WCC Basketball Fans

Scores

Wednesday, February 15

Loyola Marymount 75 Saint Mary’s 60

Thursday, February 16

BYU 85 San Francisco 84

Gonzaga 73 Santa Clara 62

San Diego 78 Portland 75 (OT)

Seattle 81 Pepperdine 70

Friday, February 17

Loyola Marymount 61 Valparaiso 53

Saturday, February 18

Murray State 65 Saint Mary’s 51

San Francisco 66 Gonzaga 65

BYU 82 Santa Clara 67

Pepperdine 70 Portland 65

CS Bakersfield 72 San Diego 63

It was supposed to be a different narrative, a removed-from-the-normal conclusion to the season, in the West Coast Conference this year. That was the storyline one week ago, at any rate. The Saint Mary’s Gaels were supposed to lock down the league title and win the outright WCC crown, breaking a 12-year run in which the Gonzaga Bulldogs have held at least a share of the league banner. Saint Mary’s clearly outpaced Gonzaga over the first month and a half of the season, so with a home game against Loyola Marymount coming down the pike, the Gaels and coach Randy Bennett were expected to move one step closer to their moment of coronation and glory.

There was just one problem: They didn’t show up, and as a result, an outright title might not show up on the ledger sheet, either. Loyola Marymount thoroughly outworked SMC at both ends of the floor on Wednesday night, limiting the sluggish Gaels to just 60 points in a game that was very really close. Saint Mary’s hoisted a lot of threes – 28 of them – and made just six, while the far more efficient and aggressive Lions hit 7 of 15 treys and earned 11 more free throw attempts, 27 to 16. Loyola Marymount crowded the paint and established a pronounced territorial advantage, hounding Saint Mary’s into 14 turnovers. This was a comprehensive beatdown, and it recalled the ghosts of last year, when Saint Mary’s faded at the end of the season to give Gonzaga a piece of the WCC. Now, the same thing could be on the verge of happening once more. It’s too much for a Gael fan to take.

Well, except for one thing: When given a chance to tie for the league lead, Gonzaga promptly threw it away in San Francisco — literally. The Zags coughed up 21 turnovers, wiping away the value of their 51 percent field goal shooting performance. Gonzaga’s size was superior to San Francisco’s, but deficient ballhandling allowed the Dons to stay in the fray. Then, with 2.6 seconds left, USF’s Rashad Greene hit a leaner in the lane to put the home team up by one. A late Gonzaga heave missed the mark, and for the third straight year, San Francisco had beaten Gonzaga at home, enabling Saint Mary’s to keep the lead. Yes, it was that kind of a week in the WCC.

Elsewhere in the WCC, BYU kept alive it’s at-large NCAA Tournament chances by escaping from the University of San Francisco two nights before USF stunned Gonzaga. BYU claimed a wild one-point win on a Matt Carlino leaner in the final minute. Carlino scored 30 points for the Cougars, who needed every last tally on a night when their defense was non-existent. BYU has to relish the fact that while most bubble teams bumble along, it is moving up the WCC ladder. Its win over Santa Clara on Saturday created a second-place tie with Gonzaga. If BYU can win at Gonzaga this upcoming week, it should be seen as a tournament lock.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer