NCAA basketball

LAS VEGAS — A wide smile washed over Nate Calmese’s face as he looked to the sideline. Washington State’s starting point guard locked eyes with teammate ND Okafor, who was waiting on the bench, so as the Orleans Arena crescendoed with the Cougars making up a deficit against San Francisco, they leaped into the air and collided in celebration.

LAS VEGAS – If Gonzaga is going to win the West Coast Conference Tournament for the first time since 2021-22 – and the fifth time under coach Lisa Fortier – it’ll likely have to beat a team for a third straight time this season.

LAS VEGAS – Good basketball teams benefit from many things.

LAS VEGAS – After four years, it's hard to poke many holes or identify too many cracks in Ryan Nembhard’s glimmering college basketball resume.

LAS VEGAS — On almost too many occasions to count, Washington State watched some of its worst habits creep to the surface in Saturday’s WCC Tournament third-round affair with LMU.

The Eastern Washington men’s basketball team entered this week’s Big Sky Tournament as the No. 8 seed, seven lower than it had in the previous two years.

For the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team, the road back to the NCAA Tournament was going to be a long one.

LAS VEGAS – When Eleonora Villa was recruited by Washington State coach Kamie Ethridge, she was the second-best player in her family.

The Zags are finally at full strength heading into the West Coast Conference Tournament. Two-time WCC Player of the Year Yvonne Ejim has led the Zags in scoring at 20.7 points per game and true freshman point guard Allie Turner, who has been impressive since the season’s opening tip, is the second-leading scorer at 13.3 ppg. 

Even with so much talent returning, Gonzaga’s men finished second in conference play, and faced a critical challenge heading into the West Coast Conference basketball tournament. The Zags had been inconsistent during the regular season, at times performing below the massive expectations they shouldered. So it is today. So it was 25 years ago.

3-point accuracy often has been a telling factor this season – 37.1% in GU’s 23 wins, 30.2% in eight losses – and past successes and failures in the postseason.

San Francisco, a potential opponent for Washington State and Gonzaga at the West Coast Conference Tournament, could be without all-conference guard Marcus Williams as the Dons travel to Las Vegas to begin the postseason.

LAS VEGAS – With his back turned to practice, Washington State coach David Riley began to talk about his team’s challenge this weekend, a date with three potential teams in the West Coast Conference Tournament.

About this time last year, Dan Monson was fired by Long Beach State.

Over the next five days, the women’s basketball teams from Eastern Washington and Idaho will test the Big Sky’s unique conference tournament structure, each vying for the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

PULLMAN — Cedric Coward turned the corner and burst into tears. It was late November, and Washington State’s wing had just finished up a meeting with a couple of coaches and the team athletic trainer, who delivered the results of the MRI Coward had recently undergone.

Washington State’s David Riley saw Gonzaga on both sides of a defensive turnaround that began taking shape in the middle of January after consecutive losses to Oregon State and Santa Clara.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few recently loaned out McCarthey Athletic Center to Northern Arizona’s basketball team during the Lumberjacks’ visit to Eastern Washington.

Gonzaga’s Braden Huff was named to the West Coast Conference All-Academic team.