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WEST COAST CONFERENCE MEN’S BASKETBALL WEEKLY NOTEBOOK

 

GONZAGA, SAINT MARY’S AND SANTA CLARA STAND HIGH IN NET AND WAB

Three West Coast Conference men’s basketball teams rank in the top 42 in the latest NET rankings – No. 6 Gonzaga, No. 26 Saint Mary’s and No. 42 Santa Clara. In addition, these same teams stand inside the top 40 in the latest WAB rankings – No. 15 Gonzaga, No. 34 Saint Mary’s and No. 40 Santa Clara. 

BULLDOGS SNAP BRONCOS WIN STREAK, MOVE BACK INTO FIRST PLACE

No. 12 Gonzaga earned its 25th victory for a 19th straight season, extending its NCAA record, as the Bulldogs defeated Santa Clara on the road, 94-86. Gonzaga moved back into first place over the Broncos with the win. Graham Ike led the charge with 21 points and a season-best 15 rebounds. He leads the West Coast Conference with 13 double-doubles this season.  

With two weeks remaining before the West Coast Conference Basketball Championship, Gonzaga holds a half-game lead in the first place over Santa Clara. Saint Mary’s stands one game behind the Bulldogs. Saint Mary’s still has home matchups remaining against both Santa Clara (Feb. 25) and Gonzaga (Feb. 28). 

The West Coast Conference maintains three teams in the top 10 in margin of victory in conference games. Gonzaga ranks third (16.3), followed by No. 8 Santa Clara and Saint Mary’s (14.4). 

GAELS PICK UP BIG ROAD WIN AT PACIFIC 

After trailing by two at halftime, Saint Mary’s broke through in the second half at Pacific and defeated the Tigers on the road, 72-61. Paulius Murauskas carried the Gaels with a career-high 32 points and 14 rebounds, one rebound shy of his career best. Murauskas now owns five double-doubles this season. Joshua Dent posted 15 points, eight assists and five steals defensively. 

In addition to the program-record 24-game home winning streak the Gaels are currently enjoying, in true road games dating back to the 2022-23 season, Saint Mary’s is 30-5, the second-best road record among all DI teams during that span. 

WAVES HOLD OFF LIONS IN PCH RIVALRY GAME

Pepperdine snapped a six-game losing streak with a 90-89 last-second victory over LMU on Saturday. Stefan Cicic slammed a putback dunk with five seconds remaining to clinch the win. Aaron Clark notched a career-best 33 points in the win. It marked Clark’s third 30-point performance this season and he has reached double figures in scoring in his last eight games. 

DONS TAKE DOWN TOREROS IN SAN DIEGO

San Francisco got back in the win column with a 92-79 win at San Diego on Sunday. The Toreros led by five at halftime, but USF outscored USD by 18 points in the second half to pull away with the victory. David Fuchs and Vukasin Masic each reached 20 points in scoring with Masic notching 22 and Fuchs posting 21. Fuchs garnered a double-double with his 13 rebounds, and he also chipped in with two steals. USF shot just 50 percent from the field in the first half but came back and shot over 68 percent in the second half. 

REDHAWKS DEFEND THE HOME COURT OVER BEAVERS

Seattle U secured a 60-50 win at home over Oregon State on Sunday. Will Heimbrodt just missed a double-double with his 15 points and nine rebounds. He also swatted away three blocks. He continues to be one of the nation’s best in blocked shots, ranking 10th in the country (2.48). The Redhawks took control of this game early, taking a 36-18 lead into the halftime break. 

THIS WEEK’S NATIONAL BROADCASTS

West Coast Conference men’s basketball will be featured on national television four times next week, twice on CBS Sports Network and twice on ESPN2. On Wednesday, Saint Mary’s heads to Seattle U at 6 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Later that night at 8 p.m. San Francisco hosts Gonzaga from the Chase Center at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. On Saturday, Washington State hosts Saint Mary’s at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 and San Francisco hosts Santa Clara at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.  

WEST COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL WEEKLY NOTEBOOK

LIONS ROAR TO THE TOP

In a game that featured 11 lead changes, LMU outscored Gonzaga, 22-13, in the fourth quarter to earn a 72-63 victory over the Bulldogs Saturday for its fifth straight win and its ninth victory in its last 10 games. More importantly, Saturday’s win over the Zags put the Lions in a tie for first place in the conference standings, sharing the lead with Gonzaga at 11-3. LMU has split the season series with Gonzaga, as both teams battle for the conference regular season title and seeding in the upcoming Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship. It was LMU’s first win over Gonzaga since 2008 (snapped a 36-game losing streak). The 11-3 conference record is the Lions’ best start to conference play since starting 13-1 in the 2003-04 season. The 11 league wins are LMU’s most since the 2017-18 season. The Lions are 17-8 overall, their most wins since the 2018-19 season (18). 

