The defending West Coast Conference tournament champions come to Las Vegas having swept the league’s major awards with a three-game lead in the final standings on the strength of a sweep over their perennial rivals.
Surprise, that team is not Gonzaga.
No. 21 Saint Mary’s (27-4, 17-1 WCC) had a dominant run through the league season. The Gaels swept the Bulldogs (23-8, 14-4) on the strength of a three-player senior class that includes player of the year Augustas Marciulionis and defensive player of the year Mitchell Saxen.
Now the Gaels will look to retain their title at the WCC tournament, which begins Thursday and runs through Tuesday at Orleans Arena.
“Those three seniors had a great season, and they had a great junior season, and they won as sophomores (and) as freshmen,” WCC coach of the year Randy Bennett said. “Assuming we go to the (NCAA) Tournament, to go four years in a row, you can name the programs in the country … and quit counting pretty quickly.”
As good as the season has gone for Saint Mary’s, Bennett believes his team can be even better.
Saxen, a fifth-year center who was named to the All-WCC first team for the third consecutive season, agrees.
“I’m really proud of our group,” said Saxen, who had 19 points and 15 rebounds in a 69-60 win over Gonzaga in last season’s championship game. “But I feel like we have a lot left in the tank.”
Gonzaga still favored
Despite Saint Mary’s near-perfect run through the conference season, second-seeded Gonzaga is the betting favorite to win the tournament.
The Bulldogs are a -145 choice at William Hill as of Wednesday morning. Saint Mary’s is at +145, followed by Santa Clara at 14-1.
Tournament format is one factor, with the top two seeds receiving a bye into Monday’s semifinals. History is another.
The Bulldogs have been to the WCC championship game in all 25 seasons of Mark Few’s tenure at Gonzaga and haven’t lost an opening game in the tournament since 1997.
So Few knows a few things about what it takes to win March games in Las Vegas, and his team has given him reason for optimism, defeating fourth-seeded Santa Clara 95-76 and third-seeded San Francisco 95-75 in the final week of the season. The Dons were the only WCC team to beat Saint Mary’s.
“I think we’re playing our best ball of the year, and that’s what I told the guys,” Few said. “To be able to do that is huge, so obviously we feel like we have a little bit of momentum and now we can get home and work on ourselves.
“We’ve played everyone tough. We just haven’t had that play to break through in five or six of those games. Who knows, if we did, we’d probably be 30-2 or something. I don’t think anyone’s had as many one-possession losses as us. That’s going to be very concerning for any team that sees our name pop up opposite them in the (NCAA) bracket.”
Changes to format
Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are expected to meet in Tuesday’s final for the fourth consecutive year, but the field and schedule will be a bit different this season. Notably, games will be played Sunday, which traditionally has been a rest day for the tournament.
Also, there are 11 teams in the bracket, as Pac-12 leftovers Washington State (18-13, 8-10) and Oregon State (20-11, 10-8) will make their WCC tournament debuts Saturday.
Tenth-seeded Pacific (9-23, 4-14) and No. 11 San Diego (5-26, 2-16) kick off the men’s bracket at 2:30 p.m. Thursday with doubleheaders each day from Friday through Monday.
The women’s bracket runs on a similar path, with 10th-seeded Pepperdine (8-21, 3-17) and No. 11 San Diego (6-23, 2-18) opening the tournament at noon Thursday. Top-seeded Gonzaga (22-9, 17-3) and No. 2 Portland (28-3, 17-3) have byes into Monday’s semifinals.
The Gaels swept the Pilots in the regular season to claim the top seed.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
Up next
What: West Coast Conference tournament
When: Thursday to Tuesday; championship game at 6 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN
Where: Orleans Arena
TV: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+
Favorite: Gonzaga -145
