WCC Showdown: Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. St. Mary’s Gaels

The West Coast Conference has become one of the premier secondary leagues in college basketball. Two of the WCC’s top teams square off Thursday as the Saint Mary’s Gaels travel to the McCarthey Athletic Center to take on the 11th ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs.

The Zags have been a perennial powerhouse since Mark Few has taken the helm as head coach. In his 11 seasons as HC, his Gonzaga teams have never had less than 23 wins in a year. Saint Mary’s currently holds the edge in conference play with a 8-1 mark, but Gonzaga is just 1 game behind in the win column, and has the tie breaker advantage with a head to head win earlier this season. It will be a tough task for the Gaels Thursday as they face a very good Bulldogs squad that has one of the best players in the country.

Senior Matt Bouldin has been a consistent presence in the Zags line-up in all four of his college seasons. He has steadily raised his scoring average, and has shown improvement in rebounding and defense. At 16.7 points per game, he leads the team, and is in the top 5 of the West Coast Conference. Elias Harris, Steven Gray and Robert Sacre round out the bulk of Gonzaga’s offensive attack. Harris is a 6’7” freshman that also leads the team in rebounds. If he maintains his current pace, he may be the next NBA prospect to come out of this program.

The Gaels will try to contain the Bulldog attack, and answer with some offense of their own. St Mary’s actually has a higher per game scoring average than Gonzaga. They are putting up over 81 points per game, and only allowing 66. The most surprising and impressive stat that the Gaels own this season is their away record. At 8-0, they have proven to be road warriors, even if it’s in the WCC. Wins at Utah St and Oregon earlier this year has given SMC the confidence to go on the road and succeed.

St Mary’s has a distinct advantage on the interior with their 6’ 11” center Omar Samhan patrolling the paint. He is having by far his best season with a 21.7 scoring average and 11.1 rebounds per game. Samhan makes it difficult for opposing teams to penetrate and score easy baskets. Although the Zags are a perimeter shooting team, his presence on the inside will force them to be more accurate shooting the ball. Mickey McConnell, Matthew Dellavedova and Wayne Hunter are the Gaels trio of guards. Combined they average over 36 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists per game.

Anticipate another shootout like the one these teams had back on January 14th. If the Bulldogs don’t give the Gaels enough respect, they will find themselves digging out of a deep hole. This should be an entertaining match-up for the avid college basketball fan. Tune in Thursday night as the West Coast Conferences best duke it out for the league lead.

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3. SEC West Battle: Bulldogs host Razorbacks

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