Bulldogs hold out hope for WCC title

The outcome won’t impact Gonzaga’s seeding in the WCC men’s basketball tournament or its first-round opponent in the semifinals, but the Bulldogs are still playing for something against host San Diego at 4 today at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
That something – a 12th consecutive WCC regular-season title – requires assistance from San Francisco, which knocked off the Bulldogs 66-65 last Saturday. If Gonzaga (22-5, 12-3 WCC) defeats the Toreros and USF beats Saint Mary’s (24-5, 13-2) later tonight, the Bulldogs and Gaels are co-champions. Saint Mary’s has clinched the top seed and a victory over USF …

The outcome won’t impact Gonzaga’s seeding in the WCC men’s basketball tournament or its first-round opponent in the semifinals, but the Bulldogs are still playing for something against host San Diego at 4 today at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

That something – a 12th consecutive WCC regular-season title – requires assistance from San Francisco, which knocked off the Bulldogs 66-65 last Saturday. If Gonzaga (22-5, 12-3 WCC) defeats the Toreros and USF beats Saint Mary’s (24-5, 13-2) later tonight, the Bulldogs and Gaels are co-champions. Saint Mary’s has clinched the top seed and a victory over USF would give the Gaels their first outright WCC title since 1989.

Gonzaga is focusing on what it can control. The Toreros (12-16, 7-8) have won four of their last five conference games, including an impressive 60-57 road win over Loyola Marymount on Thursday. San Diego has a chance to tie San Francisco for fifth but is locked into the sixth seed.

“It’s hard to go to LMU and beat them, because they have a really good team,” Gonzaga junior forward Elias Harris said of USD’s win on Thursday. “We have to get mentally ready and get our focus right, because they’re not going to just hand it to us.”

Gonzaga beat the Toreros 77-60 last month in Spokane.

Jim Meehan