Patrick Mills College Thread

[Billyhoyle]

12-11-2007 - By BA Media with SMC Media

Mills shines in US debut

Australia Post Boomer Patrick Mills lived up to the hype on Saturday morning, scoring 17 points on 5-8 shooting in his American college debut for the Saint Mary�s Gaels at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, California.

Mills, who starred for the Australia Post Boomers in their 2-1 series victory over the New Zealand Tall Blacks at the 2007 FIBA Oceania Championship in August, added five assists and four steals in the 82-67 victory over the Sonoma State Seawolves.

Mills was the first Gaels freshman since Daniel Kickert in 2002 to start his first college game.

Kickert, who hails from Nunawading in Victoria, went on to contest the 2006 FIBA World Championship with the Boomers in Brazil.

SMC's first basket of the game came off a driving lay-up by Mills just 13 seconds into the game. Diamon Simpson then added a dunk on the next SMC possession and followed that with the Gaels' first 3-pointer of the year to give SMC �a 7-1 lead just 1:25 into the game.

Saint Mary's opened a 20-7 lead following bucket by Mills at the 12:49 mark, but the Seawolves responded with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to six points.

The Gaels led 41-25 at halftime before Mills scored the first basket of the third period for the Gaels; this time it was his first 3-pointer as a Gael.

Saint Mary's would lead by as many as 28 points when Samhan converted a 3-point play with 4:32 on the clock.

SMC, which finished 20th in the country in blocked shots last season, setting a WCC and school record with 174 blocks, recorded nine blocks in the first game. Simpson, who had 79 blocks last season, had five to open his junior campaign.

Mills� Gaels returned to the hardwood on Sunday night and recorded their second victory from two games with a 72-66 win over the Drake Bulldogs of the Missouri Valley Conference.

In its first game of the season, Drake defeated the UC San Diego Tritons 81-63 in the opening game of the Saint Mary's Tip-off Classic.

Mills posted 10 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and a blocked shot (!) in 30 minutes on court.

http://smcgaels.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2007-2008/smcmbb02.html

 

[wolvesjr34]

nevermind I am blind blind blind....

great effort by MIlls so far

 

[wjrwebber]

Is his college in like a secondary division or something? (sorry I don't know much about college sports...)

 

[Billyhoyle]

Nov. 10, 2007

Box Score

Moraga, CA - Carlin Hughes scored a game-high 18 points to pace the Saint Mary's men's basketball team to a 72-66 victory over the Drake Bulldogs in the final game of the Saint Mary's Tip-off Classic. Hughes hit 5-of-8 3-pointers, helping the Gaels were 12-of-28 from behind the arch.

Saint Mary's (2-0) had five players score in double figures. Hughes lead all players with 18 points, Golden finished with 12 points, all from 3-point territory. Omar Samhan also had 12 points and with his game-high 10 rebounds he notched his third career double-double. Samhan also added a career-high six blocks as the team recorded 10 blocks. O'Leary and Mills finished the game with 10 points each. Last season's leading scorer Diamon Simpson finished the game with just four points.

For the second straight night, Hughes helped the Gaels hit double-digits in 3-pointers made. After making 10 threes last night against Sonoma State, Saint Mary's hit 12 threes against Drake. Todd Golden shot 80 percent from behind the arch on Saturday, making 4-of-5 shots from long range. Patrick Mills hit two threes and Ian O'Leary dropped one from downtown.

Last season the Gaels only reached double digits in threes once, and you have to go back to the 2003-04 season to find the last time the Gaels made 10 or more 3-pointers in back-to-back games. That season SMC hit 10 treys against San Diego then two nights later dropped 12 on rival Santa Clara.





The Gaels used timely shooting against Drake to pull out the victory. After the Bulldogs opened a 43-35 lead early in the second half, Saint Mary's utilized two three by Hughes and two baskets by Omar Samhan to pull even with the Bulldogs at 45-45 with 14:21 remaining. After Hughes stole a pass from Josh Young, the ensuing layup gave the Gaels a 47-45 lead with just under 13 and a half to play.

