MORAGA — Steph Curry was a no-show for the rematch 15 years later, but once again Davidson brought out the best in Saint Mary’s, which snapped a three-game losing streak with an overpowering 89-55 victory on Friday afternoon.
This was the first meeting between the schools since 2009, when the Gaels ended the college career of the future Warriors star with an 80-68 victory in a second-round NIT game that was as good as the hype.
Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett scheduled Friday’s game for a 1 p.m. tipoff with the hope that Curry — who had a 7 p.m. home game at the Chase Center — would make an appearance.
Curry said this week he hoped to get to Moraga, but wasn’t sure about the logistics or if Warriors coach Steve Kerr could be convinced.
“I heard he was supposed to come out, but I didn’t see him so I had to carry the torch for him,” said Gaels senior forward Alex Ducas, who made seven 3-pointers and scored a season-high 23 points.
Davidson (3-3) could have used his presence, and certainly his scoring. The Gaels (3-3) ran off 16 straight points early to forge a 23-7 lead, extended their margin to 27 points late in the first half, then to 36 midway through the second period.
Bennett said he talked with his team about the possibility Curry would come.
“But if he walks in that door, first I would imagine the Davidson players would be pretty motivated by that. It would give them energy,” he said. “For our guys . . . that guy’s huge. He comes walking in that door, it can’t affect us.
“It would have been cool if he came, but it was good either way.”
University Credit Union Pavilion was nearly full the day after Thanksgiving, but the atmosphere was nothing like 2009 when Curry and his teammates came to town.
That game sold out in 30 minutes, with fans eager to see the nation’s leading scorer. Patty Mills, who sparked the Gaels’ NIT victory with 23 points and 10 assists, recalled the frenzied crowd in an interview this week, saying, “That night was insane.”
Curry didn’t disappoint, scoring 26 points, to go with nine rebounds and five assists. The next time he played basketball, he was playing for the Warriors.
Gaels star sophomore Aida Mahaney, who had 17 points and five assists on Friday, had mixed feelings about a possible Curry sighting.
“I kind of thought, finally Curry comes to a Gaels game. But he wouldn’t be coming to root for us so I really couldn’t care if he was here or not,” Mahaney said.
The sharp performance by the Gaels had to be a relief to Bennett after consecutive defeats to Weber State, San Diego State and Xavier in which his team averaged just 53.3 points and shot under 33 percent.
Picked by the coaches to win the West Coast Conference this season, Saint Mary’s finally played like it. The Gaels were sharp offensively — hitting 15 of 31 from the 3-point arc — and locked in at the other end.
Mahaney, the returning All-WCC guard who averaged just 8.7 points and shot 23 percent during the three-game losing streak, hit his first 3-pointer and was 5-for-8 from deep.
Ducas, a preseason All-WCC pick, produced just 6.7 points on 30-percent accuracy the previous three games. The senior from Australia was 7-for-11 from beyond the arc in this one.
“We put in the work,” Mahaney said. “Continued trust, your teammates boosting you . . . the ball’s going to drop. We’re a great shooting team.”
Point guard Augustas Marciulionis scored 17 points and senior forward Mitchell Saxen had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Gaels play next on Monday night at home against Utah.