MORAGA, Calif. (AP) -Patty Mills will return to Saint Mary’s lineup for the West Coast Conference tournament on Sunday, hoping to lead the Gaels’ late push for another NCAA tournament berth.
Mills, a sophomore point guard who played for the Australian Olympic team, was the leading scorer for the Gaels when he broke two bones in his right hand during a loss at Gonzaga on Jan. 29. He missed the rest of the regular season.
Saint Mary’s (24-5), which was in the Top 25 and 18-1 with a 15-game winning streak when Mills went down, lost three of its next four games before finishing with five straight victories to earn the No. 2 seed in the West Coast tournament, which began Friday in Las Vegas.
Mills, who led the Gaels with 18.1 points, 3.9 assists and 2.4 steals per game, was only cleared to start shooting drills on Monday.
He will be in the lineup for Saint Mary’s semifinal on Sunday night. Gonzaga, which also received a double bye, is the tournament’s top seed.
ary’s also added a game against Eastern Washington to its schedule next Friday to further prove Mills’ readiness to the NCAA selection committee in case it doesn’t win the conference’s automatic bid. The Gaels made the NCAA tournament last year for just the third time in school history.
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