Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s: 2023-24 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

The WCC Tournament’s championship game sees another matchup between Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s; which of these rivals will cut down the nets?

TV schedule: Tuesday, March 12, 9:00 pm ET. ESPN

Arena: Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

Although things looked dire a month ago, Gonzaga (25-6) has come on in a major way and looks almost as potent as always. The Bulldogs were potentially on the wrong side of the bubble before a hot stretch to end the season, winning on the road over Kentucky, San Francisco, and Saint Mary’s. They then scored another win over San Francisco in the WCC semifinals and now look to finish the job for another conference crown.

The big name to watch for Gonzaga is former Wyoming forward Graham Ike (16.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg), but he’s far from the only option for the Bulldogs. Fellow forward Anton Watson (14.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg) had 17 points on Monday against the Dons. Former Creighton point guard Ryan Nembhard (12.8 ppg, 6.4 apg) has found his footing with this program, fresh off a 16-point, 12-assist effort in those semifinals. Another name to keep an eye out for is Nolan Hickman (14.0 ppg, 2.7 apg), who has a pair of 20-point efforts in recent weeks.

Unranked earlier in the year, Gonzaga used that stretch to work their way back up to #17 in the national polls. The Bulldogs are up to 15th in KenPom and 16th in the NET, situating themselves nicely for a 25th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. This team doesn’t have the same kind of offensive firepower as recent years, especially without Drew Timme, but have still caused major damage and boast a Top 10 offense.

The regular season championship in the WCC was won this season by Saint Mary’s (25-7), whose only blemish in league play came just over a week ago at Gonzaga’s hands. While this team struggled early in the season, they really came together, building a 16-game winning streak to establish that conference title. Now they’re looking for just their second MWC Tournament title in the last twelve years.

It’s been a great junior season from Augustas Marciulionis (12.4 ppg, 5.1 apg), the WCC Player of the Year who’s really taken a great step forward in year three with the Gaels. One of last year’s big breakout stars, sophomore Aidan Mahaney (13.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg) has still put up good numbers in his second season in Moraga. Senior guard Alex Ducas (9.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg) just put up 21 points on Santa Clara in the MWC semifinal, while fellow senior Mitchell Saxen (11.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg) remains among the league’s best rebounders and shot blockers.

Saint Mary’s worked their way back into the AP Top 25 in February and still sit at #21, even after that recent loss to the Bulldogs. They’re sitting at 17th in the NET and 21st in KenPom, also comfortably in the NCAA Tournament field. The job that Randy Bennett has done with this program isn’t talked about enough and they’ve certainly proven that they aren’t just Gonzaga’s second fiddle this season, especially with a highly-ranked defense.

There’s no surprise seeing Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s matching up in this final for a third season in a row. The Bulldogs have been playing inspired basketball in recent weeks, but the Gaels didn’t win this league title by some fluke. Saint Mary’s has looked great and did not falter at all until that tough performance against these Bulldogs in Moraga. Expect a better offensive performance, as only San Diego State limited this Saint Mary’s team to fewer points than the 57 they scored in that game.

Will it be enough? It’s really hard to bet against Gonzaga with how they’ve been playing. They’ve been doing it with everyone pitching in. Both teams had players who were nonexistent in earlier matchups who could really shine. Ducas, Hickman, and Watson all failed to score in double figures in the previous matchup. Could this be a different type of ballgame with the conference title on the line? We’ll fly with the red-hot Bulldogs, though expect another classic.

Prediction: Gonzaga 77, Saint Mary’s 73