Drake was not phased by the SMC run, and regained the lead at 52-50 when Adam Emmenecker made a basket with 11 minutes on the clock. Follow a made free throw by Samhan, A three by Todd Golden from the corner gave the Gaels a 54-52. But as the Gaels answered, so did the Bulldogs.

The game would go back and forth until the 1:51 mark when a layup by SMC's Yusef Smith gave the Gaels the lead for good at 63-61. SMC held a seven-point advantage following two free throws by Patrick Mills with 35 seconds remaining. The seven point led for SMC was there largest of the game.

Saint Mary's shot 50 percent from the floor, making 25-of-50 shots and connected on 12-of-28 3-point attempts to shoot 42.9 percent from long range. The Bulldogs shot 40.4 percent (23-57) from the floor and 38.1 percent (8-21) from beyond the arch. The Bulldogs out rebounded the Gaels 32-30.

Saint Mary's will return to the court on Tuesday night with a 7 pm home game against Cal State Bakersfield.
http://smcgaels.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/111107aab.html

 

[Billyhoyle]

Is his college in like a secondary division or something? (sorry I don't know much about college sports...)

Nah they are a division I team

 

[Billyhoyle]

Nov. 14, 2007

Box Score

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) -Omar Samhan scored 15 of his career-high 25 points in the first half, leading Saint Mary's to a 94-66 victory over Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday night and its first 3-0 start in 12 years.

Samhan, a 6-foot-11 sophomore center who worked hard in the offseason to get in better shape, shot 11-for-15, also grabbed six rebounds and blocked four shots for the Gaels.

Ian O'Leary had 19 points and scored seven straight early in the second half as the game turned into a rout and Tron Smith had 11 points for Saint Mary's, which last started 3-0 during the 1995-96 season but managed only nine more victories the rest of the way.

The Gaels used a balanced offensive attack, taking a 20-point lead on Carlin Hughes' two free throws with 11:26 to play. Patty Mills and Hughes, two of four Australians playing for Saint Mary's, combined for 10 assists, with Mills getting six and also making five steals. Todd Golden dished out five assists to go with nine points.

Seventh-year coach Randy Bennett, who last month received a two-year contract extension that could keep him at the school through 2013, has one of his deepest rosters yet during his tenure.

Picked to finish second in the West Coast Conference behind No. 14 Gonzaga, this was the Gaels' final tuneup before playing 11th-ranked Oregon next Tuesday night in a sold-out game on their home floor at McKeon Pavilion - a matchup certain to generate the same kind of excitement and energy from the fans as any rivalry game with the Zags.

Ducks coach Ernie Kent coached at Saint Mary's from 1991-97.

Terrence Johns scored 19 points and Cory Brown had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Roadrunners (0-2), who are playing their first full season in Division I after making the transition from Division II.

Saint Mary's missed its first six 3-pointers but still shot 49 percent in the first half for a 47-32 lead at the break, getting Golden's 3 moments before the buzzer sounded.

The Gaels have won four of the five meetings between the schools, with all of those victories coming in Moraga. Saint Mary's won 65-57 last year.
Saint Mary's will return to action on Tuesday, November 20 against the No. 11 ranked Oregon Ducks. The game will play played at SMC's McKeon Pavilion and will tip-off at 7:05 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
http://smcgaels.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/111407aab.html

 

[blackwind]

Thanks for posting these Billy, I'm really interested to see how Patty Mills goes.



Cheers
Rick

 

[Billyhoyle]

also his team mate Carlin Hughes is an Aussie and they also announced: (Dunno if we'll get any)

The Saint Mary's men's basketball team will appear on television a total of 16 times this season, with a chance for an addition four televised games. The Gaels will have seven games on Comcast SportsNet, three games on the ESPN Network, three games on Fox Sports, one game on CSTV, and two games on local networks when the Gaels are on the road.

