Nov. 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.