WCC Previews: BYU-Saint Mary's both in needs of big wins

As each team hits the stretch run, many of the seeds still remain up in the air. No seed is officially decided yet but here is a quick run down:

Saint Mary's can clinch a bye to the semifinals with a win on Thursday.

BYU and Santa Clara are separated by one loss. The Broncos are only a game ahead of San Diego. San Francisco, Pepperdine, and Portland are one game apart from each other.

And, of course, Gonzaga can clinch at least a share of the WCC title and the No. 1 seed in the WCC Tournament with a win over Santa Clara and a Saint Mary's loss to BYU.

Let's see how the matchups breakdown:

WEDNESDAY

Santa Clara (19-8, 7-5) at No. 3 Gonzaga (25-2, 12-0), ESPNU, 8 p.m.

The two have not met since the first weekend of conference play and not much has changed. Gonzaga continues to roll along and Santa Clara still has something to prove. The Broncos are 0-4 against teams ahead of them in the standings and, in the cases of BYU and Saint Mary’s, haven’t been close to a win. Gonzaga shot 55 percent from the field and went to the line 30 times in the first matchup. If Santa Clara is going to have any chance, those numbers will have to change. But with many teams emphasizing the post play of Gonzaga, it has opened up the perimeter for Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell, Jr. It really has been a case of pick-your-poison with the Bulldogs.

Predicted winner: Gonzaga

THURSDAY

San Diego (13-14, 6-6) at Portland (10-18, 3-9), ROOT Sports, 7 p.m.

San Diego has an opportunity to move back into a tie with Santa Clara. The Broncos are at Gonzaga, which is never an easy task. But the Toreros will be ta the Chiles Center, which is also no picnic. Portland has shot much better the last two weeks and have been better than 45 percent from the field in three of the last four games. It has resulted in wins and Thomas van der Mars has been even more active offensively. He has been in double figures each of the last five games. That said, Portland will have to deal with Johnny Dee and Chris Anderson.

Predicted winner: San Diego

San Francisco (11-15, 4-9) at Loyola Marymount (8-18, 1-12), WCC Digital, 7 p.m.

The Dons and Lions have each had trouble keeping teams from scoring. USF is allowing opponents to shoot 45 percent from the field and LMU is allowing 47 percent. So, this should be a high scoring game, right? LMU has struggled offensively as well. They are the worst shooting team in the league and have had a difficult time finding a secondary source of offense outside of Anthony Ireland. The Dons have gotten big contributions off the bench from Avry Holmes and De’End Parker, who has earned his way back into the starting lineup.

Predicted winner: San Francisco

BYU (19-8, 9-4) at Saint Mary’s (22-5, 11-2), ESPN2, 8 p.m.

The Cougars escaped with a win on a Craig Cusick tip-in against a Utah State who was missing three starters for various reasons. It is almost fitting that the game prior to BYU's trip to Moraga ended in a buzzer-beater. Matthew Dellavedova ripped the hearts out of the Marriott Center with his buzzer-beater last month. Both teams have looked different ever since. The Gaels have gotten secondary scoring help from Stephen Holt and Beau Levesque among others. BYU has lost two of its last four games. BYU will also need those secondary options to give them something to win at McKeon Pavilion.

Predicted winner: Saint Mary's

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, West Coast Conference Basketball Examiner

Zack Farmer is in his second season covering the West Coast Conference for Examiner.com. He has covered Bay Area sports since 2005, including the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers, San Jose Earthquakes, Cal Bears, Stanford Cardinal, Saint Mary's Gaels and local high school sports. The...

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