Bennett, No. 21 Saint Mary's ready for San Francisco (Jan 26, 2017)

Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett will not enjoy Thursday's home game against San Francisco.

He did not get much satisfaction out of the No. 21 Gaels' 73-62 victory over San Francisco and coach Kyle Smith on Jan. 7, and he is not looking forward to having Saint Mary's (17-2, 7-1 WCC) go against the Dons again this week at McKeon Pavilion.

"I really don't like playing against my friend," Bennett said. "We go back 25 years."

Bennett and Smith were both assistant coaches at San Diego in the mid-1990s, and Smith was later a Saint Mary's assistant under Bennett for nine years. Smith then became head coach at Columbia for six seasons, and is now in his first campaign as head coach of San Francisco.

Smith was bothered less by the matchup against his friend.

"It wasn't as weird as I thought it would be," Smith said of facing Bennett for the first time.

They better get used to it because the two West Coast Conference teams will meet at least twice each season, with a possible third matchup in the conference tournament.

Saint Mary's has controlled this Bay Area rivalry recently, winning the last five matchups and 22 of the past 23. The Gaels have won 13 straight home games against San Francisco, whose last road win against Saint Mary's came in 2003.

Smith's immediate concern is continuing San Francisco's recent run of success. The Dons (14-7, 4-4) have won three straight, beating Pacific, Portland and San Diego, with none of the three games closer than 17 points.

Saturday's 60-43 victory over San Diego may have been the most satisfying, because it came on the road and because the Toreros' 43 points were a season low for a San Francisco opponent.

"We haven't been too good on the road this season but you really have to guard well if you are going to win away from home in this league," Smith said. "Some of our younger bigs are getting better defensively, which allows us to play with a bigger lineup. Everyone likes to score points but our keys will always be tied to our ability to defend, rebound and take care of the basketball."

In the earlier game against Saint Mary's in San Francisco, the Dons held a two-point lead with 11 minutes left, and trailed by just three with seven minutes remaining. The Gaels broke away down the stretch, though.

Ronnie Boyce kept San Francisco in the game, scoring 15 of his 19 points in the first 12 minutes of the second half.

"He's our point-a-minute guy," Smith said. "He can shoot you in or he can shoot you out."

Boyce leads the Dons in scoring at 14.0 point per game, but he is inconsistent. He has scored 19 points or more seven times this season, but has failed to reach double figures in any of the four games since the loss to Saint Mary's.

Saint Mary's does not rely on one player to do the scoring. Center Jock Landale continues to lead the team in scoring at 16.8 points per game, but he has not reached that average in any of the Gaels' past four games.

In Saint Mary's 85-65 victory over Pepperdine on Saturday, point guard Joe Rahon, who averages 8.9 points and 5.9 assists, scored a season-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range.

"Our team's all about the open guy takes the shot and tonight I was able to get in the lane and make a few layups to get a rhythm going," Rahon said. "That's kind of what makes us good offensively. We're unselfish and we don't really care who gets all the credit."

Four different players have led Saint Mary's in scoring in games this season, and Bennett likes having multiple scoring options.

"You have to have it if you're going to be good.," he said.

Landale led the Gaels with 21 points and 11 rebounds in the first encounter with San Francisco, but the key may have been the 14 points and 12 rebounds provided by Dane Penaeu off the bench.