 

[mattyj]

we got a few Baylor games last season with Aaron Bruce, so hopefully we get some Saint Mary's games this year

 

[Billyhoyle]

[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=36248"]A.J. Ogilvy Stats, News, Photos - Vanderbilt Commodores - ESPN[/ame] is doing really well

[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=37525"]Patrick Mills Stats, News, Photos - Saint Mary's Gaels - ESPN[/ame]

 

[Billyhoyle]

the kid can play!

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) - Patty Mills' spectacular performance against Oregon gave everybody a huge glimpse of why the Gaels regard him so highly - and the Saint Mary's freshman sure spoiled Ernie Kent's return to his former school.

Mills had the best scoring output by a freshman in program history with 37 points, and also had five assists, two steals and only one turnover that came with 3 minutes to go, and Saint Mary's stunned the 12th-ranked Ducks 99-87 on Tuesday night.

"If he plays that way every night, he's a pro," said Kent, comparing Mills to Spurs star Tony Parker.

Mills led the feisty Gaels (4-0) to their first win over a ranked opponent in nearly three years in a rocking, sold-out arena. It was only his fourth college game and the effort tied him for sixth-best ever at Saint Mary's.

Students rushed the floor as soon as the buzzer sounded to celebrate the upset.

"Firstly, being a freshman coming from Australia, I've never been part of an atmosphere like this before," Mills said. "To win that, it's unbelievable and it's just a great start to the season."

Diamon Simpson had 18 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks and Omar Samhan added 16 points despite foul trouble for Saint Mary's, which honored Kent and his 1997 NCAA team that won the Gaels' lone West Coast Conference tournament title. This tiny school in San Francisco's east suburbs gave Kent his first head coaching job, and now the Gaels are 4-0 for the first time since getting five straight wins to start the 1993-94 campaign under Kent.

"We've been waiting for big moments like this, so it's no surprise to me," Simpson said. "This is definitely my first time seeing Patty go crazy like that. He was on fire tonight."

Kamyron Brown scored 20 points, Maarty Leunen had 17 and 11 rebounds, and Tajuan Porter 13 before fouling out for Oregon (4-1), which already had lopsided victories over two of Saint Mary's WCC opponents.

This marked only the fifth time the Gaels hosted a non-conference ranked opponent, and they put on quite a show.

The Ducks, meanwhile, became desperate down the stretch.

"The difference to me was our intensity level," Brown said. "We didn't come out ready to play and then we stayed at that level, thinking they would drop."

Mills made back-to-back 3s early in the second half and Simpson's putback at 16 minutes gave the Gaels a 56-46 lead. On the other end, Simpson blocked Malik Hairston on two straight Oregon possessions.

But Leunen's consecutive putbacks trimmed the Saint Mary's lead to single digits with 9:13 to play, 70-64, before Lucas Walker gave the Gaels a boost off the bench with four straight points.

Three of Mills' 3s were from well behind the line and he shot 10-for-20 from the field.

Mills, Carlin Hughes and Walker are three of Australians making an immediate impact - and they have become instant fan favorites, with students cheering "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!" when they score. Men at Work's tune "Down Under" blares during timeouts.

Mills hit Hughes on a pretty pass for a layin with 5:48 left, then Mills sank two free throws 14 seconds later for an 80-68 lead. Saint Mary's didn't have its first turnover of the second half until Porter stole the ball from Hughes at 8:36 and finished with only seven.

The Gaels had lost five straight games against ranked opponents dating to an 89-81 victory over then-No. 11 Gonzaga on Jan. 8, 2005. Saint Mary's is picked to finish second behind the Zags.

"If we keep getting better and keep playing well, the rest of what comes with it will happen," Gaels coach Randy Bennett said. "The atmosphere was unbelievable. This is probably the best non-conference team we've played here during my seven years."

