By Jeff Faraudo
#WCChoops columnist | ARCHIVES
And then there was one. Second-ranked Baylor tasted defeat for the first time on Saturday, losing 71-58 at Kansas. That left Gonzaga as the nation’s only undefeated team.
The top-ranked Zags closed out their regular season with an 86-69 win over visiting Loyola Marymount, improving to 24-0 overall, 15-0 in the West Coast Conference. They won for the 51st straight time at home, setting a school record.
“We’ve never done it here in this program,” coach Mark Few said of maintaining an unblemished record through the entire regular season. “I’ve said this before, but it’s getting harder and harder to find something that’s never been done in this program. There’s very few things left.”
Well, there is one thing in particular. But Gonzaga must first negotiate the University Credit Union WCC tournament in Las Vegas before beginning its quest for a first-ever NCAA tournament championship.
Senior Corey Kispert, who scored 24 points in front of a smattering of fans in his final home game at the Kennel, said he fought the urge most of this season to consider the Zags might achieve regular-season perfection.
“No chance. Definitely kept the thought in the way, way back part of my mind, trying to block it out. As we started winning games it definitely dawned on my that we had something special going,” he said, listing potential obstacles that included motivated opponents, health in the time of COVID-19 and the challenge to stay emotionally sharp while playing in empty arenas.
“It snows here all the time so it’s dark and dreary a lot,” he added. Even that didn’t derail the Zags, although road closures due to weather did prevent Kispert’s brother and sister-in-law from making the drive from Seattle for Saturday’s game.
NO ONE HOTTER THAN THE DONS: USF’s women closed out the regular season with an 86-72 win over second-place BYU, the Dons’ ninth win in their past 10 games. That stretch included a 4-1 record against teams that beat USF in the first round of the WCC schedule.
The victory helped elevate USF from its No. 5 spot in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted winning percentage conference rankings to the No. 3 seed into the WCC tournament and a bye into the quarterfinals. The Dons leaped over San Diego and Santa Clara but the Broncos will get the No. 4 seed (and the bye) because USD had to bow out of the event due to a COVID-19 positive test result.
"I think the girls were obviously really excited to play because we are a different team than the last time we played them in December,” said USF coach Molly Goodenbour, whose squad lost 70-46 at BYU on Dec. 28. “We really looking forward to the challenge of playing teams that were ranked higher than us and testing ourselves against the best teams in the league.”
With a win in their Saturday quarterfinal game at Vegas, the Dons would see No. 2 seed BYU again in the Monday semifinals.
ALMOST PERFECT TWICE: Entering Saturday, there still were four schools across the country with a combined total of just one conference defeat between their men’s and women’s programs. But with losses by the Baylor and Stephen F. Austin men, that list was pruned to two teams.
Joining Gonzaga — at least on this esoteric list — is Jackson State. The Zags posted final conference records of 15-0 on the men’s side and 16-1 by the women — just a single loss between them. The Tigers haven’t completed their SWAC schedule, but the men are 8-0 and women are 11-1 in the SWAC. That’s where the comparison abruptly stops.
While the Zags’ men dispatched the likes of Kansas, Iowa, Virginia and West Virginia before starting WCC play, Jackson State was 0-5 outside the SWAC, losing by an average margin of 24.6 points.
ON TARGET WHEN IT MATTERED: Portland sophomore guard Kelsey Lenzie had not made a free throw all season. In fact, she hadn’t attempted one. So with 5.6 seconds left in regulation against Pepperdine and trailing 90-87 after Portland rallied from 15 points down in the fourth quarter, Lenzie faced some serious pressure when she was fouled and went to the free throw line for three shots.
Needing to make them all to force overtime, Lenzie delivered on all three. The Pilots went on to win 101-94 in OT, powered by their star Australians, junior guard Haylee Andrews (career-high 31 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals) and sophomore forward Alex Fowler (29 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists). But Portland doesn’t win this one without Lenzie’s clutch free throws.
BIG MEN, BIG GAMES: Senior point guard Colbey Ross had another excellent outing in Pepperdine’s 90-84 win at San Diego, contributing 27 points and eight assists. But two European big men came off the bench to steal the show.
Jan Zidek, the Waves’ 6-foot-9 sophomore from the Czech Republic, shot 8 for 10 on 3’s and scored 26 points in 25 minutes in a reserve role. USD’s Yauhen Massalki, a 6-10 senior from Belarus, also shined while coming off the bench, making 14 for 16 from the field to score a career-high 30 points in 24 minutes.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Every shot, he shot with more and more arc. He knew they were going in. He didn’t miss a shot the whole morning at shoot-around. He was shooting it higher and higher so it would take longer to get to the rim, so that all the fans could take it in. It was amazing!” — BYU coach Mark Pope after senior Alex Barcello shot 7-for-7 from the 3-point arc against San Francisco on Thursday.