Jim Meehan

If coaching basketball doesn’t work out, McNeese State head coach Will Wade and assistant coach Brandon Chambers might have a future in the prognostication business.

Gonzaga had its first 1-1 week in a while, but it only dropped the Bulldogs one spot in the Associated Press poll. The Zags (25-7) slipped to No. 18 after falling to Saint Mary’s 69-60 in the West Coast Conference Tournament title game last Monday.

It’ll be a quasi-Gonzaga reunion in Salt Lake City, site of the fifth-seeded Zags’ first-round NCAA Tournament contest against No. 12 McNeese State on Thursday. GU (Midwest) and Arizona (West) are in different regions but they’ll begin March Madness at the same venue with the second-seeded Wildcats facing No. 15 Long Beach State.

Two storylines that resonated nationally in college basketball this season resided in Eastern Washington. At the start of the calendar year, Gonzaga’s 24-year streak of NCAA Tournament appearances appeared to be in jeopardy. The Zags closed the regular season on a roll with road wins over Kentucky and Saint Mary’s to go from the wrong side of the bubble to safely in the field, according to bracket gurus. Washington State, which lost two starters to the pros and two starters to the transfer portal, rebuilt swiftly under coach Kyle Smith. The Cougars swept Pac-12 power Arizona, finished second in the conference and they’re expected to go dancing for the first time since consecutive trips in 2007 and 2008 under Tony Bennett.

Next season’s Gonzaga-UConn game at Madison Square Garden has been on the books for close to two years. Now there’s a date to go with it. The Zags and Huskies will square off for the third straight season on Saturday, Dec. 14.

Scheduling was one of many topics/issues that Jackson discussed in something of a state-of-the-WCC address earlier this week at the conference tournament in Las Vegas.

It’s not a coincidence Gonzaga’s two lowest scoring games of the season came against Saint Mary’s. The Gaels rank second nationally in scoring defense (58.7 points per game), first in rebounding margin (11.9) and eighth in field-goal percentage defense (39.8%). All three were major factors in the Gaels’ 69-60 victory in Tuesday’s West Coast Conference championship game.

Aidan Mahaney

LAS VEGAS – What happens in Las Vegas … seems to happen every March at the West Coast Conference Tournament.

Coaches and players can be highly creative when it comes to generating sources of motivation. And sometimes it just shows up gift-wrapped and already assembled. Gonzaga and San Francisco squared off just 11 days ago – the Zags cruised 86-68 at the Chase Center – and both enter Monday’s matchup in the West Coast Conference semifinals at Orleans Arena with sizable chips on their shoulders.

The first few seconds of Saturday’s San Francisco-Portland game in the West Coast Conference Tournament couldn’t have been more unsettling for the Dons. The next 39 minutes and 58 seconds? Not so much.

Gonzaga’s experience as a No. 2 seed in the West Coast Conference Tournament ranges from the first tourney in 1987 – that didn’t go well – to last year’s event in Las Vegas – that did go well. The Zags don’t seem to mind the underdog label or wearing their navy or black uniforms at the conference tournament, but it hasn’t happened all that often.

By nearly every measure – NET rankings, Associated Press poll, KenPom, bracket projections – Gonzaga is moving up. The Bulldogs, following impressive West Coast Conference wins over San Francisco and Saint Mary’s, climbed four spots to No. 19 in the latest AP rankings. The regular-season champion Gaels dropped from 17 to 23 after falling to Gonzaga 70-57 on Saturday in Moraga.

Gonzaga has known since the final buzzer sounded in an 86-68 victory Thursday over San Francisco that it was locked into the second seed for the upcoming West Coast Conference Tournament.

Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett offered Gonzaga counterpart Mark Few a handshake and a compliment at the conclusion of the Zags’ convincing 70-57 victory Saturday night. Bennett’s words were similar to San Francisco coach Chris Gerlufsen’s after his Dons were thumped by Gonzaga 86-68 on Thursday night at the Chase Center.

Ryan Nembhard

Gonzaga’s improvement was incremental after falling to Santa Clara on Jan. 11 and more pronounced since stumbling late in a 64-62 loss to Saint Mary’s in early February. The Zags have won seven in a row and 12 of their last 13, but they face their biggest West Coast Conference test Saturday in Moraga when Saint Mary’s attempts to close out an unbeaten conference season.

SAN FRANCISCO – Graham Ike was hot pretty much from the opening tip.

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco’s Jonathan Mogbo has played his way into consideration for West Coast Conference player, newcomer and defender of the year awards.

The intrigue surrounding Thursday’s Gonzaga-San Francisco game – and GU-Saint Mary’s on Saturday for that matter – is the impact the results could have on the West Coast Conference standings, WCC and NCAA tournaments and conference individual awards.

The West Coast Conference regular-season winds down this week with Gonzaga facing San Francisco, which is just behind them in the standings, before a showdown with first-place Saint Mary’s. We reached out to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Steve Kroner for a closer look at the Dons and Gaels.

After a deflating West Coast Conference loss at Santa Clara on Jan. 11, Gonzaga coach Mark Few adjusted the starting unit, inserting junior forward Ben Gregg for freshman wing Dusty Stromer. The Zags have gone 11-1 since, the lone loss to No. 17 Saint Mary’s 64-62 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Their offensive statistics have soared with Gregg in the first five.

Graham Ike

There was no shortage of tributes for Gonzaga’s lone senior, Anton Watson, on Senior Night. One of the coolest happened long before 6,000 filled the McCarthey Athletic Center to witness Gonzaga’s 94-81 victory over Santa Clara on Saturday. More than an hour before tip-off, Watson had one basket all to himself, putting up shots and free throws with his teammates watching from in seats along the sideline. "Just watching greatness,” Graham Ike said.