Arrow-right Camera
Subscribe now
Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga’s Sacre, Pangos earn big WCC honors

The Gonzaga men’s basketball team was well represented when the West Coast Conference released its awards Tuesday.

Gonzaga senior center Robert Sacre was named Defensive Player of the Year and freshman guard Kevin Pangos was chosen Newcomer of the Year.

Junior guard Matthew Dellavedova, who helped Saint Mary’s put an end to Gonzaga’s 11-year run of WCC regular-season titles, was voted Player of the Year. Loyola Marymount’s Max Good was selected Coach of the Year by his peers. The awards and All-WCC team are voted on by the nine head coaches.

Sacre and Pangos were joined by GU junior forward Elias Harris on the 10-player All-WCC team. It’s Sacre’s second straight year on the All-WCC team. Harris made it as a freshman and was honorable mention last season.

Sacre, who is averaging 11.7 points and 6.4 rebounds, has 181 career blocks, second on Gonzaga’s all-time list behind Casey Calvary (207). The Bulldogs led the WCC in scoring defense (61.9 points per game) and field-goal percentage defense (40.1) in conference play.

Pangos led Gonzaga in scoring (13.4 points), steals (33), 3-pointers (69) and assists (3.4). Harris averages 12.9 points and a team-high 8.4 rebounds, third in the conference.

The rest of the All-WCC team included Dellavedova and teammate Rob Jones, San Francisco’s Angelo Caloiaro, BYU’s Brandon Davies and Noah Hartsock, and LMU’s Drew Viney and Anthony Ireland.

Gonzaga’s Gary Bell Jr. and Pangos were joined by Brad Waldow of Saint Mary’s, San Diego’s Johnny Dee and BYU’s Matt Carlino on the All-Freshman team. Bell, who averages 10.2 points, connected on 52.3 percent of his 3-pointers in WCC play, second behind Stephen Holt of Saint Mary’s (52.5).

Pangos is the third consecutive Bulldog to win the Newcomer award, following Harris (2010) and Marquise Carter (2011). Sacre is the fifth Zag to be voted top defender and the first since Erroll Knight in 2005.