Kent's return had all the drama of a big-time game between a pair of unbeatens, even if it's only late November.

Mills made 5 of his first 7 shots and had two steals. Brown and Porter took turns guarding Mills, who in the opening 12 minutes had 13 points, two assists, two steals, a rebound and no turnovers. After his two free throws at 4:19 made it 32-27, he got his first break.

"He's quick with the ball, he sees the court well and he's a hard guy to guard," Brown said. "But there's still no reason for him to have 37 against us. I'm not knocking him. He's a great player but there's no reason for that."

Both teams came out shooting, with Saint Mary's starting 10-for-17 and Oregon 9-of-13.

A capacity crowd of 3,500 turned out at McKeon Pavilion with the same kind of energy typical of a rivalry game with Gonzaga. Seven pro scouts were on the list to attend the game, along with former Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings coach Eric Musselman.

http://smcgaels.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/112107aab.html

 

[Billyhoyle]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Andrew Ogilvy scored a game-high 21
points to lead Vanderbilt to a 87-78 victory over Valparaiso on
Tuesday.

The freshman center scored 19 points in the second half, all
coming after the 12:07 mark, to help the Commodores rally after
falling behind 53-50.

The Crusaders (2-1) took that first lead of the game with 12:30 remaining on a 3-pointer by Shawn Huff. Vanderbilt (3-0) led by as much as 15 points in the first half.

Vanderbilt answered by looking inside to Ogilvy, who scored 10 of the Commodores' next 15 points. The surge put Vanderbilt ahead 65-60, and the team would not trail again.

Ross Neltner added 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Vanderbilt and Shan Foster scored 15 points. Jarryd Loyd led Valparaiso (2-1) with 20 points, while Huff added 18.

The Commodores shot 50.0 percent from the field and 54.8 in the first half. The Crusaders finished at 37.6 percent from the field.

Vanderbilt made 12 of its first 19 shots, capped by a 3-pointer by Andre Walker, to race to an early 34-19 lead.

Valparaiso, which made 13 3-pointers for the night, sank five of its first seven to stay close.

Tuesday's game was part of the South Padre Island Invitational Tournament. First- and second-round games are played at on-campus sites. Play resumes this weekend in South Padre Island, Texas.

http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/112007aaa.html

 

[The Villain]

just drops 37 points five assist for st marys
hes on fire

 

[theflyinggerco]

He has played really good so far this season lets hope he can keep it up and maybe lead them to the conference championship and possibly to the NCAA?

 

[Billyhoyle]

video of it here:

[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=273242608"]Oregon Ducks vs. Saint Mary's Gaels - Recap - November 20, 2007 - ESPN[/ame]

 

[Billyhoyle]

Ogilivy dominant in a team 4-0

ASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Andrew Ogilvy scored a game-high 21
points to lead Vanderbilt to a 87-78 victory over Valparaiso on
Tuesday.

The freshman center scored 19 points in the second half, all
coming after the 12:07 mark, to help the Commodores rally after
falling behind 53-50.

The Crusaders (2-1) took that first lead of the game with 12:30 remaining on a 3-pointer by Shawn Huff. Vanderbilt (3-0) led by as much as 15 points in the first half.

Vanderbilt answered by looking inside to Ogilvy, who scored 10 of the Commodores' next 15 points. The surge put Vanderbilt ahead 65-60, and the team would not trail again.

Ross Neltner added 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Vanderbilt and Shan Foster scored 15 points. Jarryd Loyd led Valparaiso (2-1) with 20 points, while Huff added 18.

The Commodores shot 50.0 percent from the field and 54.8 in the first half. The Crusaders finished at 37.6 percent from the field.

Vanderbilt made 12 of its first 19 shots, capped by a 3-pointer by Andre Walker, to race to an early 34-19 lead.

Valparaiso, which made 13 3-pointers for the night, sank five of its first seven to stay close.

