Portland	W 89–74	17–2 (8–1)	McKeon Pavilion (3,338) Moraga, CA
01/30/2016 8:00 pm, CSNCA		at Pacific	W 68–65	18–2 (9–1)	Alex G. Spanos Center (3,010) Stockton, CA
02/04/2016 6:00 pm, BYUtv		at BYU	L 59–70	18–3 (9–2)	Marriott Center (14,897) Provo, UT
02/06/2016 6:00 pm, CSNCA		at San Diego	W 60–43	19–3 (10–2)	Jenny Craig Pavilion (2,292) San Diego, CA
02/11/2016 8:00 pm, CSNBA		Pepperdine	L 63–69	19–4 (10–3)	McKeon Pavilion (3,340) Moraga, CA
02/13/2016 8:00 pm, CSNBA		Loyola Marymount	W 68–62	20–4 (11–3)	McKeon Pavilion (3,165) Moraga, CA
02/18/2016 7:00 pm, TheW.tv		at Portland	W 74–72	21–4 (12–3)	Chiles Center (2,868) Portland, OR
02/20/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2		at Gonzaga	W 63–58	22–4 (13–3)	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
02/25/2016 8:00 pm, CSNCA		Santa Clara	W 75–50	23–4 (14–3)	McKeon Pavilion (3,165) Moraga, CA
02/27/2016 8:00 pm, CSNCA		at San Francisco	W 84–72	24–4 (15–3)	War Memorial Gymnasium (2,769) San Francisco, CA
03/01/2016* 8:00 pm, TheW.tv		Grand Canyon	W 73–64	25–4	McKeon Pavilion (2,735) Moraga, CA
WCC tournament
03/05/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2	(1)	vs. (8) Loyola Marymount Quarterfinals	W 60–48	26–4	Orleans Arena (7,209) Paradise, NV
03/07/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN	(1)	vs. (4) Pepperdine Semifinals	W 81–66	27–4	Orleans Arena (8,362) Paradise, NV
03/08/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN	(1)	vs. (2) Gonzaga Championship	L 75–85	27–5	Orleans Arena (7,418) Paradise, NV
NIT
03/15/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN2	(2)	(7) New Mexico State First Round – Valparaiso Bracket	W 58–56	28–5	McKeon Pavilion (1,154) Moraga, CA
03/20/2016* 4:30 pm, ESPNU	(2)	(3) Georgia Second Round – Valparaiso Bracket	W 77–65	29–5	McKeon Pavilion (2,050) Moraga, CA
03/22/2016* 4:00 pm, ESPN	(2)	at (1) Valparaiso Quarterfinals – Valparaiso Bracket	L 44–60	29–6	Athletics–Recreation Center (5,444) Valparaiso, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

Rankings

See also: 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked.

Poll	Pre	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Wk 18	Wk 19	Final
AP								RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	NR	RV				*N/A
Coaches								RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	RV	RV	RV

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings