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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga climbs three spots to No. 13, moves past Saint Mary’s in Associated Press Top 25

From left, Gonzaga’s Anton Watson, Rasir Bolton, Drew Timme and Julian Strawther walk off the court after beating BYU on Saturday at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

The newest release of the Associated Press Top 25 poll came with a few positive developments for Gonzaga fans.

For one, the Bulldogs climbed three spots to No. 13 after pocketing a pair of wins against San Francisco and BYU at the McCarthey Athletic Center last week.

That allowed Gonzaga to move past West Coast Conference rival Saint Mary’s, which dropped two places to No. 17 after Thursday’s road loss to Loyola Marymount.

The Zags can also claim a win over the top team in the country now that Alabama has moved up to No. 1, taking Purdue’s place after the Boilermakers lost to Northwestern in Big Ten play on Sunday.

Gonzaga beat the Crimson Tide 100-90 when the two played on Dec. 17 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala.

The Zags have played nonconference or exhibition games against half of the teams occupying top-10 spots in this week’s AP poll, further cementing coach Mark Few’s belief that Gonzaga’s nonleague schedule was the most challenging in program history.

Along with the win over Alabama, Gonzaga had nonconference losses to No. 3 Purdue, No. 6 Texas and No. 9 Baylor. The Bulldogs faced No. 10 Tennessee in a preseason exhibition game.

Gonzaga beat No. 16 Xavier in the Phil Knight Legacy and there’s a good chance the Bulldogs will finish the season with three meetings against No. 17 Saint Mary’s – two in the regular season and one more in the WCC Tournament.

The Bulldogs and Gaels are still separated by six places in the NCAA’s NET rankings, which would be used as a tiebreaker if Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s win out before a Feb. 25 meeting in Spokane and the Zags win the regular-season WCC finale.

If both teams share a 14-2 record, the WCC would declare Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s co-champions, but because both have a common loss to Loyola Marymount, the conference would use NET to determine the top seed at the tournament in Las Vegas.

The NET rankings are subject to change with 4-5 regular season teams remaining for both teams, but as of Monday, Saint Mary’s is No. 6 while Gonzaga sits at No. 12.

Gonzaga moved up four spots to No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll while Saint Mary’s slipped three spots to No. 17.