Jess Lawson had 16 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and four assists in the win over Gonzaga, coming up with key stops and forced turnovers late in Saturday’s contest. Lawson averaged 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.0 steals and 4.0 assists in LMU’s two wins this week. Lawson is 10th in the conference in scoring (15.4 ppg) and fifth in rebounding (7.4 rpg) during league play.

CONFERENCE RACE HEATS UP

With LMU’s win Saturday, the Lions are tied with Gonzaga at the top of the conference standings at 11-3. Santa Clara and Oregon State are a game behind at 10-4 and Portland is in fifth place at 9-5 with two weeks remaining in the conference schedule. Among the four games that each of these teams has remaining, several are against each other. Portland will travel to Oregon State this Thursday and will host Gonzaga on the final day of the regular season (5 p.m. PT on ESPNU). Three of LMU’s final four games will be on the road, including a trip to Oregon State to close the regular season.  

LMU PICKING UP THE PACE

LMU is averaging more than nine points per game in its last 12 games. After averaging 66.3 points per contest in its first 13 games, the Lions are averaging 75.8 ppg over their last 12. They are shooting 44.5 percent from the field over their last 12 contests.  

SANTA CLARA SWEEPS PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRIP

Santa Clara outscored Portland, 28-14, in the fourth quarter to earn a 77-66 victory over the Pilots on the road Saturday in a key battle near the top of the conference standings. The Broncos outscored Portland, 48-28, in the paint in the contest. Freshman Delainey Miller posted a career-high 21 points and added eight rebounds in the win. Guard Ashley Hawkins, who leads the conference in assists at 6.1 apg, had seven assists in the contest to go along with 13 points and six rebounds. Hawkins’ 166 assists this season rank sixth on Santa Clara’s single-season list.

Saturday’s victory gave the Broncos a sweep of their Pacific Northwest trip, as they earned an 83-70 win at Oregon State Thursday. 

OSU KEEPS PACE IN CONFERENCE RACE WITH COME-FROM-BEHIND WIN AT PACIFIC

Oregon State outscored Pacific, 48-27, in the second half to come from behind and defeat the Tigers, 70-60, and keep pace in the conference race. Kennedie Shuler recorded the sixth 30-point performance by a West Coast Conference player this season with 31 points on 12-of-19 (63.2%) shooting from the field to lead the Beavers. Daria Nestorov paced Pacific with 19 points.  

EDOKPAIGBE’S CAREER NIGHT LEADS DONS

Candy Edokpaigbe scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting overall to lead USF to an 81-70 victory over Pepperdine Saturday night. It was her ninth game of at least 20 points this season. Sol Castro posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Dons. Pepperdine had its lowest shooting percentage of the season at 27.9 percent (19-of-68). Bella Green registered her third double-double of the season for the Waves with 17 points and 12 rebounds. 

MONDAY MATINEE ON TAP 

Saturday’s Saint Mary’s-Seattle U women’s basketball game was postponed to Monday at 1:00 p.m. PT. Due to illness affecting members of the Seattle U women’s basketball program, several individuals were unable to travel to Saint Mary’s and compete in Saturday’s scheduled contest. With the health and wellbeing of everyone as the top priority, the determination was made that the Seattle U program does not have enough available student-athletes to compete on Saturday. The two programs worked together along with the conference office to move the game to Monday at 1:00 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+. 

TWO WEEKS TO GO

Following Monday’s contest to close out week eight in the conference schedule, there will be two weeks left and all 12 teams will be in action Thursday and Saturday each of the final two weeks. Thursday’s six-game slate is highlighted by a battle of Pacific Northwest powers as Oregon State hosts Portland. OSU is tied for third in the conference standings, while Portland is a game behind in fifth. Conference leaders Gonzaga and LMU will play Washington State and Seattle U, respectively, Thursday. Santa Clara hosts Saint Mary’s and Pepperdine hosts San Diego. Each of Thursday’s game will be at 6 p.m. PT and available on ESPN+.  

 

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