By Jeff Faraudo
#WCChoops columnist | ARCHIVES
 
While considering the idea of presenting mid-season awards in the West Coast Conference, I realized that the “mid” of this season is a moving target.
 
So many games have been canceled or postponed — and so many more are waiting to possibly be rescheduled — that there is no absolute mid-point of this COVID-ravaged season.
 
But as we navigate the final weeks of the regular season, the time seemed right to recognize special performances we have seen so far.
 
WCC MEN’S MIDSEASON AWARDS
 
— MVP: Corey Kispert, Gonzaga. I considered having four different Zags share the award but it’s the kind of copout I always complain about. There is no wrong answer, but Kispert certainly is a right answer. He’s the leading scorer on the top-ranked in the country and that’s a pretty good argument.
 
— NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga. There are a variety of potential criteria here, but I like this one: The freshman point guard — averaging 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.2 steals — is projected as the No. 1 pick by NBADraft.net. 
 
— COACH OF THE YEAR: Mark Few, Gonzaga. You’re surprised by this choice? All he’s done is guide his admittedly super-talented team to a no-drama 18-0 start and a national No. 1 ranking in the most challenging year anyone under 100 years old has experienced.
 
— ALL-WCC FIRST TEAM: Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga; Corey Kispert, Gonzaga; Colbey Ross, Pepperdine; Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga; Drew Timme, Gonzaga. Note: Four guys from the same team among the top five players in the WCC? Hey, I’m not leaving any of them out of my starting lineup.
 
— ALL-WCC SECOND TEAM: Alex Barcello, BYU; Jamaree Bouyea, USF; Kessler Edwards, Pepperdine; Tommy Kuhse, Saint Mary’s; Eli Scott, Loyola Marymount. Note: I gave some thought to finding a place here for Portland’s Ahmed Ali, but winning matters.
 
— BEST SINGLE-GAME PERFORMANCE: Against Big Ten power Iowa and its 6-foot-11 national player of the year candidate Luke Garza, Gonzaga’s Joel Ayayi — a 6-5, 189-pound guard — had 18 rebounds. We’re guessing that’s the most rebounds ever in a DI game by a native of Paris who is shorter than 6-6.
 
— CRAZIEST STATISTIC: Ever-stingy Virginia has allowed 80 points just seven times in 326 other games over the past 10 seasons. But on the day after Christmas, Gonzaga scored 98 points in a decisive win over the Cavaliers — and hit 80 with 8:38 to play. So yes, it could have been worse.
 
WCC WOMEN’S MIDSEASON AWARDS
 
— MVP: Jenn Wirth, Gonzaga. Teammate Jill Townsend is equally valuable to the Zags, but Wirth has been a remarkably efficient piece on the league’s best team. The senior forward averages 13.3 points while taking fewer than 10 shots per game. She leads the team in rebounding (8.6), field-goal accuracy (58%), steals (20) and blocks (14).
 
— NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Lauren Gustin, BYU. A year after playing junior college ball, she is second nationally in rebounding (13.2) and has grabbed at least 10 in all but two games she’s played.
 
— COACH OF THE YEAR: Molly Goodenbour, USF. You’d get little argument if you chose Lisa Fortier of WCC leader Gonzaga. Goodenbour gets the nod based on USF’s impressive turnaround. The Dons, who were 5-13 and 2-16 in WCC play the past two seasons, are 7-6 and have won six in a row — their longest WCC win streak since the 1995-96 season.
 
— ALL-WCC FIRST TEAM: Shaylee Gonzales, BYU; Lauren Gustin, BYU; Valerie Higgins, Pacific; Jill Townsend, Gonzaga; Jenn Wirth, Gonzaga. Note: You could win some games with this lineup.
 
— ALL-WCC SECOND TEAM: Haylee Andrews, Portland; Jordyn Edwards, San Diego; Alex Fowler, Portland; Ioanna Krimili, USF; Kayleigh Truong, Gonzaga. Note: Andrews or Fowler could nicely fit on the first team, and perhaps no player has been hotter lately than Krimili, who is averaging 23.8 points during the Dons’ six-game win streak.
 
— BEST SINGLE-GAME PERFORMANCE: Gustin scored a career-high 27 points in BYU’s win over Pepperdine on Thursday. She also grabbed 20 rebounds — the most by a BYU women’s player in a home game in 40 years.
 
— CRAZIEST STATISTIC: Try this on for suffocating defense — in their seven WCC games so far, opponents of the San Diego Toreros have had more turnovers than field goals six times. Add ‘em up and USD has forced 173 giveaways and allowed just 130 baskets.
 
ZAGS RETURN TO PROVO: Top-ranked Gonzaga has not lost a game since last Feb. 22 when BYU and 18,987 of its closest friends scored a 91-78 victory over the Bulldogs at the Marriott Center. The victory snapped a 39-game WCC road win streak by then-No. 2 Gonzaga.
 
The Zags (18-0, 9-0) will bring a 22-game win streak to Monday’s rematch in Provo. That streak includes an 86-69 win over the Cougars (15-4, 6-2) in Spokane on Jan. 7. It wasn’t pretty for BYU, which trailed 23-2 and never really made a game of it.
 
There won’t be thousands of fans or a deafening atmosphere, but BYU coach Mark Pope believes his team is ready for the challenge. “I’m super excited . . . especially after we did not perform like us up there,” he said. “So much credit goes to the Zags for our poor performance but also some of it is on us. We’re excited to have another chance to see if we can look more like us when we play them.”
 
 
CHANGE AT PORTLAND: Portland athletic director Scott Leykam really had no choice but to relieve coach Terry Porter of his duties in his fifth season. Porter is a good man and a popular former star of the Portland Trail Blazers, but the Pilots had won just one of their past 49 games against WCC opponents dating back to the 2017-18 season.
 
The program’s challenges precede Porter. The most recent Portland coach to depart with a winning record was Albert E. Negratti, whose final season was 1967. Nine coaches since then have failed to achieve a .500 record, and the Pilots have played in the NCAA tournament just once in the past 61 years.
 
ROSS CLIMBS HIGHER: Pepperdine’s Colbey Ross put together 24 points and 12 assists against Portland on Saturday. In doing so, he moved past former BYU star Yoeli Childs into 10th on the WCC’s career scoring list (2,034 points) and past Matthew Dellavedova of Saint Mary’s into the No. 3 spot on the league’s career assist chart (769).