The 2017–18 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 17th season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, California as members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 30–6, 16–2 in West Coast Conference play to finish in second place. As the No. 2 seed in the WCC tournament, they defeated Pepperdine in the quarterfinals before losing to BYU in the semifinals. They were one of the last four teams not selected for the NCAA tournament and as a result earned a No. 1 seed in the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Southeastern Louisiana in the first round and Washington in the second round before losing to Utah in the quarterfinals.
Previous season The Gaels finished the 2016–17 season 29–5, 16–2 in WCC play to finish in second place. In the WCC tournament, they defeated Portland and BYU before losing to Gonzaga in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 7 seed in the West region, they beat VCU in the first round before losing to No. 2-seeded Arizona in the second round.
Offseason
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Stefan Gonzalez 2 G 6'2" 195 Sophomore Pocatello, ID Transferred to UC Davis Dane Pineau 22 F 6'9" 225 Senior Melbourne, Australia Graduated Joe Rahon 25 G 6'2" 195 RS Senior San Diego, CA Graduated
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous school Cullen Neal 44 G 6'5" 195 RS Senior Albuquerque, NM Transferred from Ole Miss. Will eligible to play since Neal graduated from Mississippi. Malik Fitts F 6'8" 237 Sophomore Rancho Cucamonga, CA Transferred from South Florida. Under NCAA transfer rules, Fitts will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.
2017 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style=| WCC regular season
!colspan=9 style=| WCC tournament
!colspan=9 style=| NIT
Source
Rankings
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings
References