WCC BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS: Gonzaga men, women earn byes to Monday's semifinals

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• MEN

Once again, Gonzaga earned a triple bye into this week’s West Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament starting Thursday at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

No. 17 Saint Mary’s and No. 23 Gonzaga earned the top two seeds.

Saint Mary's (24-7, 15-1 WCC) will enter the event as the No. 1 seed for the second straight year after having won the WCC regular season title outright. Gonzaga (24-6, 14-2) will be the No. 2 seed after ending the regular season on an eight-game winning streak.

San Francisco (22-9, 11-6) heads to Las Vegas as the No. 3 seed with crosstown rival Santa Clara (19-12, 10-6) next as the No. 4 seed. After being picked to finish in ninth place in the WCC preseason coaches poll, San Diego (17-14, 7-9) earned the No. 5 seed. The Toreros will play the winner of Thursday's matchup between No. 8 seed Pepperdine (12-19, 5-11) and No. 9 Pacific (6-25, 0-16) in the second round on Friday. The other second-round contest on Friday will be between the No. 6 seed Portland (11-20, 5-11) and No. 7 seed LMU (12-18, 5-11).

Portland, LMU and Pepperdine each finished the regular season with a conference record of 5-11. and tied for sixth in the standings. The seed order for those three teams was determined through the WCC's tiebreaker process. Portland recorded a victory over No. 4 seed Santa Clara, while LMU and Pepperdine finished 0-2 against the Broncos, resulting in the Pilots securing the No. 6 seed. The final WCC tiebreaker rule, the NCAA NET rankings, was used to determine LMU’s and Pepperdine’s seeds, with LMU earning the No. 7 seed with a higher NET ranking than Pepperdine. 

Santa Clara will play the winner of San Diego and Pepperdine/Pacific, while San Francisco will battle the winner of Friday’s Portland-LMU contest in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

The first two rounds of the men’s tournament and the first four rounds of the women’s tournament will be broadcast on ESPN+. ESPN will televise the quarterfinals and semifinals of the men’s tournament, and the championship games of both the men’s and women’s tournaments.

WCC MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Thursday, March 7 — Men’s First Round

2:30 p.m. — Men’s Game 1: No. 8 seed Pepperdine vs. No. 9 seed Pacific (ESPN+)

Friday, March 8 — Men’s Second Round

6 p.m. — Men’s Game 2: No. 5 seed San Diego vs. Winner Game 1 (ESPN+)

8:30 p.m. — Men’s Game 3: No. 6 seed Portland vs. No. 7 seed LMU (ESPN+)

Saturday, March 9 — Men’s Quarterfinals

7 p.m. — Men’s Game 4: No. 4 seed Santa Clara vs. Winner Game 2 (ESPN2)

9:30 p.m. — Men’s game 5: No. 3 seed San Francisco vs. Winner Game 3 (ESPN2)

Monday, March 11 — Men’s Semifinals

6 p.m. — Men’s Game 6: No. 1 seed Saint Mary's vs. Winner Game 4 (ESPN)

8:30 p.m. — Men’s Game 7: No. 2 seed Gonzaga vs. Winner Game 5 (ESPN2)

Tuesday, March 12 – Men’s Final

6 p.m. – Men’s Game 8: Men’s Basketball Championship: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7 (ESPN)

WOMEN

No. 16 Gonzaga won the West Coast Conference 2023-24 regular season title outright on Feb. 17, going unbeaten in conference games, and secured the No. 1 seed to the WCC women’s basketball tournament beginning later this week at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

Top-seed Gonzaga and No. 2 seed Santa Clara were each awarded triple byes.

The women's opening round on Thursday will feature eighth-seeded San Diego (8-21, 4-12 WCC) battling ninth-seeded Pepperdine (5-24, 1-15) at 12 p.m. PT.

No. 5 seed Pacific (16-13, 8-8) will play the winner of San Diego/Pepperdine on Friday, March 8, at 12 p.m. PT, followed by No. 6 seed Saint Mary's (13-17, 6-10) and No. 7 seed LMU (10-18, 5-10) on Friday, March 8, at 2:30 p.m. PT.

Portland (18-12, 10-6) and San Francisco (14-15, 10-6) tied for third place in the WCC standings at 10-6. Portland secured the No. 3 seed with its win over Santa Clara in the second tiebreaker rule. San Francisco (0-2 vs. SCU) is the No. 4 seed. Portland, defending WCC champion, is coming off a 12-point win over LMU and will take the court for the first time on Saturday.

Both the Bulldogs and the Broncos will advance to the semifinals on Monday. Gonzaga (29-2, 16-0) is riding a 23-game winning streak, which is the second-longest active winning streak in the country. Santa Clara (24-7, 12-4) closed the regular season on a nine-game winning streak.

The first four rounds of the women’s championship will be televised on ESPN+ while ESPNU will televise the championship game.

WCC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP 

Thursday, March 7 — Women’s First Round

Noon — Women's Game 1: No. 8 San Diego vs. No. 9 Pepperdine  (ESPN+)

Friday, March 8 — Women’s Second Round

Noon — Women's Game 2: No. 5 Pacific vs. Winner Game 1 (ESPN+)

2:30 p.m. — Women's Game 3: No. 6 Saint Mary's vs. No. 7 LMU (ESPN+)

Saturday, March 9 — Women’s Quarterfinals

1 p.m. — Women's Game 4: No. 4 San Francisco vs. Winner Game 2 (ESPN+)

3:30 p.m. — Women's Game 5: No. 3 Portland vs. Winner Game 3 (ESPN+)

Monday, March 11 — Women’s Semifinals

Noon — Women's Game 6: No. 1 Gonzaga vs. Winner Game 4 (ESPN+)

2:30 p.m. — Women' Game 7: No. 2 Santa Clara vs. Winner Game 5 (ESPN+)

Tuesday, March 12 — Women’s Finals

1 p.m. — Women's Basketball Championship Game 8: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7 (ESPNU)