Tuesday's game was part of the South Padre Island Invitational Tournament. First- and second-round games are played at on-campus sites. Play resumes this weekend in South Padre Island, Texas.

 

[HBM]

Just watched a DVD of Mills dropping 37 the other day. Great display. Hoping he continues this great form.

 

[Billyhoyle]

Nov. 24, 2007

Box Score

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) -- Diamon Simpson had 15 points, six rebounds and three steals and Saint Mary's followed a thrilling upset of Oregon with an 84-63 victory over Nicholls State on Saturday to stay unbeaten.

Patty Mills added 11 points and five assists one game after scoring a freshman school-record 37 points, again doing a fine job taking care of the ball in only his fifth college game. It's a matchup that featured five other players from Australia on the floor with him during some stretches.

Ian O'Leary scored 15 points as the Gaels used another balanced offensive attack to improve to 5-0, the school's best start since winning its first five games in the 1993-94 season. The Gaels stunned the 12th-ranked Ducks and former Saint Mary's coach Ernie Kent 99-87 on Tuesday night. Omar Samhan had six boards and three blocked shots for Saint Mary's.

Adonis Gray and Michael Czepil each scored 13 points to lead Nicholls State (1-5), which lost all three of their games during a swing through Northern California -- also playing at California and UC Davis this past week.

Saint Mary's is playing so well partly because of the way the Gaels share the ball, making the extra pass to create open shots and taking care of the ball. They did commit an uncharacteristic 18 turnovers after having only 12 total in the two previous games combined.

Mills did all the little things right, again exhibiting the poise beyond his first-year status. He hustled to save the ball from going out of bounds and generate another chance on offense, then drew a charge on the defensive end.

Mills, who helped Australia qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, had five assists in the first 8 1/2 minutes of a game played in a much more subdued atmosphere at McKeon Pavilion, where most of the students who packed the gym for the sold-out Oregon game were still away from campus for Thanksgiving.

This ad zapped.



Mills is 25-for-26 at the free-throw line for the season.

The teams have a combined nine active Australian players, not to mention Saint Mary's redshirt Ben Allen. The common denominator is Saint Mary's assistant David Patrick, in his second season after a year at Nicholls State. Colonels coach J.P. Piper coached the Bermuda-born Patrick in his senior year of high school after he came to the United States following 10 years in Australia.

The Colonels cut the lead to 50-40 on a basket by Anatoly Bose with 12:25 remaining, but from there Saint Mary's quickly built its biggest lead of 22 points.

Nicholls State, from Thibodaux, La., fell way behind early and couldn't recover against the more athletic Gaels on the way to its fourth straight loss.

Saint Mary's made 10 of its first 16 shots, including 4-of-7 3s and two of those by O'Leary, on the way to a 38-25 lead at the break.

todays game

 

[Billyhoyle]

Nov. 24, 2007

Audio: 104.5 with Coach Stallings | 104.5 with Foster | Play of Game - Beal Layup

Box Score | Quotes | Season Stats | Season Tickets Start at $75

Next Home Game: Thursday, Nov. 29, vs. South Alabama at 7 p.m. CT - 322-GOLD

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - A.J. Ogilvy scored 23 points to lead four Vanderbilt double digit scorers in Vanderbilt's 95-86 win over Bradley in the finals of the South Padre Island Invitational Saturday evening at the South Padre Island Convention Center. Shan Foster, who added 22 points for Vanderbilt in the win over the Braves, was named the tournament's MVP, with Ogilvy and sophomore guard Jermaine Beal joining Foster on the All-Tournament team.

With the win, Vanderbilt improves to 5-0 on the season, while the Braves drop to 4-2 on the year.

The Commodores led from the opening tip, and heading into the half, Vanderbilt held a comfortable 53-35 lead. VU's lead, which had ballooned to as many as 24 with 1:33 to go in the first half, quickly evaporated in the second half, as the Braves chipped away at Vanderbilt's lead, and closed the gap to one point with 2:40 to play on a Theron Wilson layup to make the score 85-84 in favor of the Commodores.

