Who is Saint Mary's? Here's a Quick Look at Vanderbilt's NCAA Tournament Opponent

The West Coast Conference regular season champions bring one of the nation's best defenses into Friday's first-round NCAA Tournament game.

St. Mary's Gaels guard Jordan Ross (2) shoots the basketball against Pepperdine Waves forward Stefan Todorovic (7) during the second half in the semifinal of the West Coast Conference tournament at Orleans Arena. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Vanderbilt’s men’s basketball is going dancing for the first time since 2017. The Commodores earned a spot in this year’s NCAA Tournament after achieving their first 20-win season since 2011-12 and is headed to the East Region as the No. 10-seed.

Vanderbilt will face the region’s No. 7-seed, Saint Mary’s (Calif.), at 2:15 p.m. Friday in Cleveland. The first round game will air on TruTV. It’ll the fifth meeting ever between the Commodores and Gaels, but the first meeting in the NCAA Tournament.

“Saint Mary’s is a tough, experienced team,” first-year Vanderbilt coach Mary Byington said after the Commodores’ selection. “They’ve won 28 games — you don’t luck into that. Their conference is strong, and they’re balanced, disciplined, and led by seniors. There are no easy teams in the tournament. Everyone earns their spot. We’ll need to be at our best.”

Die hard basketball fans may know who the Gaels are and what they accomplished this season. But many fans may not. So, here’s a quick glance at Saint Mary’s as the first week of the NCAA Tournament kicks off:

Saint Mary’s Gaels At-A-Glance

• 2024-25 Record: 28-5, 17-1 WCC
• Coach: Randy Bennett (561-221, 24 seasons; 6-10 NCAA Tournament games)
• BPI: 30th
• NET Rank: 21st
• Quad 1 Record: 4-3
• Quad 2 Record: 6-2
• Quad 3 Record: 7-0
• Quad 4 Record: 10-0
• Scoring Defense: 5th (60.7 opp ppg)
• Scoring Offense: 188th (73.5 ppg)
• Key Players: WCC Player of the Year Augustas Marciulionis (14.3 PPG, 6.1 APG), WCC Defensive Player of the Year Mitchell Saxen (10.6 PPG, 7.9 RPG) and WCC Sixth Man of the Year Mikey Lewis (8.5 PPG, 39 percent three-point field goals).