SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Three West Coast Conference men's basketball games will be broadcast on ESPN2 this week, including the rematch between first-place Saint Mary's and second-place San Francisco on The Hilltop in San Francisco. The Gaels look to remain unbeaten in conference play and extend their national-leading 15-game road winning streak against the Dons' perfect home record this season.
Fast Facts
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For the first time since 1991, LMU has won five straight WCC games.
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Five WCC teams remain ranked in the top 70 in the latest NET rankings.
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Saint Mary's is one of seven Division I teams who are still unbeaten in conference play this season.
WCC Notes
WCC Boasts Five Teams In Top 70 Of NET
The WCC is one of six conferences to feature five teams in the top 70 in the NET currently (ACC, Big 12, Big East, BIG 10, SEC). The five teams in the top 70 of the NET rankings is an all-time conference best.
The WCC's five teams in the top 70 in the NET are No. 13 Gonzaga, No. 22 Saint Mary’s, No. 61 Santa Clara, No. 62 Oregon State and No. 66 San Francisco.
Among the WCC's top-90 NET teams, the Conference owns eight Quad 1 wins this season, three by Saint Mary's, two by Gonzaga and Santa Clara and one by Oregon State.
Saint Mary's checks in at No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches poll, while receiving votes in the AP poll. Gonzaga is receiving votes in both national polls.
Big Matchups This Week, Three Games On ESPN2
Three ESPN2 games will be featured this week. On Thursday, Saint Mary’s is at San Francisco at 6 p.m. followed by Washington State at Oregon State at 8 p.m. The Gaels beat the Dons by 20 points in the first meeting in Moraga. Saint Mary's takes its 15-game road winning streak to San Francisco where the Dons are undefeated at home this season. This is the one and only regular season meeting between the Cougars and the Beavers.
Then on Saturday, Saint Mary’s is at Oregon State at 7 p.m. This is the first meeting between these teams with the second scheduled for March 1.
January Featured Many Quad 1 Opportunities
With nearly half the league in the top 75 in the NET rankings, WCC teams are benefitting from having more Quad 1 and 2 opportunities during league play for the first time, benefiting conference strength of schedule. In the month of January, the WCC's five top-70 NET teams collected 14 Quad 1 opportunities. Comparing to previous seasons, in January 2023-24, the WCC's top-100 NET teams only had five Quad 1 opportunities. In 2022-23, the top-100 NET teams had eight Quad 1 opportunities in January.
WCC Took Care Of Business During Non-Conference
The WCC is No. 7 in both the KenPom and Torvik rankings, and both are the conference's highest ranking since the inception of those metrics. Against non-conference teams this season, the WCC's top-five NET teams compiled a record of 47-18 (.723). According to ESPN, four WCC teams secured top-55 non-conference strength of schedule rankings.
WCC POINTS IN THE PAINT
The WCC POINTS IN THE PAINT men’s basketball podcast made its debut this month. Hosted by Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham, the podcast breaks down the previous week’s action, provides analysis of the games ahead and features a guest each week. Full episodes are available on the WCC’s YouTube channel (YouTube.com/WCCsports), as well as Apple and Spotify podcasts. Episodes will come out on Tuesdays during the conference season.
WCC Team Notes
Saint Mary’s ranks seventh defensively in the nation overall (60.8 ppg) and first in conference games (55.9 ppg). The conference-play scoring defense average by the Gaels is the fewest by any Division I team since the 2020-21 season (Jackson State - 54.1 ppg).
The Gaels remain unbeaten in conference play at 10-0. Saint Mary’s has won 15 straight road games, the longest winning streak in Division I, after winning at Santa Clara last Wednesday, 67-54. The Gaels followed that with a four-point 62-58 win over Gonzaga in Moraga. SMC held the Gonzaga offense to fewer than 60 points, 30 points below the Zags’ season average. During the 10 WCC victories, nine of the 10 opponents have failed to score more than 60 points.
Gonzaga won the rematch against Oregon State, 98-60, in Spokane last Tuesday before falling on Saturday at Saint Mary’s. The Bulldogs rank No. 2 in the nation in scoring offense (88.2 ppg) and No. 2 in scoring offense (89.6 ppg) in conference games. Among national assist leaders, Ryan Nembhard continues to rank No. 1 in the nation in assists per game (9.9 apg). Nembhard and Graham Ike were recently named to the midseason watchlist for the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy. Ike ranks fourth in the WCC in scoring, averaging 17.6 ppg. He has reached the 20-point scoring plateau 11 times this season, including a current stretch of scoring 20 points or more in five of the last six games.
In overall games this season, four WCC defenses are limiting opposing offenses to fewer than 70 points per game - Saint Mary's (60.8), San Francisco (67.0 ppg), Oregon State (67.3 ppg) and LMU (69.5 ppg).
Oregon State's Michael Rataj is tied for 28th in the nation in double-doubles with eight. Rataj also ranks fourth the WCC in rebounding at 7.8 rpg. Rataj scored a career-high 30 points in the Jan. 25 win over Santa Clara. He posted his eighth double-double in the first meeting against Santa Clara on Jan. 9 with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Following the game against the Cougars on Thursday, Rataj will battle the elite Saint Mary's defense on Saturday.
Despite missing last Saturday's win over Washington State, Malik Thomas of San Francisco remains the Conference scoring leader and ranks No. 22 nationally averaging 19.7 ppg. He owns three of the WCC's top six individual scoring totals this season (35, 34, 34).
For the first time since 1991, LMU has won five straight WCC games. The Lions will head to Spokane on Thursday, playing at Gonzaga at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. During the five-game winning streak, the Lions are averaging 74.6 ppg and holding opposing offenses to score at a clip of 63.4 ppg. In conference games this season, the Lions rank second in the WCC in scoring defense (69.8 ppg). The Lions have earned some big wins this season, knocking off both Oregon State and Santa Clara at home. Jevon Porter ranks second in the WCC in rebounding (8.2 rpg).
For four consecutive weeks a WCC player earned USBWA Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week honors - Malik Thomas of USF (Jan. 7), Lamar Washington of Pacific (Jan. 14), Tyeree Bryan of Santa Clara (Jan. 21) and Max Mackinnon of Portland (Jan. 28).
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