Gonzaga at St. Mary’s: TV schedule, preview, and prediction
By Shaun Gordon
Saturdays matchup is a must-win for Gonzaga if they want to capture at least a share of the WCC regular season crown. St. Mary’s can sew the title up if they just hold on at home.
TV schedule: Saturday, February 10, 10:00 p.m. ET. ESPN2
Arena: Mckeon Pavilion in Moraga, California
Announcers: Sean Farnham and Roxy Bernstein
It’s time for round two of this year’s Clash of the WCC Basketball Titans.
On Saturday night, No. 12 Gonzaga will invade McKeon Pavillion in an attempt to avenge their earlier loss against No. 11 St. Mary’s.
The Gaels are one of the hottest teams in the country right now. They’ve won 18 straight games, the longest streak in the nation.
St. Mary’s (24-2, 13-0) has won blowout games. They’ve won close games. Most importantly, they won in The Kennel.
On January 18th, the Gaels knocked of the Bulldogs 74-71, propelling them back into the Top 25 and to the top of the WCC standings.
Jock Landale went off for St. Mary’s, scoring 26 points on 12-15 shooting and pulling down 12 rebounds.
The win put the Gaels in prime position to win their first outright WCC regular-season title in six years.
Since the loss, Gonzaga (22-4, 12-1 WCC) has kept pace with St. Mary’s, winning their last six games. This game becomes a make-or-break one for the Zags if they want to keep their title streak alive.
A win by the Gaels would put them two games up in the standings, and they’re not likely to slip up twice over the final two weeks of the season. A Bulldog win would pull them even in the standings, putting a lot more meaning into the next couple of weeks for both teams.
There’s a bigger picture for this showdown too. With both teams within a stone’s throw of the Top 10, the winner of this game would receive a big boost to their tournament resume. This game is as much for seeding as it is for the WCC crown.
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Key Matchup
Jock Landale vs. Gonzaga Bigs
Nobody’s been able to stop Landale this season. The Bulldogs have to at least contain him.
If anyone has the capability to slow him down, it’s Gonzaga. They have three skilled bigs to throw at Landale in Johnathan Williams, Killian Tillie, and Rui Hachimura. Those three combined for 47 points against the Gaels in Spokane, but they couldn’t contain Landale defensively.
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For the Zags to pick up the road win, those three will have to score just as efficiently as the first matchup, but more importantly they have to keep Landale from shooting 80% from the field this time around.
Prediction
St. Mary’s 82, Gonzaga 75