No. 23 Saint Mary’s (15-1, 25-4)

The Gaels had one of their biggest wins in program history on Saturday, beating Gonzaga in “The Kennel” on Senior Night.

Saint Mary’s also knocked off Portland on Thursday, which is more impressive than it may appear.

On Saturday, SMC got off to a hot start capitalizing against the Bulldogs’ “senior night” lineup. The Zags battled back and the two teams were in a one-point contest with 6:14 remaining.

On the next possession, Mikey Lewis made a four-point play which sparked the clinching 16-10 run for Saint Mary’s. Lewis led the Gaels with 18 points. Mitchell Saxen added 16 points and nine rebounds.

The dub clinched back-to-back regular season conference titles for SMC for the first time in program history.

Two days earlier, Portland battled Saint Mary’s hard in the first half, but the Gaels quickly beat them in the second stanza. Paulius Murauskas led the way with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

SMC closes out its campaign at Loyola Marymount and then hosts Oregon State for Senior Night.

Notes:

• Saint Mary’s has won a share of the conference title in each of the last three seasons, a program record.
• Mikey Lewis scored a total of 34 points against Gonzaga in the regular season.
• Harry Wessels currently holds the all-time field goal percentage record for the Gaels at 62.7 percent.

Gonzaga (12-4, 21-8)

Gonzaga posted mixed results last week, but their fan base is likely focused on their Saturday night loss against Saint Mary’s. The Bulldogs also blew out their lesser rival Washington State on Wednesday.

Against the Gaels, the Zags fell behind 11-0 and didn’t hold a lead the entire contest. Some feel Mark Few might have hurt his team in the opening minutes by giving extended minutes to his “Senior Night” starting lineup, which included his son over Graham Ike.

GU battled back and tied the game with 12:46 remaining, and only trailed by one point with just over six minutes left, but fell short in the end. Ike led the Bulldogs with 19 points.

On Wednesday, Gonzaga handled the Cougars easily. GU fell behind 8-2 but dominated the rest of the way. Nolan Hickman led the Zags in scoring with 23.

GU needs to immediately move on because they travel to Santa Clara and San Francisco this week, and a loss could knock them onto the bubble.

Notes:

• This is the first time Gonzaga has recorded eight losses in the regular season since 2010-11.
• Mark Few has made the NCAA Tournament every season as a head coach.
• Nolan Hickman scored a combined 37 points this week.

Oregon State (10-6, 20-9)

Oregon State has quietly put together a solid resume this year. With their two wins this week, the Beavers have their first 20-win regular season since 1989-1990.

On Saturday, the Beavs struggled in the first half but found their rhythm in the second against San Diego. They used a 10-0 run at the beginning of the second stanza to take a five-point lead and chilled from there.

Michael Rataj led the way with 29 points. Josiah Lake II added 13 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

On Thursday, Oregon State followed a similar format against Pepperdine. The Beavers had a 38-37 lead at halftime before blitzing the Waves with a 15-5 run to open the second half.

Pepperdine fought back, but two key baskets by Lake II and Liutauras Lelevicius put the game away for OSU. Michael Rataj finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Parsa Fallah chipped in 24.

The Beavs host San Francisco and travel to Saint Mary’s to round out their regular season.

Notes:

• Michael Rataj earned his third WCC Player of the Week award.
• Parsa Fallah is Oregon State’s second-leading scorer averaging 12.3 points per game.
• Johan Munch had 10 points this week, a career-high of five in both matchups.

Washington State (6-10, 16-13)

Washington State had a pretty tough week. The Cougars had an opportunity to change the second half of their campaign with a split, but they got blown out in both of their matchups.

They lost to Gonzaga on Thursday and Saturday against Santa Clara.

The Cougs’ performance against the Broncos was troubling considering they allowed Santa Clara to score 109 points in the outing, and a combined 202 points in their two matchups this season.

WSU trailed 61-33 at halftime and could never close the gap. Nate Calmese led the Cougars with 20 points. Ethan Price tacked on 19.

On Thursday, WSU kept the game closer but suffered the same fate against the Bulldogs. The Cougs fielded an impressive crowd against the Zags, but GU proved unphased by the atmosphere.

Washington State never lost contact like they did against SC, but they also didn’t threaten. WSU lost by 21. Lejuan Watts led the way with 19 points for the Cougs.

The Cougars host San Diego and travel to Pepperdine to end their WCC slate.

Notes:

• Washington State has lost eight of their last nine games.
• The Cougars sold out Beasley Coliseum for the first time in 15 years against Gonzaga.
• Dane Erikstrup is WSU’s third leading scorer averaging 12.3 points per game.