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With each WCC team having already played 16 conference games, we head into the final week of the WCC regular season. After San Francisco’s upset victory over St Mary’s, Gonzaga is in control of the WCC race. If BYU or San Diego knock the Zags off this week, however, St Mary’s is back in the race for the 1 seed in the WCC tourney.
Here is the week that was in the WCC, with tiebreaker scenarios included:
Gonzaga (15-1, 23-4)
Thursday: W vs LMU, 76-46
Saturday: W vs Pepperdine, 81-67
KenPom Ranking: 9
After taking care of the two WCC bottom feeders, Gonzaga got an unexpected boost with a St Mary’s loss at San Francisco. If Gonzaga wins both its road games at San Diego and BYU this week, they win the WCC outright. A loss at BYU and two St Mary’s wins would mean the Gaels win the tiebreaker and get the 1 seed in the WCC tourney.
Saint Mary’s (14-2, 25-4)
Thursday: L at San Francisco, 63-70
Saturday: W at Portland, 73-61
KenPom Ranking: 19
After becoming robot like with their consistency, the Gaels dropped a surprising game on the road to San Francisco. With two losses in their past three games, the Gaels look a little vulnerable heading into the last week of the WCC regular season. They’ll finish the week off with homes games versus Pepperdine and Santa Clara.
BYU (10-6, 21-8)
Thursday: W vs Pepperdine, 75-70
Saturday: L at San Diego, 62-75
KenPom Ranking: 74
After two OT wins where BYU needed some late-game heroics to come away with the W, San Diego controlled the game from start to finish in BYU’s Saturday loss. BYU fixed its turnovers issues in the San Diego game, but poor outside shooting (3-22 Saturday) has plagued BYU as of late. BYU will need to get hot from outside if they want any chance of pulling of a miracle WCC tourney run.
BYU still looks to be in good shape for the 3 seed in the WCC tourney. Greg Wrubell explained BYU’s potential seeding in the WCC tourney, which could range anywhere from 3-5:
Win on Thur at POR would put BYU in driver's seat for 3 seed. With a W, the only team with which BYU could tie is PAC, and the only way BYU loses tie-break w/ PAC is if San Diego finishes ahead of both USF and SCU. Any ties between USD and either/both USF and SCU would favor BYU.
— Greg Wrubell (@gregwrubell) February 18, 2018
This week brings a road game at Portland before finishing up the regular season hosting Gonzaga.
Pacific (9-7, 14-15)
Thursday: W at San Diego, 67-55
Saturday: L vs Santa Clara, 68-72
KenPom Ranking: 161
After a convincing win at San Diego Thursday, the Tigers slipped up at home Saturday versus Santa Clara. With that result, the 4-7 spots are all within a game with two games left to play.
Pacific finishes off the season with games versus San Francisco and at LMU.
San Diego (8-8, 17-11)
Thursday: L vs Pacific, 55-67
Saturday: W vs BYU, 75-62
KenPom Ranking: 130
Despite a loss Thursday, San Diego remains in the hunt for a 4 or 5 seed with their win over BYU. San Diego is number three nationally in 3-point defense, and has shown upset potential this year.
They get Gonzaga at home Thursday before closing with a road game at USF.
San Francisco (8-8, 16-13)
Thursday: W vs St. Mary’s, 70-63
Saturday: W vs LMU, 72-63
KenPom Ranking: 141
USF pulled off the biggest upset of the WCC season with a win over St Mary’s. The Dons are one of the hottest teams in the WCC with wins in 4 of their last 5 games; the lone loss was the 2-point OT loss at BYU.
Two big games seeding wise this week, as they take on Pacific and San Diego.
Santa Clara (8-8, 11-17)
Thursday: W at Portland, 81-72
Saturday: W at Pacific, 72-68
KenPom Ranking: 258
After losing 5 of 6 games, Santa Clara now has reeled off 3 wins in a row. They host LMU and travel to St Mary’s this week, so they’ll need to split that if they want a chance of avoiding the dreaded 7-10 play-in game.
Portland (4-12, 10-19)
Thursday: L vs Santa Clara, 72-81
Saturday: L vs St. Mary’s, 61-73
KenPom Ranking: 256
After showing some life with 4 wins in a 6-game stretch, the Pilots have dropped their last 4. They’ve been competitive in each of them, however, and will look to right the ship with games versus BYU and at Pepperdine this week.
Loyola Marymount (3-13, 8-19)
Thursday: L at Gonzaga, 46-76
Saturday: L at San Francisco, 63-72
KenPom Ranking: 238
LMU dropped both road games last week, and look like they’ll be the 9 seed in the WCC tournament. They finish off the season with Santa Clara and Pacific.
Pepperdine (1-15, 4-24)
Thursday: L vs BYU, 70-75
Saturday: L at Gonzaga, 67-81
KenPom Ranking: 294
Pepperdine was competitive this week against top teams in the WCC, which is more than they have been able to say for much of the season. The school announced that Marty Wilson will not be retained after this season, which could explain some of the inspired play. They have games versus St Mary’s and Portland this week.