No. 9 Gonzaga seeking outright title in final WCC trip to Saint Mary’s: ‘Got to make sure that gets done’

MORAGA, Calif. – Twelve teams were technically in the picture when the West Coast Conference season started in late December.

By the middle of January, Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara separated from the pack, each clinging to conference championship hopes until as recently as Wednesday.

If you know your WCC history, it doesn’t take much guesswork to figure out which two are still in the chase on the final Saturday in February.

“It’s just going to be a battle, us and Gonzaga,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said earlier this week. “And it happens to be that we’ve both won enough games that that’s what’s at stake. To me, it means more than winning the conference tournament.”

Ninth-ranked Gonzaga (28-2, 16-1) has already locked up a share of the WCC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed at the conference tournament, but that doesn’t mean Mark Few’s team will be taking a casual approach toward Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) finale at Saint Mary’s (26-4, 15-2).

The Zags have an opportunity to pocket their first outright league championship since 2021-22, but it could be equally satisfying to keep the Gaels from winning at least a share of the WCC title for the fourth straight year. Saint Mary’s kept its championship hopes alive Wednesday with a convincing 86-67 victory over Santa Clara, eliminating the Broncos from title contention in the process.

“That would be amazing,” Gonzaga forward Graham Ike said. “I know it would mean a lot to this university and us and that would be a great way to end this regular season slate, so we’ve got to make sure that gets done.”

Few and Bennett have both said they’re open to resuming the series once Gonzaga splits off to the Pac-12, but it’s unlikely to happen on an annual basis and there’s no guarantee the games would take place on campus. Another certainty: the matchups won’t carry the same stakes or pressure that have defined many of the previous 120 meetings.

Pride and postseason implications are on the line for the Zags, who have a chance to spoil the Gaels’ 25-game home winning streak and touch up their NCAA Tournament resume a few weeks before Selection Sunday.

Ike can make another bold statement to the league’s coaches to prove why he should be the choice for WCC Player of the Year, three weeks after hanging 30 points on the Gaels in a 73-65 victory at McCarthey Athletic Center. Saint Mary’s standout Paulius Murauskas, who’s averaging 18.9 points and 7.7 rebounds for Bennett’s team, could have something to say about that when the ball is tipped Saturday.

For potentially the final time as WCC foes, the Zags’ and Gaels’ contrasting styles will be on display in front of a packed, muggy, hostile atmosphere at UCU Pavilion.

Gonzaga’s up-tempo offense has notched its share of victories against Saint Mary’s over the years, but the Gaels have also picked off the Zags a number of times by crawling up and down the court, deliberately stretching out possessions and controlling the rebounding column.

Both approaches can be effective, but the game is often decided by which team plays with the right level of force and physicality over 40 minutes and who executes better down the stretch.

The Zags are 5-5 against the Gaels in the last 10 meetings and each of the last five have been decided by double figures.

“We need to be aggressive, I thought we did a great job in here the last time (against Saint Mary’s) being really aggressive and tough, especially on the glass and that’s what you have to do against Saint Mary’s,” Few said. “You just have to really battle them, make every basket hard, but you’ve got to be tough on offense too because they’re a heck of a defensive team.”

Gonzaga’s been shorthanded since second-leading scorer Braden Huff was sidelined with a knee injury in January and frontcourt injuries continue to mount for Few’s team.

Ike missed three games in WCC play with an ankle sprain and Jalen Warley, a Swiss Army Knife wing who’s averaged 7.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 1.6 spg, sat out of Wednesday’s game against Portland with a lingering thigh bruise. Few was uncertain as to whether the senior would be able to return against Saint Mary’s.

“We’ll see, this thing’s really bothering him,” Few said. “It’s been hard, we’re trying to stack some off days, see if we can get it healed.”

The lead changed hands five times in the last meeting and Saint Mary’s was up by six points in the second half before Emmanuel Innocenti, a junior wing who once considered the Gaels out of the transfer portal, scored eight straight Gonzaga points to help the home team retake control.

Saint Mary’s had three players finish in double figures, but the Gaels probably need better play at both ends from 7-1 centers Harry Wessels and Andrew McKeever, who combined for six points on 1 of 7 shooting and had no luck containing Ike, who made 11 of 20 shots from the field and went 3 of 5 from the 3-point line.

“Obviously, it’s a big rivalry game but I think we’re in this position now where we can finish in a really good spot in league because we’ve done really well and we’ve treated the games before it as such,” said Wessels, the only player the Gaels are honoring Saturday on Senior Night. “But, obviously, as a Gael, you live for these games. Yeah, it’s going to be a good one.”