Saint Mary's @ Georgia preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 20, 2016 ) Georgia 65, St. Mary's 77

No. 21 Saint Mary’s continues to fill up the basket with strong accuracy rates from the field (52.2 percent), 3-point range (44.0) and the free throw stripe (81.3). But veteran coach Randy Bennett isn’t happy with the Gaels’ corresponding effort on the other end of the floor and is looking for an improved defensive showing Sunday when his team faces Georgia in the third-place game of the Wooden Legacy tournament in Fullerton, Calif.

In Friday’s semifinals, Saint Mary’s suffered its first setback of the season, falling to hot-shooting Washington State 84-79. The Gaels shot 51.7 percent in the contest, but the Cougars did them 7.2 percentage points better at 58.9, snapping Saint Mary’s 64-game win streak when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor. “It’s simple: We didn’t guard anywhere close to well enough to beat a team like Washington State,” Bennett said in his post-game news conference. “That’d been our Achilles’ heel thus far.” Georgia, meanwhile, also suffered its first loss of the season Friday, falling to San Diego State 75-68 in a see-saw second semifinal, and now will look to bounce back against the Gaels.

TV: 5 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT SAINT MARY’S (5-1): All five starters are shooting at least 48.6 percent from the field, led by 6-foot-11 Jock Landale, who is converting at 65.2 clip and is also pacing the team in scoring (18.3 points per game) and rebounding (8.0). Calvin Hermanson (16.2 points) and guard Emmett Naar (13.2) also have double-digit scoring averages, with the latter ranking among the national leaders with 9.0 assists per outing. Still, defending better is the No. 1 concern as the Gaels’ opponents are shooting a combined 48.5 percent and the 84 points allowed to Washington State marked a season high.

ABOUT GEORGIA (4-1): The Bulldogs had won their previous three games by single digits, and the law of averages caught up with them versus San Diego State, which shot only 34.2 percent from the floor but committed only five turnovers and outscored Georgia 22-12 at the free-throw line. Forward Yante Maten and guard William Jackson II each had 17 points Friday and are pacing the team with 18.8 and 12.0 scoring averages, respectively. Freshman forward Rayshaun Hammonds also is averaging double figures (10.8 points) while Maten is averaging a team-best 10.0 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who are outrebounding the opposition by an average margin of 11.6 per contest.

TIP-INS

1. Landale scored his 1,000th career point Friday and has scored in double figures in 13 straight games dating back to last season.

2. Maten has hit 37-of-38 free throws this season and has accounted for 40.7 percent of Georgia’s made throws on the season.

3. Turnovers have been a major issue for the Bulldogs, who are averaging 16.6 per game.

PREDICTION: Saint Mary’s 78, Georgia 68