Five In Top 102 In NET Rankings
As of Friday morning, five West Coast Conference men’s basketball teams rank in the top 102 in the latest NET rankings - No. 4 Gonzaga, No. 30 Saint Mary’s, No. 44 Santa Clara, No. 101 San Francisco and No. 102 Pacific. Ranked No. 8 among conferences in KenPom, four teams stand in the top 103 in the latest rankings - No. 10 Gonzaga, No. 37 Saint Mary’s, No. 44 Santa Clara and No. 103 San Francisco.
In The National Polls
Gonzaga is ranked No. 6 in both national polls, while Saint Mary’s is receiving votes in both polls.
Three In Top 50 In WAB
The West Coast Conference boasts three teams ranked inside the top 50 in the latest WAB rankings - No. 13 Gonzaga, No. 34 Saint Mary’s, No. 47 Santa Clara.
Gonzaga hosts Saint Mary’s Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. Dating back to the 2021-22 season, these teams are 6-6 against each other in their last 12 meetings.
Santa Clara defeated San Francisco on Wednesday night, 88-73. In conference games, Santa Clara ranks tied for fifth in scoring offense (87.4 ppg). Santa Clara owns a combined five Quad 1 and 2 wins this season as well as 6-0 in Quad 3 games. SCU has won its last five in a row and nine of its last 10 with the only loss during that span coming at Gonzaga. Three of the Broncos’ five losses have been by three points or less and three of their five losses are Quad 1 losses.
Among Santa Clara’s nine conference wins, the Broncos have beaten their opponents by 10 or more points in seven of those nine wins.
Three teams rank inside the top 15 in margin of victory in conference games, including No. 1 Gonzaga at 18.8. Santa Clara is not far behind at No. 5 (16.2) with Saint Mary’s coming in at No. 14 (13.1).
The West Coast Conference is the only Division I conference with three active head coaches who boast 550 career wins - Mark Few (762), Herb Sendek (592) and Randy Bennett (581).
Enjoying a 14-game winning streak, Gonzaga picked up two wins last week without Braden Huff and Graham Ike. Huff has missed the last four games, while Ike has missed the last three. Prior to their injuries, the Bulldogs’ defense was allowing 67.7 ppg, and in the three games played without both standouts, Gonzaga is allowing just 58.7 ppg, a conference best during that span.
Saint Mary’s ranks No. 12 in the nation in scoring defense (64.5 ppg). The Gaels have held their last four opponents to fewer than 70 points. SMC also leads the nation in free throw percentage at .810, the only team in the nation shooting better than 80 percent.
Three teams rank inside the top 11 in rebounding margin - No. 6 Saint Mary’s (10.7), No. 9 Gonzaga (10.5) and No. 11 Pacific (9.8). In conference games, the Tigers rank third (10.6) as they have outrebounded their opponent in every conference game this season.
Pacific defeated Portland at home on Wednesday, 74-51, improving to 10-0 at home this season. The Tigers are 6-4 in conference play, two more wins than the last two years combined. The 6-4 start is the program’s best since 2019-20 when Pacific started 8-4 in league play. They are 10-0 at home for the first time since the 1997-98 season when the Tigers won their first 13 in a row at home.
San Diego put together a late second-half comeback to win at Pepperdine in overtime Wednesday night, 92-88. Assane Diop posted 17 rebounds in the contest, tied for the 20th-highest total in a conference game among all Division I teams this season. Washington State topped Seattle U at home, 70-58, and Oregon State beat LMU on the road, 72-69.