ZAGS TRACKER with STEVE CAMERON: Another year, another run through West Coast Conference

Ho, hum …

Here we are again, right around Valentine’s Day, and Gonzaga seems very likely to clinch the West Coast Conference regular-season title with several games still to play.

The Zags (8-0 WCC, 19-2 overall) host Pacific (2-6, 7-16) tonight, and then greet second-place Saint Mary’s (7-2, 19-5) on Saturday evening.

Barring an upset, Mark Few’s troops should sleep soundly into Sunday morning, with space being made for yet another WCC trophy in that already bulging cabinet.

It was conceivable that the Gaels could have drawn out the suspense until they hosted Gonzaga inside steamy little McKeon Pavilion in Moraga on Feb. 26, the final night of conference play.

Saint Mary’s, though, was rumbled 77-72 at rapidly improving Santa Clara earlier this week — giving the Gaels their second WCC defeat.

A third one this weekend in the Kennel would mean another unofficial coronation for the Zags, leaving their conference foes only a final shot during the postseason tournament in Las Vegas.

UNLESS Gonzaga suffers a serious injury (or some other unforeseen squad depletion), this team once again will carry the WCC banner — with the loftiest goal possible — into the NCAA tournament.

Truthfully, only two things have changed since we took our last close look at the Zags.

The first has been exciting, even dramatic, as 7-foot prodigy Chet Holmgren now seems comfortable enough to simply take over games when the mood strikes him.

Yes, Holmgren has been a predictable defensive force all season, racking up 3.4 blocks per game and affecting so many other opponents’ attempts that the number has become almost uncountable.

But at the other end of the court …

Big Chet now is going to the hoop with serious intent, then turning loose his sweet 3-point stroke whenever teams drop off and leave him some space.

Holmgren has averaged 19 points over his past four games (he’s at 14.7 for the season in just over 25 minutes of playing time).

Perhaps even more frightening for future foes, Chet is shooting 46.3 percent behind the arc, and it almost goes without saying that his jumpers — released at the top of his 7-foot-7 wingspan — are basically impossible to block.

“He changes the game completely with that ability to shoot 3s,” suggested BYU coach Mark Pope. “Normally, you’d be glad to get a 7-footer away from the basket, but Holmgren is just a totally different situation.

“I’m not sure what adjustments are available for a guy like that.”

More good news: Holmgren’s growing productivity on offense hasn’t thrown the rest of the team off stride.

Drew Timme is down a bit — he’s scored 12 points per game, but on just 21 total shots — during Holmgren’s four-game spurt, but the Zags as a group are purring along at a nation-leading 90.9 points per game.

All the starters are averaging in double figures, with Anton Watson creeping close at 8.5.

GIVEN that Gonzaga’s goal this year remains the same — winning a national championship — it’s instructive that the cast of teams who could prevent that is changing a bit as the season rolls along.

Auburn looked like something special, but the Tigers suffer from a lack of elite shooters, and it’s been catching up with them.

Two narrow victories against poor teams (Missouri and Georgia) suggested that the Tigers were vulnerable, and it proved true as they lost at Arkansas Tuesday night.

Duke likewise got rolled, once again at home, with Virginia hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer to stun the Devils.

Perhaps more instructive than the actual result was that Paolo Banchero did not score in the second half of that game (he had just nine points before the break), and the suspicion remains that Banchero has some kind of problem – stamina, cramps, something – that keeps him from delivering big and effective minutes.

The teams that have emerged as powerhouse Final Four threats (Arizona, Purdue, Kentucky, perhaps even Wisconsin) all have something in common that could trouble Gonzaga.

They are all big and bruising around the basket.

If the Zags need to beat one or more from that gang, Holmgren will have put his thin body on the line – not to mention that Few may need major help from Watson, and perhaps light a candle for improvement with Kaden Perry’s back.

It would change things immensely if the muscular freshman Perry could contribute a few minutes against someone like, say, Kentucky bully Oscar Tshiebwe.

Or, ironically, matching the minutes and bumps from Arizona’s Oumar Ballo.

Doesn’t that name seem familiar from somewhere?

NEXT WEEK

We haven’t talked a lot about the Zags’ defense, which can happen when a team is averaging almost 91 points per game.

Still …

How far Gonzaga can advance — and whether that first national title is achievable – could well come down to work on the defensive end.

The Zags’ overall numbers are good, but we’ll look at how they might handle a dominant big man, or teams with multiple 3-point shooters, and so on.

Matchups can mean everything in the NCAA tournament, so …

Is there a really bad one?

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published weekly during the season.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”