West Coast Conference basketball teams celebrated Thanksgiving week by staking their flags everywhere from Florida to Texas to Las Vegas to Palm Springs to Hawaii, not to mention the Bahamas and Virgin Islands. Travel and hoops were added to the traditions of turkey and stuffing.
For the Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s men’s teams — who typically carry the league’s banner — the chance to play in high-level tournaments against teams expected to generate strong computer rankings will pay dividends when the NCAA Tournament selections and seedings are determined.
The Zags competed at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, where they opened with an impressive 95-85 win over No. 8 Alabama, their second victory this season over a Top-25 opponent. A day later, they ran their record to 7-0 and advanced to the championship game by crushing Maryland 100-61.
The Gaels trekked to Nassau, Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis where they beat Wichita State 70-65 and previously undefeated Virginia Tech 77-66 to improve to 8-0 — their best start since the 2013-14 campaign — and reach the Friday title game.
Both teams fell short of bringing home championship hardware, with Gonzaga (7-1) falling 101-61 to No. 7 Michigan (6-0), which had steamrolled San Diego State and No. 21 Auburn by a combined 70 points in its first two games. The Gaels (8-1) had no better luck, beaten 96-71 by 24th-ranked Vanderbilt (8-0), which avenged a loss to Saint Mary’s in last season’s NCAA Tournament opener.
While both teams expect to play better, there are a couple ways this experience should benefit them.
“It’ll help with the rankings — the Ken Pom, the NET — when they do those things. It’ll help because there were probably two Quad 1 games,” Saint Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett said, referring to the ratings value assigned to games against higher-ranked opponents. “Also, it’s still early in the season and you need to see good teams so you do get exposed. Hopefully, we’re better than we were tonight about handling things.”
Mark Few and Bennett, who have won a combined 1,319 games as two of the nation’s most successful coaches over the past quarter-century, are sure to get their squads pointed the right direction again. But both were unequivocal in their assessments of the title-game performances.
Forward Paulius Murauskas was a bright spot for Saint Mary’s, scoring 24 points against the Commodores, and averaging 21.0 over three days to move into the conference scoring lead at 19.2. Gonzaga forward Braden Huff averaged 17.6 points at Vegas, shooting 64 percent from the field.
WSU’S GLASS ACES FRESHMAN EXAM: Washington State ventured to the Maui Invitational, where freshman guard Ace Glass II wrote some conference history.
West Coast Conference players have scored at least 40 points in a game more than 80 times. Glass, who put up an even 40 against Arizona State last Tuesday, became the first to do it as a freshman.
Glass shot 9-for-14 from the field, 6 of 9 from 3-point range and 16 of 18 from the free throw line in the Cougars’ 100-94 loss in the tournament semifinals. He eclipsed his previous high of 26 points, achieved the day before against tournament host Chaminade.
“Obviously, Ace had a hell of a night,” Cougars head coach David Riley said. “We had an incredible performance from a freshman. I haven’t seen someone have the trajectory that is as good as his. He’s done a great job.”
Glass credited the players around him for his big night, creating space for him or setting screens that popped him free. “Thanks to my teammates, for sure,” he said. “Just getting me open shots and letting the rest take care of itself.”
According to WSU, Glass became the first freshman nationally to score 40 points in a game this season.
He became the eighth WSU player to reach the 40-point plateau and the first to do so since Noah Williams five years ago. He also came within three points of matching the Maui single-game record of 43, set by Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison in 2005.
Glass, who came to WSU from Rialto in California’s San Bernardino County, averaged 27 points in three Maui outings. He leads the Cougars with a 17.6 season average.
LAST WEEK’S BIG THING: Playing already their fourth and fifth games away from home, the Gonzaga women squared their record at 4-4 after a 65-61 win over Marquette of the Big East Conference in the consolation game of the Coconut Hoops event on Sunday morning at Estero, Florida. Lauren Whittaker, the redshirt freshman forward from New Zealand, had her second double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds and sophomore guard Allie Turner scored 17 points. Two days earlier, in a 76-72 loss to unbeaten Indiana, Whittaker had 27 points and Turner posted 21 for the Zags, who also have played games in North Dakota, South Dakota and Ohio and will trek to Missouri next month.
THIS WEEK’S BIG THING, PART 1: The Oregon State women (5-3) visit neighbor and long-time rival Oregon (8-0) for a 6 p.m. matchup on Wednesday. This will be their 107th meeting, but the first since the 2023-24 season, when OSU swept both matchups in the Pac-12.
THIS WEEK’S BIG THING, PART 2: The Gonzaga men (7-1) jump right back into the deep end of the pool on Friday when they visit No. 19 Kentucky at storied Rupp Arena. Tipoff is 4 p.m. on ESPN2. The Wildcats (5-2) play a significant tuneup before the Zags as host to No. 16 North Carolina (6-1) on Tuesday.
TIGERS FINDING THEIR WAY: A year ago, in coach Dave Smart’s debut season, Pacific managed just one victory over a Division I opponent in its first seven games. Things appear to be changing for the good.
The Tigers haven’t played a murderer’s row schedule but they are 6-2 and have won three in a row, two of them away from home. They’ll be tested this week with road games vs. Air Force on Wednesday and Cal on Saturday.
Elias Ralph, the senior forward from Okotoks, Canada, continues to lead the way. He is averaging 16.6 points and 6.8 rebounds and produced 53 points in wins over Stony Brook, Jacksonville and Sacramento State.
LIONS’ FAST START: Even after a 71-68 home defeat to Stony Brook on Friday, the LMU men are 7-2 — their best start since opening 8-0 in 2018-19. The Lions, who present a balanced attack with four players averaging double digits, continue to be led by senior guard MJ Amey Jr., who has scored double digits eight times in nine games and is averaging 15.4 points, all of it off the bench.
LMU remains at home Tuesday night to face Saint Louis (6-1), which handed Santa Clara its only defeat of the season.
PILOTS’ FRESHMAN 1-2 PUNCH: The Portland men (5-3) have been fueled by a pair of international freshmen. Guard Joel Foxwell, from Melbourne, Australia, averages a team-best 15.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists, most by a freshman nationally. Forward Timo George, a 6-foot-8, 245-pounder from Amsterdam, Netherlands, provides 13.4 points and 5.4 rebounds.
George, who shoots 75-percent from the field, including 82 percent on attempts inside the 3-point arc, helped the Pilots to their best shooting performance in more than 40 years in their 93-73 win over Long Beach State last Wednesday.
George shot 8-for-10 and Foxwell made 7 of 10 shots as the Pilots converted 70 percent (35 for 50), their highest since making 72.2 percent vs. Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 21, 1982.
ETHRIDGE POSTS 200TH CAREER WIN: Washington State women’s coach Kamie Ethridge celebrated a milestone last Friday night when the Cougars defeated Miami-Ohio 71-67 for her 200th career victory.
Eleonora Villa scored 25 points and Charlotte Abraham added 18 in the win at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. Ethridge has 117 of those victories at Washington State, placing her fourth on the program’s all-time list.
The Cougars ran into national powerhouse and fifth-ranked LSU two days later, sustaining a 112-35 defeat.