MORAGA, Calif. – No. 16 Saint Mary's got hot early and cruised to its 16th consecutive victory with a 72-55 win over the Portland Pilots on Saturday night at McKeon Pavilion. The Gaels improved to 21-2 overall and 10-0 in West Coast Conference play, while the Pilots fell to 8-15 and 2-8 in league action after facing their second ranked opponent this week.

The Pilots outscored the Gaels in the second half, but had too much ground to make up after Saint Mary's erupted offensively in the first half.

Portland freshman point guard JoJo Walker buried his first five three-point attempts and finished with a team-high 15 points. Freshman guards Marcus Shaver Jr. and Malcolm Porter added 12 points apiece. Senior center Philipp Hartwich did a nice job defensively against the WCC's leading scorer, Jock Landale. He entered the game averaging 23 points, but finished with just six on Saturday.

Sophomore guard Jordan Ford picked up the scoring slack for the Gaels by finishing with a game-high 20 points, while senior Calvin Hermanson drilled four three-pointers and finished with 16 points.

The Gaels, the most efficient offensive team in the nation, showed why with a versatile first period. Saint Mary's buried 8-of-14 three-pointers, made all six free throws and shot 58 percent from the field to jump out to a 44-22 halftime lead. Hermanson sparked a 10-0 run with eight points midway through the period to make it a double digit margin.

Portland cut the margin to 50-35 on Walker's fifth three-pointer 13:04 remaining, but the Gaels would score the next five points to gain a cushion.

Saint Mary's shot 47 percent overall and made 12-of-23 three-pointers as six different Gaels hit from beyond the arc. Portland finished at 37 percent overall and 7-of-20 from three-point range. Saint Mary's was 12-of-14 at the free throw line compared to the Pilots at 4-of-9.

The Pilots battled on the boards and were only outrebounded by a 35-34 margin overall. The Pilots had more points in the paint (26-22) and second chance points (7-2).

Portland will return home next week to host Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount at the Chiles Center. The Pilots welcome the Waves on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tip, while the Lions visit on Saturday for a 1 p.m. start as the WCC Game of the Week. Tickets for both games are available at PortlandPilots.com/Tickets or by calling the Pilot Box Office at (503) 943-GO-UP.