Will St. Mary's Be Dancing?

This was almost a worst case scenario for Randy Bennett.

His St. Mary's Gaels sit squarely on the bubble in one of the more unique positions in recent memory. They were one of the best teams in the country before their star, Patty Mills, went down with a broken hand with 10 games left in the season.

After starting 18-1 with Mills, the Gaels sputtered to a 6-4 finish over the last 10 games, finishing the season with a 24-5 record.

But Mills was coming back for the WCC tournament. Despite the struggles, SMC still managed to land the #2 seed, meaning that they would get a two-round by into the semifinals. All they needed to do was win back-to-back games, and they would earn themselves an automatic bid to the dance. At the very least, one win and an impressive performance from Mills and the Gaels against Gonzaga in the finals could have been enough to land an at-large bid.

Patty Mills has not been the same in his two games back from broken hand.
(photo credit: ESPN)

Instead, Patty Mills struggled against Portland in the semi's, finishing with just 12 points on 3-12 shooting, 2-9 from three.

That's ok.

It was his first game back.

Just rusty, right?

Wrong.

Mills was even worse against Gonzaga, the team he torched for 18 points and 6 three's in just 17 minutes back in February. For the game, he finished with just five points, going 2-16 from the floor and 0-7 from three. That puts his two game totals at 5-28 shooting, 2-16 from three, and a all of 17 points.

This puts the committee in a tough position. St. Mary's does not have a resume that can earn an at-large bid. Their RPI is 45, which is pretty bad considering they are 25-6 and their SOS is 160. They have just two top 50 wins (San Diego State, Utah State) and a win over fellow bubble dweller Providence. But 20 of their 25 wins have come against teams outside the top 100.

Earlier in the year, the Gaels still had a weak resume, but they passed the "smell test". Mills looked like a pro over the summer playing in the Olympics. Diamon Simpson and Omar Samhan for as big of a frontline as there is in the country. Carlin Hughes, Mike McConnell, and Ian O'Leary headline a very solid group of role players.

But now that Mills is struggling, is this the same team? Can the committee reward them for getting Mills back when he hasn't proven to be the same player he was?

The Gaels get one last chance on Friday to prove their worth. They may need to win big, and have a huge game (40+) from Mills, in order to have a chance at an at-large spot.