It’s round 3 between rivals Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s this season, with this one deciding both the WCC championship and a high seed in the Big Dance.
TV schedule: Tuesday, March 7th, 9:00 pm ET, ESPN
Arena: Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
Entering the men’s WCC Basketball Tournament, there were two clear favorites in top-20 teams, Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s. Both of them had a triple-bye to the semifinals, thanks to finishing in the top two of the standings. But they had some tough opponents to deal with first before a potential third matchup.
The Gaels were up first and looked to run away with their matchup with BYU. They were up by as many as 26 points in the second half. Yet the Cougars made a furious comeback to trail just three points in the final minutes but ran out of time, as Saint Mary’s got the 76-69 victory. Alex Ducas had 23 points to lead all scorers, while freshman Aidan Mahaney went for 18 points.
Gonzaga had a similar start in the second game against San Francisco, up by as much as 15 points early on. But Khalil Shabazz and the Dons made it a game in the second half, cutting the lead to just two points and had the game in doubt. In the end, the Bulldogs had one last late run of their own to put the game out of reach, winning 84-73. Anton Watson led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Drew Timme had 17 and Ben Gregg with 12 points on four made three-pointers off the bench.
These two teams split the meetings in the regular season, each winning at home. Gonzaga was the better team in 90% of both games though, including in the overtime loss at Moraga. The heroics of the freshman Mahaney late in the second half was what got the team back in the game before taking over in the extra five minutes.
The Bulldogs are the favorites and are looking for one last Quad 1 win to make a case for a top-4 seed and more importantly, a place in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. It’s hard to envision the Gaels getting that high but a win could get them a favorable seed on Sunday as well.
Based on how the first two games went, Gonzaga should be the team that gets the win. But don’t underestimate the defense of Saint Mary’s to muck it up in Las Vegas. This will be one of the top tournament title games of the week but the Bulldogs, led by the frontcourt of Timme and Watson, should prevail in the West Coast Conference championship game.
Prediction: Gonzaga 76, Saint Mary’s 71