SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- No. 21 Saint Mary's presumably will remain in the Top 25 for at least another week after it beat Santa Clara 72-59 on Saturday night, moving the Gaels one step closer to a rematch with No. 3 Gonzaga.

But don't ask Saint Mary's ace defender Joe Rahon or Gaels coach Randy Bennett about the importance of being ranked.

"We're just trying to win the league," said Rahon, who limited Broncos star Jared Brownridge to 13 points on 3-of-14 shooting. "I don't know what we're ranked. Twenty-something, 18, 19? We drop one and people would love to drop us out."

Bennett said he has learned his lesson regarding the significance of the polls.

"We were ranked on Selection Sunday, so it shows what that means," Bennett said.

The Gaels did not get a berth in the NCAA Tournament last season, even though they were ranked No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll the day the field was announced. They were not ranked in the Associated Press poll that day, however.

The Gaels (19-2, 9-1 West Coast Conference) looked like a Top 25 team Saturday as they shot 57.1 percent from the field on the road, and got another big game from Jock Landale, who had 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Emmett Naar contributed 15 points and nine assists for Saints Mary's, and Calvin Hermanson added 13 points.

Rahon had only eight points and five assists, but his main contribution came on the defensive end.

The Broncos (12-11, 6-4) had won four of their previous five games and were coming off a victory over Brigham Young on Thursday. Much of the Broncos' recent success was a product of Brownridge's recent production.

Brownridge entered the game averaging 18.8 points and scored at least 20 points in each of the past five games.

Rahon hounded him throughout the game, and Brownridge had four points on 1-of-10 shooting 10 minutes into the second half. By then, the Gaels had built a 16-point lead.

"(Joe) was really good," Bennett said. "That guy is really hard to guard. He's a heck of a player. (But) Joe is one of the best defensive players in the league."

Nate Kratch led Santa Clara with 19 points, but the Broncos missed Brownridge's production.

"Give them credit for that," Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek said. "Jared probably didn't have his A game, but night in and night out teams are trying to make it tough on him."

Because of injuries, Santa Clara had only eight scholarship players available.

The Gaels used two scoring runs to get past the Broncos.

Santa Clara made five of its first six shots to take an 11-10 lead, but the Broncos then missed their next eight field-goal attempts. Santa Clara went scoreless for 7:33 as the Gaels reeled off 16 straight points to grab a 26-11 advantage at the 8:21 mark of the first half.

Santa Clara cut the deficit to five points by halftime, but the Gaels began the second half with another spurt.

The Gaels opened the second half by outscoring the Broncos 12-2, expanding the lead to 15 points with 15:20 remaining. The Gaels increased the margin to 53-37 on a Landale basket with 10:23 left.

The Broncos then went on a 13-2 run, with Brownridge climaxing the spurt with a 3-pointer that closed the gap to 55-50 with 6:09 left. But a 3-pointer by Gaels forward Evan Fitzner ended that Santa Clara surge. The Broncos never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

"We played with good effort and I thought we played the right way," Sendek said. "(The Gaels) don't have any weak links. It would take a top-notch performance for 40 minutes for us to beat them."

The Gaels play three conference games before hosting Gonzaga on Feb. 11, and seem to be trending the right way.

"We played well tonight," Bennett said. "I think we're getting better."

NOTES: Santa Clara committed only four turnovers. ... Broncos G K.J. Feagin had 11 points and eight assists. ... Santa Clara's victory over BYU on Thursday ended the Broncos' 14-game losing streak to BYU, which had not lost to Santa Clara since Dec. 2, 1972. ... Santa Clara already has more wins than it had all of last season (11). ... Saint Mary's began the day ranked second nationally in scoring defense, yielding 57.3 points per game.