‘The league is tough.’ Coming off third WCC loss, Gonzaga hosts confident Loyola Marymount squad

Randy Bennett may be the last person Gonzaga fans want a therapy session from five days after Saint Mary’s scraped out a 62-58 win over the Bulldogs, giving the Gaels three wins in four tries over their archrival from the West Coast Conference.

Nonetheless, coming from someone who knows Gonzaga as well as anyone in college basketball, Bennett’s message during a postgame news conference on Saturday may be worth a listen for anyone still reeling from a seventh regular-season loss.

“I knew Gonzaga people were worried about them because they lost a few games,” the longtime Saint Mary’s coach said. “They went to Oregon State, they had that game under control, they didn’t win it. Then Santa Clara hit 18 3s out at their place and people were all worried. Hey, what’s wrong with them? When I watched the film I was like, ‘They played pretty good.’ ”

Healing? Maybe not. Helpful? Possibly.

“I have tremendous respect for them and what they’re going through,” Bennett added. “The league is tough.”

As if the Zags needed a reminder in 2025.

Just as Gonzaga (16-7, 7-3) finishes dealing with one red-hot WCC team from the state of California, another one arrives on the schedule . Loyola Marymount (14-8, 6-4) brings the conference’s longest win streak by someone not named Saint Mary’s, along with reigning WCC Player of the Week Jevon Porter, to McCarthey Athletic Center for a 6 p.m. contest .

The Lions’ front-loaded schedule produced just one victory during a five-game stretch against teams occupying top-seven spots in the WCC standings. Since then, LMU’s schedule evened out and the Lions have made a slow climb into the top six, beating Santa Clara before adding home wins over San Diego and Portland and road wins over Pacific and San Diego.

It stands as LMU’s first five-game conference win streak since 1991.

“It’s been a long time,” Lions coach Stan Johnson said Monday on the WCC’s Points in the Paint Podcast with Sean Farnham and Dave Flemming. “We’re proud of it, guys are playing well. We’re starting to figure out who we are and what our identity is. It’s taken us a little while to do that. But I like where we’re at right now.”

LMU encounters a Gonzaga team that’s spent the better part of three months forming its own identity. Saturday’s loss at Saint Mary’s demonstrated the Bulldogs are still a work in progress.

Mark Few’s team made more positive strides on the defensive end Saturday after hitting bottom during a two-game skid against Oregon State and Santa Clara.

The Zags have yielded 62 points or fewer to their past three opponents while holding all three under 40% from the field.

On the flip side, Few’s team is still sorting out how to execute in crunch time after squandering another opportunity at Saint Mary’s. Four months into the season, GU’s inability to close out tight games is confounding and frustrating for those inside the locker room, particularly for a team that returned 81% of its minutes from last season and features a handful of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-year players with loads of college experience.

“A little bit, we’ve got to be better down the stretch, 100%,” point guard Ryan Nembhard said. “But a lot of these games have been really close. It’s hard to say, it’s hard to say.”

Gonzaga’s knack for finding itself in close games means there should still be plenty of time and opportunity to rectify the issues – potentially as early as Thursday, when the Bulldogs face off against confident LMU, which as made a number of defensive adjustments since the first meeting between the teams in early January.

Over a five-game winning streak, the Lions are allowing just 63.4 ppg. That number is skewed in part by the level of competition, but LMU also delivered one of its top defensive outings of the year against fourth-place Santa Clara, holding the Broncos to 54 points just two days before Herb Sendek scored 103 in regulation during a narrow win at the Kennel.

Porter captured conference player of the week honors after posting consecutive double-doubles – his third and fourth this season – against San Diego and Portland. The junior wing, averaging 13 ppg, is one of four Lions averaging in double figures, joining forward Caleb Stone-Carrawell (13.5), forward Alex Merkviladze (11.0) and guard Will Johnston (10.9).

Johnston’s posted impressive offensive numbers in his past two meetings with GU, scoring 18 points in a 96-68 loss earlier this season after scoring 33 points in last season’s game against GU at Gersten Pavilion. Johnston went 11 for 16 from the 3-point line in those games.