MORAGA, Calif. -- Saint Mary's had to struggle more than expected Thursday night, but the No. 20 Gaels got past the final hurdle before its much anticipated West Coast Conference showdown against No. 1 Gonzaga.

Despite shooting a season-low 30.6 percent and tying a season low for points, the Gaels avoided a major upset by beating Portland 51-41 at McKeon Pavilion.

As the Gaels gave a collective sigh of relief, the hype for Saturday's home game against unbeaten Gonzaga began. It will be the first time Saint Mary's hosted the nation's No. 1 team since top-ranked San Francisco topped Saint Mary's 65-57 on Feb. 16, 1955. The Dons went on the win the first of their consecutive national titles that season.

The ESPN Game Day crew will be on Saint Mary's campus Saturday morning to begin the buildup for the game against Gonzaga, which beat the Gaels 79-56 on Jan. 14 in Spokane, Wash.

"Anytime we play Gonzaga, there's a lot of hype," Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett said. "This time they're No. 1, and we're having a good year. Just in that there's a lot of hype. And throw in this Game Day crew, and I don't know what that makes it."

Gonzaga was the least of the Gaels' worries Thursday.

Saint Mary's (22-2, 12-1 WCC) won its seventh straight game but needed a surge midway through the second half to break away from Portland (9-16, 2-11), which suffered its 11th consecutive loss.

One of the losses in that slump was a 74-33 defeat at the hands of Saint Mary's on Jan. 12 in Portland. This one was different.

"I thought our guys competed like heck," Portland coach Terry Porter said. "It was a pride game for us after what happened last time. We played with an edge from the start."

The Gaels, who entered the game ranked sixth in the nation in field-goal percentage at 50.1 percent, made one of their first 11 shots. They never got into an offensive rhythm, with Portland's defense playing a role in the Gaels' difficulties.

"You beat someone that bad at their place, you know they're going to have a chip on their shoulder," Saint Mary's guard Joe Rahon said.

Rahon had 10 points, and Jock Landale recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Saint Mary's.

Jazz Johnson scored 10 points for the Pilots, who made only 32.7 percent of their field-goal attempts but stayed with the Gaels for much of the game.

The score was tied 22-22 at halftime, and a three-point play by Andre Ferguson gave the Pilots a 29-28 lead with 14:36 remaining. The Gaels got their first field goal of the second half with 12:25 left when Rahon hit a 3-pointer that put Saint Mary's ahead 32-29. A 3-pointer by Emmett Naar pushed the Gaels' lead to four points, and a Landale bucket followed by two Calvin Hermanson free throws made it 39-31 at the 9:24 mark.

The Pilots got the margin down to five points with 1:46 left, but the Gaels made their free throws in the closing seconds to stay ahead.

It was the second straight solid performance for Portland, which gave BYU a tough time on the Cougars' home court Saturday before losing 73-62.

"Our struggles have been finding scoring," Porter said. "We have trouble finding a guy who's hot at the right time. We didn't give up easy baskets this time, but on offense we need some guy to get hot."

For Saint Mary's it is a matter of dealing with the mounting pressure of expectations.

"We played tight," Bennett said. "I don't think it had anything to do with the game against Gonzaga. It's our situation.

"I told our guys, 'If you don't want pressure, then lose. Pressure will go away in a hurry.'"

NOTES: At 22-2, Saint Mary's matched its 2011-12 squad for the best record over the first 24 games in school history. ... G Alec Wintering, Portland's leading scorer at 19.5 points per game, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Jan. 19 loss to San Francisco, one week after the Pilots lost for the first time to Saint Mary's. ... Saint Mary's ranks second nationally in scoring defense, yielding 56.6 points per game. Twice this season the Gaels allowed nine points in a half (Portland on Jan. 12 and San Diego on Saturday). ... Saint Mary's is ranked in the Top 25 for the 14th consecutive week, extending its school record. The previous record was five straight weeks.