Gonzaga game preview: Zags host Saint Mary's with WCC title on the line

The Zags (24-5, 13-2 WCC) can claim a share of their 11th-straight WCC regular season title

All eyes across the college basketball landscape gaze toward Spokane, Washington, where No. 12 Gonzaga and No. 15 Saint Mary's take center stage in a battle for the WCC title on Saturday night.

The last two decades of WCC basketball have been dominated by the Zags and Gaels, who have at least shared the conference regular season title in each of the last 22 seasons. Both programs have finished in the top two in 11 of the last 14 seasons.

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ESPN's College GameDay started the day off early at 7 a.m. from the McCarthey Athletic Center. It's the first time ESPN's signature pregame show has ventured to Spokane since 2009.

GameDay has featured a matchup between WCC teams once before in 2017, when the top-ranked Zags defeated No. 18 Saint Mary's in Moraga, California.

Six years later, the stakes are just as high as the two programs square off in another top-25 matchup.

It took a 16-point second-half performance from Aidan Mahaney for the Gaels to overcome a double-digit deficit against Gonzaga in the first meeting 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. The Gaels held the Zags without a field goal for the first three minutes of overtime before pulling away for the 78-70 win.

Since then, Mahaney has kept the Gaels atop the WCC standings. The freshman guard averages a team-best 15.1 points per game while 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.

While the freshman phenom has garnered his share of attention, Logan Johnson has been the focal point of the Gaels' offense as of late.

The fifth-year guard has averaged 24.8 points over the last five games, including consecutive 30-point performances. Johnson dropped 31 points in a shocking overtime loss to LMU, followed by a career-high 34 points on 11-for-18 shooting in a bounce-back win against Portland.

Coming off a 29-point outing on senior night, Johnson is second on the Gaels in scoring with 14.3 points per game.

“He's had some big games. He's just such a good driver and he's a man out there,” Bilas said about Johnson.

While contributing positively on offense, Johsnon's presence on defense can't be understated. He ranks in the top three in the WCC for defensive win shares and defensive rating in addition to being top-10 in steals.

Along with Mitchell Saxen down low, the Gaels are fourth in the country in scoring defense (58.7) and are No. 6 in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency.

For the Zags, Timme leads the way offensively with a career-best 21.3 points per game. Julian Strawther, who had three straight games with at least 26 points before Thursday, chips in 15.6 points per game while shooting 44.2% from deep.

Gonzaga leads the country averaging 87.8 points per game and shooting 52.6% from the field.

Saint Mary’s held Gonzaga to 49% shooting from the field in the first matchup, including a season-low four 3-pointers.

Strawther went 0-for-4 from deep and finished with 10 points. The Zags have leaned on the junior forward’s scoring output to go alongside Timme. Gonzaga is 15-0 in games this season when Strawther scores more than 15 points.

“I don't know that Gonzaga has to do anything differently against Saint Mary's to be successful,” Bilas said. “Nothing is easy against Saint Mary's … and they're hard to play against and hard to beat. But over the years, this year included, I think it's Gonzaga has shown that they don't shy away from challenges … so that's what makes this game really attractive as you know, you're gonna see a heavyweight fight and it's going to be it's gonna be fun to watch.”

Prediction: Zags 77, Gaels 71