By Curran McCauley
The last week of West Coast Conference action was defined by an increasing separation between Gonzaga (9-0) and Saint Mary’s (8-1) and the rest of the conference. Elsewhere, the battle for conference tournament positioning became increasingly tight, as BYU, Santa Clara and Pepperdine all sit at 5-4 at the true midpoint of the season. San Diego, San Francisco, LMU and Pacific all seem to factor in the battle for the coveted sixth spot and last first-round bye. Let’s take a look at the top performers in the WCC from a jam-packed weekend of action.
- Kevin Pangos / Sr. Guard / Gonzaga
Pangos has arguably been the most efficient player in the nation this season. A couple of weeks ago, Slipper Still Fits did a great breakdown of his almost zany output. The Canadian takes the top spot this week after tying Gonzaga’s career mark for threes in a rout of Pacific. Pangos was taken out in the latter stages of the second half, despite protest from the Zags’ student section, who chanted “We Want Kevin” and “One More Three” repeatedly in the waning minutes of action. Pangos has a chance to break the record at home against Portland on Thursday, in a game that will be televised regionally. Something tells us those students won’t have to wait long to celebrate the record. - Brandon Clark / Sr. Guard / Santa Clara
Taking home WCC Player of the Week honors for the second time this season is the guard from East Chicago, Ind. Clark took home the honors after leading the Broncos past Pepperdine and LMU at home. He averaged 21 points on 45 percent shooting on the weekend, including 29 pts against LMU and 13 against Pepperdine. - Brad Waldow / Sr. Forward / Saint Mary’s
Despite “Where’s Waldow?” chants from the Gonzaga student section during the Thursday showdown with the nation’s No. 3 ranked team, Waldow still managed to put up an impressive 14 points and seven rebounds in a losing effort. He made his location known (hint: the painted regions of the basketball court) against Portland on Saturday, narrowly missing a double-double while going for 19 points and nine boards. Look for Waldow to put up big numbers at home against LMU and Pepperdine this weekend. - Prezemek Karnowski / Jr. Center / Gonzaga
Gonzaga’s “Low Bloc” frontcourt of Karnowski and Damontas Sabonis impressed against the competition last weekend. Karnowski went for 12 pts against SMC before returning to put up 13 against Pacific on Saturday. Despite drawing interest from Duke and other traditional powerhouses back in 2012, Karnowski looks poised to help lead GU to Indianapolis (The Circle City is hosting The Final Four) this season. - Damontas Sabonis / Fr. Forward / Gonzaga
The other half of the “Low Bloc” had an impressive 13-board performance against Saint Mary’s and then turned around and put up ten points and eight rebounds against Pacific. A clear frontrunner for WCC Freshman of the Year, Sabonis can distinguish himself further from contender Shawn Olden of Pepperdine with big games against Portland and Memphis this week. - Stacy Davis / Sr. Forward / Pepperdine
Stacy Davis has been Mr. Consistency for Pepperdine. The fifth-leading scorer in the conference has scored under 10 points just once this season, in the PCH Cup Rivalry game against LMU. A dark-horse candidate for Player of the Year in the conference, Davis registered 23 points on Thursday at USF and 21 points on Saturday at Santa Clara. Unfortunately for Davis, his efforts came in losses for the Waves. Pepperdine travels to Pacific on Thursday and Saint Mary’s on Saturday. - Garrett Jackson / Sr. Forward / Saint Mary’s
Jackson registered seven points in 25 minutes at Gonzaga, but made an impact on the scoreline in Portland, recording 18 points to go with 8 rebounds. Jackson also blocked a pair of shots. Garrett’s Gaels will try to hand SMC head coach Randy Bennett his 300th win on Thursday. - Thomas van der Mars / Sr. Center / Portland
Van Der Mars was vital in a Pilots’ win over Pacific on Thursday, recording 17 points and eight boards, as well as a pair of blocks before fouling out late in the 2nd half. Against Saint Mary’s on Saturday, van der Mars recorded a double-double (16 pts, 13 rebs) to go with 3 blocks. - Evan Payne / So. Guard / Loyola Marymount
Payne hit the winning shot on a put-back attempt to lift the Lions to a huge road win at USF. Payne scored in double figures on Thursday at Santa Clara (12 pts) and in the win Saturday (13 pts). Payne said after the win, “We’re capable of doing good things in conference. It’s good to get this win for my team today. It’s going to be fun to see how they match things up when we go to Vegas.’’ Watch out for LMU. - Kyle Collinsworth / Jr. Guard / BYU
Collinsworth had an “off” night in a loss at San Diego, and still managed to almost achieve a double-double, falling one rebound shy. Collinsworth chipped in 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the Cougars. He’ll continue his quest for the single-season triple-double record on Thursday at home against San Francisco.
Conference Tidbits
Tyler Haws remains the WCC’s leading scorer (22.4 ppg) after a 20 point performance against the Toreros…For the second time this season, Alec Wintering hit a game-winning shot against Pacific, a dagger-three pointer as time expired…check it out here…Dulani Robinson of the Tigers remains the conference’s leader in “how did he make that?” three-pointers, knocking one down just before Wintering’s game-ender and connecting on three against Gonzaga….Jito Kok is making a case for defensive player of the year, averaging 2.9 blocks per game….the Netherlands native had three against BYU on Saturday….
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