The race to the West Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Regular Season championship — and to the NCAA Tournament — is a three-team competition. No. 6 Gonzaga is there, as always. Saint Mary’s has become a fixture in this landscape. And Santa Clara has taken significant steps in pursuit of its first NCAA bid in 30 years.
Will we get greater clarity on Saturday? Perhaps a little. The Zags (21-1, 9-0) and Gaels (19-3, 8-1) collide at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) at the Kennel. Second-place Santa Clara (18-5, 9-1), off to its best start since 1995 and already with a victory over Saint Mary’s in its pocket, tries to extend a five-game win streak when it plays at LMU.
For now, the focus will be on Spokane, where the big question has been the return date of injured star forward Graham Ike. Gonzaga head coach Mark Few told reporters on Thursday that the two-time all-conference star — second in the league in scoring (18.1), rebounding (8.8) and field-goal accuracy (55.5%) — should be available to play after missing three games.
Saint Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett didn’t know what to think. “Do they have Ike or not? I don’t know,” he said Thursday, stressing he’s been very impressed with the small-ball lineup that has kept the Zags on a winning track, even while forward Braden Huff (17.8 points, 66.2% FG) also has been shelved by injury the past four games. “We’re prepared for either team.”
The Zags, who have won 14 straight games, are excited for the matchup. “It’s a big opportunity for us to show our physicality and to show we run this league,” senior guard Steele Venters said.
Junior forward Paulius Murauskas and the Gaels will get their chance to weigh in on that topic. Saint Mary’s won the past two West Coast Conference regular-season titles with a combined 32-2 record, prevailing in both of their matchups at Spokane.
They will arrive for this one with a more consistent, more mature player in Murauskas, the 6-foot-8 Lithuanian who leads the conference in scoring (19.3) and is third in rebounding (7.5). “He’s a different guy,” Bennett said.
A rough experience against the Zags last year provided Murauskas with the motivation to take his game up a notch in the offseason. He averaged just 6.3 points and shot 27 percent in three outings against Gonzaga, and struggled overall down the stretch of the season, including a scoreless effort vs. the Zags in the conference tournament final, when foul trouble limited him to 14 minutes.
The last five games really helped me because I didn’t play great. That was like a kick in the butt, a wakeup call. C’mon, you have to be ready and consistent,” Murauskas said this week. “I was really upset, I kind of sad because I had a great year and I finished the season badly.”
In response, Murauskas worked all offseason, spending time in Moraga, back home in Lithuania and in Los Angeles, where he trained with NBA draftees. “I think I took a step from last season,” he said. “I worked hard all summer, all preseason. I took a step as a player and as a leader.”
Leadership was where the Gaels needed the biggest jump from Murauskas, the team’s only returning starter. Murauskas said he uses the blueprint left by departed seniors Augustas Marciulionis, Mitchell Saxen and Luke Barrett and has worked to become more vocal in practice and during games.
The improvements Murauskas has made in other aspects of his game wouldn’t have mattered, Bennett said, without the leap in his ability to lead a generally young roster.
“I didn’t know he could be what he is this year,” Bennett acknowledged. “The biggest difference for him is leadership. He embraced it. He’s grown up. He gets it. He’s more professional.”
Murauskas has found consistency that was missing in his game a year ago. “Last year I had games where I had like 25, 30 (points) and then zero or two,” he said. “That bothered me and I wanted that to change. My routine in practice and everything in my life is pretty consistent.”
Through 22 games, Murauskas has scored fewer than 12 points just once. His ability to draw fouls and get to the free throw line has been a key. Stronger and with the skillset to score in more ways, Murauskas leads the conference in both free throws (132) and free throw attempts (157), which is not lost on Gonzaga’s Few.
“The thing that’s different this year is Murauskas is really, really aggressive,” Few said. “He’s become a really, really good player.”
Few gets no argument from Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek. “He’s a tremendous player,” Sendek said after the Broncos beat the Saint Mary’s two weeks ago. “He came into this game averaging 20 a game. That’s really hard to do, especially when you’re at the top of the scouting report night after night.”
Maturity has allowed Murauskas to keep his priorities in line and push away potential distractions. That was an issue late last season when he admits wondering about his future. His approach is now more focused.
“I’m trying to look one season at a time. I’ll try to finish the season good and then I will talk to the coaches,” he said. “Last year it maybe messed me up. I was thinking about what’s going to happen, whether I’m going to stay or not. I think it’s not really smart to do it now. It’s just going to affect your game. Your head has to be clear.”
There is a lot out there, Bennett said, especially for elite players.
“When you get into the NCAA Tournament and the conference tournament, you start getting a lot of attention and people tell you things that they know you want to hear but aren’t actually the truth,” Bennett said. “It can screw you up, and he got screwed up.”
The Gonzaga game is all that Murauskas has on his mind right now, but he’s also trying to make sure it doesn’t feel too much like a Super Bowl.
“Coach says it’s a big game. Everybody says it’s a big game,” Muraukas said. “But I treat every game the same. For me, it’s not really different. I know it’s a rivalry, but every game is important.”