WCC Basketball Fans

Scores

Tuesday, December 27

BYU 79, CS San Marcos 51

Loyola Marymount 100, Vanguard 74

Wednesday, December 28

Gonzaga 90, Portland 51

Thursday, December 29

Pepperdine 77, San Francisco 61

Santa Clara 75, Eastern Michigan 55

Saint Mary’s 98, BYU 82

Friday, December 30

Wagner 64, Santa Clara 62

Saturday, December 31

BYU 88, San Diego 52

Saint Mary’s 74, Pepperdine 45

Loyola Marymount 77, San Francisco 76 (OT)

Gonzaga 72, Xavier 65

If the past week showed the nation anything, it’s that the old guard in the West Coast Conference is playing with a lot of competitive pride and the resilience which flows from it. The Brigham Young Cougars entered the WCC this season intent on making a mark in this league rich with religiously-affiliated schools. The WCC is substantially comprised of Catholic schools, plus protestant school Pepperdine. BYU brought a Mormon flavor into this corner of the college basketball world, and the upwardly mobile program wanted to be able to make a statement to the power establishment of the conference. This week showed, though, that BYU’s ascendancy isn’t going to come easily.

On Thursday night, Saint Mary’s – one of the two premier programs in the conference over the past several years – whacked BYU by 16 points in Moraga, California. The Gaels were geared up for this game on their home court; coach Randy Bennett’s club was clearly lying in the weeds, waiting to spring an ambush and make a strong, resonant statement to its guest from Provo, Utah. Rob Jones led Saint Mary’s with 24 points and 15 boards, but that was just the start of the party for the Gaels. SMC hit 55 percent of its field goal attempts and shot the cover off the ball from 3-point range, hitting 12 of 25 triples. Yet, while dominating on the perimeter, SMC also cleaned up in the paint, powering the ball to the basket for 30 free throw attempts, roughly double BYU’s comparatively paltry total of 16. The Gaels also forced 15 BYU turnovers in what was a comprehensive smackdown. BYU made the Sweet 16 last year and come oh-so-close to playing Butler in the Elite Eight. The Cougars did far more than Saint Mary’s did last season. However, this game shows that the Gaels are still a force to be reckoned with in the WCC.

The other powerhouse in the West Coast Conference is Gonzaga, the league’s main standard-bearer. GU is steadily building a resume that might be able to get the Zags an at-large invite to the NCAA Tournament. A thumping of Portland was just the warm-up act for a Saturday win against Xavier in Cincinnati on the Musketeers’ home court. Gonzaga was sluggish and uninspired early in December, but the Bulldogs have certainly picked up steam over the past two weeks.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer