Gonzaga, atop the WCC, travels to free-falling LMU

GONZAGA: All the chatter about a new-look WCC – the perennial powers aren’t as strong, the bottom half is gaining – is probably true. It’s also true the standings look a lot like they have in recent seasons.

It’s early but Gonzaga (15-3, 5-1) sits in first place, followed by BYU (12-7, 4-2) and Saint Mary’s (13-5, 3-2).

The Bulldogs turned back one challenger, Pepperdine, on Thursday, dropping the Waves from a tie for second place. GU goes for a road sweep today at 1 against Loyola Marymount (10-9, 2-5), which opened with impressive wins over BYU and San Diego but has dropped five in a row, including a 71-57 loss to visiting Portland on Thursday.

Jim Meehan

Bone doesn’t punish Cougars

WSU: In Ken Bone’s early days as coach, the Cougars’ (8-9, 1-4 Pac-12) 80-48 loss to Stanford on Wednesday would have been followed by intense practices. But as the season’s changed, so has Bone’s philosophy. So the enormity of that loss didn’t impact Friday’s “light” practice in preparation for today’s 1 p.m. game at California (13-4, 4-0).

“I think now you can be harder on them when you’re winning and when you’re not winning, not that you take it lightly, but you don’t want to lose them,” Bone said. “And so, we’ve got things to work on and we’re addressing those things, but I don’t see the benefit in just going after guys and placing the blame on them.”

Jacob Thorpe