In facing No. 18 UConn on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, No. 8 Gonzaga will encounter a team that’s accounted for two of the program’s 14 losses the last two seasons, as well as a transfer guard who’s been on the winning side as much as he has the losing side in six career meetings with Mark Few and the Bulldogs.
If Aidan Mahaney hadn’t already joined the growing list of Saint Mary’s villains loathed by Gonzaga fans, the audacious, offensive-minded guard was well on his way after scoring 43 points in two wins over the Bulldogs last season. The first of those gave the Gaels a two-game lead atop the West Coast Conference standings, eventually helping them capture a regular-season conference championship, while a 23-point outing from Mahaney in the second game gave Saint Mary’s a WCC Tournament championship.
The primary colors on Mahaney’s jersey haven’t changed, but nearly everything else has since the guard entered the transfer portal, committing to two-time reigning national champion UConn after also taking recruiting visits to Kentucky, Creighton and Virginia.
Mahaney, who averaged 35.8 minutes and never played fewer than 32 while compiling a 3-3 record against Gonzaga, hasn’t totaled more than 24 minutes in a game for UConn this season and was replaced in Dan Hurley’s starting lineup after struggling in each of his first five games.
Barring a lineup change, the junior who’s averaged 4.9 points and 1.9 assists in 15.7 minutes per game is slated to open on the bench when UConn (7-2) and Gonzaga (6-3) meet up at 5 p.m. Saturday in New York City.
“Obviously, not the most desirable start to my career here,” Mahaney said after a recent win over Baylor. “But we’re starting to get things in the right direction and coach has done a really good job of kind of supporting me through some of these early struggles and so have the guys.”
Mahaney started in 60 of 69 games at Saint Mary’s, becoming the Gaels’ primary offensive option early in his freshman season, earning consecutive All-WCC first-team honors and leading the Gaels to a No. 5 seed in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.
Augustas Marciulionis’ breakout season led to WCC Player of the Year honors for the Saint Mary’s guard but didn’t necessarily hinder Mahaney’s offensive production or shot volume. The point guard’s scoring average held steady at 13.9 ppg while his field-goal and 3-point attempts both went up in 2023-24.
Expected to be a focal point of Randy Bennett’s offense again as a junior, Mahaney’s desire for a change of scenery was a surprising development to many around the Saint Mary’s program, possibly none more than the Gaels’ 24th-year coach.
“Yeah, so I was a little surprised because we’d met on it,” Bennett told The Spokesman-Review at WCC Media Day in Las Vegas. “All good. There was I think some things — it wasn’t a money deal, it wasn’t an NIL deal. There were some other things that made sense to me. So, I wish him the best.”
The Gaels recruited Mahaney out of Campolindo High School, located just 2 miles from the Saint Mary’s campus in Moraga, California. Bennett’s relationship with the guard spanned roughly 15 years, since Mahaney teamed up with the coach’s son, Cade, in rec-league basketball.
There weren’t any hard feelings on Bennett’s side. Mahaney joined a UConn program targeting a rare three-peat and the Gaels are back in a familiar position, on the brink of a Top 25 ranking and once again looking like Gonzaga’s top threat in the WCC.
“If they’re like that, I think they need to go so we can have our program right,” Bennett said. “That’s kind of where I thought it was. If you’re half in, half out, you probably need to go because for us to be good the way we’re doing it, we do. We develop guys, we want guys four and five years. Anyhow, all good on that.”
Mahaney was expected to bring instant offense to the Huskies with his perimeter shooting and ability to create off the dribble, filling a role vacated by Cam Spencer. Former San Diego guard Joey Calcaterra, another ex-WCC foe of Gonzaga’s, provided consistent bench shooting to UConn’s first national title team under Hurley in 2022-23.
It’s been a bumpier transition for Mahaney, who’s made just 34% of his shots from the field and finished 2 of 9 in UConn’s three games — all losses — at the recent Maui Invitational.
Mahaney’s scoring and efficiency numbers took a positive turn in wins over Maryland Eastern Shore and Baylor. Coming off the bench, he finished 3 of 6 from the field with 11 points in the first win before delivering three 3-pointers and nine points against Baylor.
“I thought Aidan Mahaney saved us today,” Hurley said after the Baylor win. “I thought his fist half, those two 3s when we were reeling and in a bad way. He gave us a lot of life and got the crowd going.”
The player and coach shared in a viral moment after Mahaney’s second straight 3-pointer, spurring a key offensive run. An animated Hurley headbutted Mahaney after the Bears called a timeout, only to get a return fist to the chest from his player. The UConn coach also fluttered his arms to emulate a phoenix, depicting Mahaney’s “rise from the ashes.”
“I headbutted him and he punched me in the chest hard. That’s why I’m talking so low,” Hurley said. “I think I might have cracked a rib. He rose like a phoenix out of the ashes today. I’m not sure if you saw that on the sideline today, and I’m not sure if that’s what a phoenix does. But that was important for him, that was important for him to have a moment like that.
“He saved us today in the first half, and I think his season will start now. I think you’ll see a guy that’s going to give us what we hoped he would give us.”
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