Move over Celine and Britney: Zags ready to headline in Vegas starting Monday night

Down in Las Vegas, the West Coast Conference Tournament has been underway for four days, but one particularly notable team has yet to make an appearance. As the top seed in the tournament, Gonzaga was awarded a triple-bye into Monday’s semifinal round. While they haven’t been playing yet, there’s been plenty of action taking place.

Before the Zags take to the court, get caught up on what’s been going on at Orleans Arena and up to speed on what’s to come.

WHAT’S HAPPENED

If you had picked the tournament to play out according to seeding, you’d have picked the tournament 100 percent correct so far. The semifinal round features 1 seed Gonzaga taking on 4 seed San Francisco and 2 seed Saint Mary’s facing off against 3 seed Santa Clara. So far, the better seed has won every game on the men’s side.

In the opening round, 8 seed LMU took down 9 seed Pacific and 7 seed San Diego defeated 10 seed Pepperdine. The following night, LMU lost to 5 seed BYU and San Diego fell to 6 seed Portland. The first two rounds were notable in that all four teams that lost did so in season-ending fashion — all four head into Selection Sunday with no chance at an NCAA Tournament bid, nor for the NIT or any of the other lesser postseason tournaments. Also notable was Portland’s absence from the first round. The Pilots have been the doormat of the league for years now, but have righted the ship in fast fashion under first year and former EWU head coach Shantay Legans.

Another former Washingtonian wasn’t so lucky, though, as Gig Harbor’s Sam Scholl was let go by San Diego after his team’s loss. Scholl went 50-67 overall in four years as head coach. He took over on an interim basis initially after a scandal forced a shakeup. Then, last season, three separate COVID outbreaks completely derailed the season and the Toreros managed to play just 14 games. Things appeared to be turning around this season, as USD went 15-16 overall and 7-9 in league play, but the Toreros moved on nonetheless.

Things really got interesting in Saturday’s quarterfinal round, when the games shifted from regional telecasts to national TV. BYU was fighting for its NCAA Tournament hopes and many pundits saw its game against 4 seed San Francisco as a must-win situation for the Cougars. Unfortunately for the Cougars, they lost. The Cougars now sweat it out until Selection Sunday. San Francisco, on the other hand, all but locked up their ticket to the NCAA Tournament with the win. In the nightcap, 3 seed Santa Clara put an end to Portland’s magical season — though, with an 18-14 record they would be eligible to play in the the NIT or CBI should they accept an invitation from either.

WHAT’S TO COME

After an eight-day layoff, the Zags finally get back on the court Monday evening against San Francisco. The Dons (24-8, 10-6 WCC) may be the 4 seed in Vegas, but they’re quite clearly the third best team in the conference. They’re 24th in the NET Rankings, the NCAA’s primary sorting tool for filling out and seeding the bracket. These two teams met less than two weeks ago in the Bay Area, in what was by Gonzaga standards a pretty tight game.

Notably, the Dons are one of seven Division I teams with a Ukrainian player on their roster. Volodymyr Markovetskyy, who played last season at Washington State, is from Truskavets in the west of Ukraine. Markovetskyy has played limited minutes this season, but saw a season-high 15 minutes against BYU on Saturday. Markovetskyy has been receiving support from teammates Yauhen Massalski and Dzmitry Ryuny, who hail from Belarus, which has been Russia’s closest ally in the current war. The NCAA’s Andy Katz interviewed the three last week.


Following Gonzaga versus San Francisco, the nightcap will bring Santa Clara versus 2 seed Saint Mary’s. If history, both very recent and long term, is any indication, Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s should win Monday’s semifinals and face off on Tuesday for the title. Gonzaga’s made it to the title game for 24 consecutive seasons. And for the past 13 seasons they’ve faced either BYU (4 times) or Saint Mary’s (9 times).

UP NEXT

WCC Tournament Semifinal: 1 seed Gonzaga vs. 4 seed San Francisco
Monday, March 7, at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN
Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada