SAN BRUNO, Calif. - West Coast Conference men's basketball features three teams - No. 12 Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and Santa Clara ranked in the top 41 in both the latest NET and WAB rankings. Santa Clara maintains a half-game lead in first place with the rematch against Gonzaga coming up Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and Santa Clara In Top 41 In NET Rankings
Three West Coast Conference men’s basketball teams rank in the top 41 in the latest NET rankings - No. 7 Gonzaga, No. 29 Saint Mary’s and No. 41 Santa Clara. Ranked No. 8 among conferences in KenPom, three teams stand in the top 40 in the latest rankings - No. 12 Gonzaga, No. 32 Saint Mary’s and No. 38 Santa Clara.
Same Three In Top 41 In WAB
The West Coast Conference boasts three teams ranked inside the top 41 in the latest WAB rankings - No. 12 Gonzaga, No. 37 Saint Mary’s, No. 41 Santa Clara.
In The National Polls
Gonzaga is ranked No. 12 in the AP poll and No. 11 in Coaches poll, while Santa Clara is receiving votes in both polls and Saint Mary’s is receiving votes in the AP poll.
National Broadcasts This Week
West Coast Conference men’s basketball will be featured on national TV numerous days throughout the week starting on Tuesday with Gonzaga hosting Washington State at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. On Thursday, San Francisco hosts Oregon State at 6 p.m. on ESPN2. Two games will be featured on the ESPN platform on Saturday with Santa Clara hosting Gonzaga on ESPN and Pacific hosting Saint Mary’s on ESPN2. Both games will start at 7:30 p.m.
More Notes From Around The Coast
Both Santa Clara and Gonzaga rank in the top five in margin of victory in conference games with Santa Clara at No. 3 (16.3) and Gonzaga at No. 5 (15.8).
In conference games, Santa Clara ranks No. 4 in scoring offense (88.1 ppg). Santa Clara owns seven Quad 1 and 2 wins combined this season. SCU has won its last eight in a row and 12 of its last 13 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. The Broncos are 16-0 this season when scoring at least 80 points.
Graham Ike scored 35 of Gonzaga’s 81 points in an 81-61 Bulldog victory at Oregon State on Saturday. The 35 points tied a career best for Ike. The Bulldogs matched a program low with two turnovers in the win.
Saint Mary’s won its 23rd consecutive home game on Saturday. That streak ties a program best and the Gaels own the fifth-longest active home winning streak in all of Division I. SMC can set a program record for consecutive home victories if the Gaels beat Pepperdine on Wednesday.
SMC continues to lead the nation in free throw percentage at .814. The Gaels connected on 22 of 28 attempts last week.
Saint Mary’s ranks 12th in the nation in scoring defense (64.2 ppg). The Gaels also rank 11th in margin of victory in conference games (13.5) as both of their wins last week were by 25 points or more. Since Jan. 13, only Gonzaga has scored 70 points against Saint Mary’s in seven games during that span.
Three teams rank inside the top 12 in rebounding margin - No. 6 Saint Mary’s (10.5), No. 11 Gonzaga and Pacific (9.6). In conference games, the Tigers rank fifth (10.0) as they have outrebounded their opponent in every conference game this season. Saint Mary’s is right behind the Tigers in sixth (9.6).
Pacific defeated Pepperdine, 92-59, the Tigers’ largest margin of victory in a West Coast Conference game since rejoining the league in 2013-14 and its largest margin of victory since 2011.
Portland defeated No. 6 Gonzaga last week for its highest-ranked win in program history. Later in the week, Portland won in the final seconds over Seattle U when Dante Censori-Hercules scored with 1.9 seconds left in regulation to lift the Pilots to a 54-53 win. Freshman standout Joel Foxwell continues to lead all freshmen nationally with his 6.9 assists per game average, which also leads all players in the West Coast Conference.