Drew Timme or Aidan Mahaney? The WCC men's basketball player of the year award is up for grabs

Timme and the Zags host Mahaney and the Gaels for the WCC title on Saturday

For the last three months, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme was the heavy favorite to take home the 2022-23 West Coast Conference Player of the Year Award. But as the two-time All-American prepares to lead No. 13 Gonzaga against Aidan Mahaney and No. 15 Saint Mary’s on Saturday with the WCC regular season title on the line, the top-15 matchup could have major implications on the conference’s POY race.

While Timme has played some of the best basketball of his career this season, Mahaney has a case for being the best player on the best team in the conference.

A Campolindo High School graduate, Mahaney has guided the Gaels (24-5, 13-1 WCC) atop the conference standings while averaging a team-best 15.1 points per game in his first season in Moraga. Shooting 45.1% from the field and 41.1% from deep, he’s top-10 in the WCC in effective field goal percentage (54.3%) while taking the fifth-most shot attempts in the league.

Mahaney made quite the first impression in his collegiate debut when he played 26 minutes off the bench and led all players with 25 points on 8-for-19 shooting, including 5-for-12 from the beyond the arc. His 25 points are the most points scored by a Gael in his collegiate debut in the era.

It’s been steady sailing ever since for Mahaney. He tied Jalen Suggs for the most WCC Freshman of the Week awards in a career with his 10th on Monday. 

Mahaney introduced himself to the Gaels-Zags rivalry lore with a memorable second-half performance in the first matchup earlier this season. Saint Mary’s trailed by four with five minutes left before Mahaney, who started the game 1-for-10 shooting, accounted for 19 of the team’s final 21 points to lead a furious second-half comeback. He scored 13 straight to bring the Gaels within two points before finding Mitchell Saxen wide open under the basket to force overtime.

Following the 78-70 victory, Saint Mary’s gained sole possession of first place in the WCC. Mahaney, meanwhile, drew comparisons to some of the best guards to ever lace up in the WCC.

“I was trying to ask people around [Saint Mary’s] about it — and they think … [Dan Dickau], they think Kevin Pangos and then like a poor man’s Steve Nash,” said former Zag Adam Morrison on the Gonzaga Nation podcast. “I think it’s kind of a mix of all. Obviously, a fantastic player.”

While Mahaney’s career is off to quite the start, Timme has played some of the best basketball of his illustrious four-year run as one of the most accomplished players to ever dawn a Gonzaga jersey.

The two-time All-American is averaging a career-best 21.3 points per game this season, 12th best in the nation and tops in the WCC, while shooting 61.5% from the field. He’s also grabbing more rebounds (7.5) and becoming more of a playmaker (3.2 assists per game) in his senior season than at any other point in his career.

Timme’s hot scoring stretch in December was one to remember. After a 9-point outing against Baylor, he dropped a then-season-high 29 points to help the Zags squeak by Kent State at home. Then, in a top-15 matchup in Birmingham, Alabama against the No. 4 Crimson Tide, Timme paced Gonzaga once again with 29 points in the 100-90 victory.

Over the course of five games, he averaged 27.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and four assists on 70.1% shooting from the floor.

Now with two regular season games plus the postseason left, Timme is 58 points from passing Frank Burgess as the school’s all-time leading scorer, which means he needs to average 19.3 points per game over the next three games to pass Burgess.

Timme was named to the midseason watch lists for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award and the Naismith Award earlier this month.

“I think Drew's one of the best players in program history that's saying something,” ESPN’s Jay Bilas said. “To have your name at the top of these lists, that's an amazing accomplishment.”

Timme has been one of the best players in college basketball over the last two-plus seasons, and he continues to add accolades to an already chock-full resume.

Mahaney, though, has been the driving force of the No. 1 team in the conference this season.

The WCC POY race heats up on Saturday when Timme and the Zags host Mahaney and the Gaels at 7 p.m.