MORAGA – Bruising forward Paulius Murauskas took charge of Saint Mary’s scoring Thursday night. The University of San Francisco’s shooters responded by bruising the rim.

What ensued was a 71-51 blowout for the Gaels in a matchup of the West Coast Conference’s leading teams.

remained perfect in conference action. USF fell to 16-6, 6-3.

Saint Mary’s (17-3, 7-0)

Murauskas poured in 24 points, the second-highest output this season from the Arizona transfer. Mitchell Saxen added 14 points and Jordan Ross 12.

Saint Mary’s entered with the nation’s seventh-best scoring defense, and while it didn’t necessarily deprive USF of open shots, the Dons couldn’t knock down better than 27.5% of their field-goal attempts (14-of-51).

The Gaels are not even halftway through conference play, and the remaining slate is loaded with challengers. Home-and-away series await with Washington State, Gonzaga, Santa Clara, and Oregon State, not to mention a Feb. 6 rematch at USF.

Next up are road games Saturday at Washington State and Wednesday at Santa Clara, then the Gaels return to host Gonzaga on Saturday night, Feb. 1 in an ESPN-televised game.

Murauskas sparked the Gaels in the first half, accounting for 12 of their first 30 points. He drew a standing ovation from the home crowd with a pump-fake on the perimeter en route , putting the Gaels up 30-25 with 4:38 until halftime.