After Foster missed a three on VU's next possession, and senior forward Ross Neltner missed the put back, Bradley's Andrew Warren had a good look at a three but his chance rimmed out, and after another empty Vanderbilt possession, the Braves' leading scorer, Daniel Ruffin, missed a jumper to give Bradley the lead. Alex Gordon then made a jumper in the paint to push the Vanderbilt lead to three, 87-84.

On the ensuing Braves possession, Ruffin missed a three, and after an offensive rebound by Jeremy Crouch, Warren saw his game-tying three-point attempt rim out. Gordon grabbed the defensive rebound, and on his charge down the court, was intentionally fouled by Wilson. Gordon made both free throws, and the Commodores converted on their next six charity stripe opportunities to close out the Braves.

"We came out offensively very strong, and we played very well in the first half," said Foster. "It got away from us a little in the second half, but we got it together to come away with the win."

Bradley capitalized on 13 second-half turnovers to get back into the game and made ten threes in the closing stanza at a 41.7% clip (10-24), while also converting on 51.4% of its shots from the floor in the half.

Vanderbilt had its free throw shooting stroke working in the key statistic of the championship game, knocking down 28 of 31 shots, a 90.3% clip. Also, the Commodores attempted and made 22 more free throws than the Braves.

The Commodores also continued its hot shooting from the floor, making 51.7% of its shots for the game.

Ogilvy led all Vanderbilt scorers with 23 points, with Foster chipping in 22. Beal added 13 points, and Alex Gordon tallied 10 points in the winning effort.

Ruffin led Bradley with 23 points. Andrew Warren was the only other Braves scorer in double figures with 18 points.

Vanderbilt returns home to take on South Alabama at 7 p.m. Thursday night. The game can be seen live on Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast.

Ogilivy's last game

 

[Billyhoyle]

Mills named player of the week

Patty Mills named WCC Player of the Week



Patrick Mills Named West Coast Conference Player of the Week

Gaels Avoid Letdown, Stomp Colonels 84-63

Men's Basketball Looks To Remain Perfect On Saturday Against Nicholls StNov. 26, 2007

San Bruno, CA - Saint Mary's true freshman point guard Patrick Mills (Canberra, Australia) was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week as announced on Monday, November 26, 2007. Mills helped the Gaels post a 2-0 record last week, which included home wins over No. 11-ranked Oregon (99-87) and Nicholls State (84-63).

For the week, Mills scored 48 points, dished out 10 assists and had just four turnovers to help the Gaels improve to 5-0 on the season. He averaged 24.0 points and 5.0 assists, while shooting 13-26 (.500) from the floor and 18-19 from the free throw line.

In the win over Oregon, he scored a career-high 37 points to set a Saint Mary's freshman record for points scored in a single game. Against the Ducks, he was 10-for-20 from the floor and made 13-of-14 free throws. He had five assists, two steals, one block and one turnover in 37 minutes of action. Against Nicholls State, he had 11 points, five assists and one steal to help SMC improve to 5-0 for the first time since the 1993-94 season.

Mills' 37-point outing is the nation's fourth best scoring performance of the year against a Division I opponent. Mills is averaging a team-leading 15.8 points and 5.0 assists per game this season and is propelling the Gaels' offense to 86.2 points per game and a +18.4 scoring margin. SMC is currently 19th in the country in points per game. Mills is the first freshman to start at Saint Mary's since the 2002 season, when Australian Daniel Kickert started his first year with the Gaels.

Mills and the Gaels will return to action on Saturday, December 1 against the Seton Hall Pirates. The game between SMC and the Pirates will be played at McKeon Pavilion and will tip-off at 4:05 p.m. The game will also be televised on Comcast SportsNet West.