The West Coast Conference Tournament begins play on Friday with two games. Check the latest NCAA basketball lines.
The 2011 West Coast Conference tournament tips off on Friday in Las Vegas with two familiar favorites fighting for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Top seed St. Mary’s (23-7, 11-3 WCC) and #2 Gonzaga (22-9, 11-3) shared the regular-season title, but the Gaels won a tiebreaker by splitting the season series and sweeping #3 San Francisco (16-13, 10-4). Neither of the top two seeds will see action though until Sunday’s semifinals of the eight-team tournament.
Regardless of what happens, both teams should get invited to the Big Dance again barring a major upset after each enjoyed a successful postseason run a year ago. The Bulldogs won 89-85 at St. Mary’s on February 24 in the midst of a seven-game winning streak to close out the regular season and could very well be considered the favorite as the hottest team heading into the tournament.
Gonzaga earned at least a share of the conference title for the 11th year in a row and will be out for revenge after losing to the Gaels 81-62 in last year’s tournament championship game as the top seed. The Bulldogs then ended up falling to Syracuse in the second round of last year’s NCAA tournament as an at-large selection while St. Mary’s advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing to Baylor.
The Gaels are led by West Coast Conference Player of the Year Mickey McConnell, a senior guard who averaged a team-high 16.8 points and 6.1 assists per game. McConnell helped them end a three-game losing streak by scoring 15 points in an 83-69 win over Portland in the regular-season finale, which also clinched a share of the conference’s regular-season title. St. Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett was still happy with the accomplishment despite his team’s late-season slide.
“I think it’s harder to do,” Bennett said. “There aren’t many upsets in winning a conference (regular-season) championship. You can have upsets winning a conference tournament, so that’s why I think it’s special.”
It will definitely be surprising if the Gaels do not face the Zags yet again in Monday’s tournament championship, but anything is possible during March Madness. St. Mary’s will play the winner of #4 Santa Clara (18-13, 8-6) and #5 Portland (20-10, 7-7)/#8 Loyola Marymount (10-20, 2-12) in the semifinals on Sunday while Gonzaga will play the winner of #3 San Francisco and #6 Pepperdine (11-20, 2-12)/#7 San Diego (6-23, 2-12). Opening-round games take place on Friday with the quarterfinals scheduled for Saturday at the Orleans Arena.
