Gonzaga makes its 20th consecutive West Coast Conference final and will take on St. Mary's, the runner-up to the regular season title. Both teams are easily in the NCAA Tournament, and the game will mostly serve as a third chance for the Gaels to upset a Bulldogs squad that has lost just one game on the season. All games have been played at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada. Tipoff is set for 9:00 PM Eastern time on Tuesday Night and the match can be seen on ESPN and online on WatchESPN and the ESPN mobile app.
No. 2 St. Mary's (26-3, 16-2 WCC)
The Gaels currently sit at the 5 seed in the West region on recent ESPN projections. Considering the magnitude of their opponent, a win tonight could nab them one of the top four seeds in the big dance. They've coasted to the final with back-to-back blowouts over Portland and BYU, scoring 81 points in each contest.
Jock Landale (17.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg) was the star in both games, combining for 41 points and 22 rebounds. He led the team with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting in their semifinal victory. Not only is St. Mary's offense humming, but the defense has taken advantage of the poor competition all season by holding opponents to 55.9 points per game.
No. 1 Gonzaga (29-1, 17-1 WCC)
This will be a rematch of last year's final which saw the Bulldogs win 85-75. It wasn't as strong of a squad a season ago as the committee handed them an 11 seed, but they were able to upset Seton Hall and Utah before falling to Syracuse in the Sweet 16. They'll look to make it one step further with a more experienced team, and if they can pull this one out, they'll likely be one of the top overall seeds in the Ncaa Tournament.
Nigel Williams-Goss (16.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg) continues to be one of the most exciting guards in the country. He put up 20 points in the win over Pacific and stepped up with 25 points, 8 boards, and 5 assists in the semifinal win over Santa Clara. Star center Przemek Karnowski (12.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg) also put up 19 points and seven rebounds in the semifinal victory.
Gonzaga has won the last three meetings against St. Mary's and they are 4-2 against them in the WCC final since 2009. The Bulldogs are favored by 7.5 points and the O/U is set at 132 points. The favored team is 21-7-1 against the spread this season.
