WCC Men’s Basketball Week in Review and Look Ahead to Upcoming Week, February 5

After a pair of BYU losses, St Mary’s and Gonzaga further separated themselves from the rest of the pack this past week. We now have a three-team battle for third place in the WCC, and big battle at the top this Saturday with St Mary’s-Gonzaga 2.0.

Here is how each team fared, starting from the top down in conference standings:

Saint Mary’s (23-2, 12-0)

Thursday: W vs San Francisco, 79-43

Saturday: W at San Diego, 65-62

KenPom Ranking: 13

The St Mary’s juggernaut continued, as they steamrolled San Francisco and survived another close call with San Diego. The Gaels have now won 18 games in a row, and will get a chance to seal up the conference crown with a home matchup Saturday versus Gonzaga.

Gonzaga (21-4, 11-1)

Thursday: W vs San Diego, 69-59

Saturday: W vs BYU, 68-60

KenPom Ranking: 9

Gonzaga survived two close home games this week, and will hit the road both times this week. They have the big matchup versus St Mary’s Saturday, but can’t overlook a Pacific team on Thursday that has already knocked off BYU and nearly took down St Mary’s.

BYU (18-7, 7-5)

Thursday: L at LMU, 69-76

Saturday: L at Gonzaga, 60-68

KenPom Ranking: 60

Disappointing week for BYU. The Cougars suffered another bad loss to a lowly WCC team, as LMU controlled the game from start to finish. BYU put up a good fight once again at the Kennel, but Gonzaga pulled away in the final minutes to end BYU’s 3-game winning streak in Spokane.

BYU will look to regroup this week with home tilts versus Santa Clara and San Francisco.

Pacific (12-13, 7-5)

Thursday: W at Santa Clara, 63-45

Saturday: W at Pepperdine, 81-72

KenPom Ranking: 156

As BYU faltered, Pacific picked up two road wins to tie the Cougars for third place in the WCC. The Tigers have two home games. beginning with a home clash versus Gonzaga before finishing with Portland.

San Diego (15-9, 6-6)

Thursday: L at Gonzaga, 59-69

Saturday: L vs Saint Mary’s, 62-65

KenPom Ranking: 112

San Diego looked respectable, but ultimately fell to the WCC’s two giants. If anything, San Diego proved that they will be a tough out in Vegas and have upset potential due to their relentless defense. They’ll look to climb back in the race for third place with road games versus Pepperdine and Santa Clara.

San Francisco (13-12, 5-7)

Thursday: L at Saint Mary’s, 43-79

Saturday: W at Santa Clara, 70-59

KenPom Ranking: 158

After getting pummeled by St Mary’s, the Dons took control of 5th place in the WCC with a road win at Santa Clara. They get BYU and Portland this week.

Santa Clara (8-16, 5-7)

Thursday: L vs Pacific, 45-63

Saturday: W vs San Francisco, 59-70

KenPom Ranking: 275

Santa Clara fell back to earth this week, as they lost home contests to Pacific and San Francisco. They’ll be underdogs again this week with matchups versus BYU and San Diego.

Portland (10-15, 4-8)

Thursday: W vs Pepperdine, 85-76

Saturday: W at LMU, 68-66

KenPom Ranking: 253

The Pilots are trending up, with a pair of wins this week and 4 wins in their last 6 games. Road contests this week with Santa Clara and Pacific will decide if they can move up in the WCC pecking order.

Loyola Marymount (7-16, 2-10)

Thursday: W vs BYU, 76-69

Saturday: L at Portland, 66-68.

KenPom Ranking: 219

LMU picked up the biggest upset of the WCC season with a home win over BYU. Naturally, they followed that up with a loss at Portland. They get home gams with St Mary’s and Pepperdine this week.

Pepperdine (4-20, 1-11)

Thursday: L at Portland, 76-85

Saturday: L at Pacific, 72-81

KenPom Ranking: 315

Pepperdine has been downright awful this season and is among the worst teams in the nation. They play San Diego and LMU this week.