Zags don’t know if Wiltjer will play
May not have leading scorer against Waves
LAS VEGAS – Gonzaga had its hands full, at full strength, with Pepperdine twice in the regular season.
The third meeting takes place in the WCC tournament semifinals tonight at 6 at the Orleans Arena and the seventh-ranked Zags don’t know if leading scorer Kyle Wiltjer will be available.
The 6-foot-10 junior forward left Saturday’s win over San Francisco with a left hip injury. He received treatment Saturday night and Sunday. The Zags didn’t practice Sunday. Wiltjer is expected to be a game-time decision.
Wiltjer had 24 points and eight rebounds in a 78-76 road win over Pepperdine. He added 13 points and six boards in GU’s 56-48 victory three weeks ago.
If Wiltjer is sidelined, the Zags’ will probably turn to Domantas Sabonis. The freshman forward torched the fourth-seeded Waves for 28 points and 17 rebounds in the regular season. He made 14 of 15 field-goal attempts.
Angel Nunez, who blocked two shots late in Saturday’s win, and Kyle Dranginis, who contributed 10 points and five rebounds, could see additional minutes.
Small forward Stacy Davis, a two-time, first-team All-WCC selection who averages 15.9 points and 7.9 rebounds, leads Pepperdine (18-12), which edged San Diego 50-47 in the quarterfinals and prefers a lower-possession game.
Jett Raines, a mobile but undersized center at 6-7, had a career-best 22 points against GU in the first meeting but struggled in the rematch with six points and zero rebounds.
The Waves have secured their first winning season since 2005, but they’ve lost 28 consecutive games to the Zags.
Gonzaga (30-2) has reached the 30-win mark for the second time in program history.
GU women face BYU
The top-seeded Gonzaga women, who swept BYU during the regular season, face the fifth-seeded Cougars in semifinals today at noon.
The teams’ closed the regular season nine days ago in Provo with the Zags winning 73-66 to snap a two-game losing streak. The Zags (24-6) routed Loyola Marymount 70-50 on Friday. BYU (21-9) edged Saint Mary’s 65-64 on Lexi Eaton’s game-winning basket with two seconds left on Thursday.
“We practice and we reset a little bit,” said first-year Zags coach Lisa Fortier, when asked about an unusual format with three days between games. “It’s a different tournament than some people have but it’ll be nice to give our girls some time off and be able to game plan. We have to go back to that (BYU) film and figure out what worked and what didn’t that we need to change.”
Eaton, who had 30 points against Saint Mary’s, is the WCC’s leading scorer at 20.8 points. Conference player of the year Morgan Bailey averages 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds.
No. 2 San Diego and No. 6 San Francisco meet in the other semifinal at approximately 2:30.