Gonzaga knows what’s at stake in Saint Mary’s rivalry game

There's something different about the first Saturday of February that helps set the tone for the rest of the college basketball season.

It's not like the jitters of opening day, the anticipation of the first Thursday of March Madness or any of the other previous weekends that also involved something happening on a football field somewhere. As campuses across the country turn their full attention to the hardwood in the weeks leading up to the NCAA Tournament, the first Saturday in February typically delivers a slate chock-full of marquee conference games and ranked-on-ranked battles. And this one won't be any different.

The schedule is jam-packed from dawn to dusk, starting with a showdown between No. 5 Florida and No. 8 Tennessee at 9 a.m. PT. Two more ranked matchups in the SEC that follow between No. 14 Mississippi State and No. 20 Missouri (10 a.m. PT) and No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 23 Ole Miss (11 a.m.). No. 11 Kansas takes on Baylor in a pivotal Big 12 game at 1 p.m. on ESPN, before No. 2 Duke and North Carolina renew their historic rivalry for the first time this season in Durham, North Carolina, at 3:30 p.m. on that same network.

To cap off a day that features no shortage of high-profile games, Gonzaga and Saint Mary's go toe-to-toe in what's shaping up to be another heavyweight fight between West Coast Conference rivals from Moraga, California.

LIVE SCORE UPDATES, HIGHLIGHTS: GONZAGA VS. SAINT MARY'S

"[With Saint Mary's] it's kind of rinse, lather, repeat," Bulldogs head coach Mark Few said after his team beat Oregon State, 98-60, Tuesday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center. "They know who they are and they don't beat themselves. It's a great recipe and [Gaels head coach Randy Bennett has] figured it out."

The Zags-Gaels rivalry doesn't have quite as much history as the Blue Devils-Tar Heels does, nor will Saturday's matchup at University Credit Union Pavilion feature two teams ranked in the AP poll. As usual, though, postseason implications will be at stake during the 117th all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Saint Mary's on Saturday at 8 p.m. (ESPN).

Ranked No. 12 in the NET, the Bulldogs (16-6, 7-2 WCC) still have some ground to make up for after suffering back-to-back losses to Oregon State and Santa Clara in mid-January. Wire-to-wire triumphs over Portland (105-62) and the Beavers last week were steps in the right direction, as Gonzaga went from yielding 200 points in consecutive defeats to giving up just 122 points in blowouts against the Pilots and Oregon State. But as Saint Mary's (19-3, 9-0 WCC) continued to roll through league play, the Gaels grabbed ahold of the No. 1 spot in the league standings heading into Saturday's game following a dominant display of defense in a 67-54 win at Santa Clara on Wednesday.

The final score doesn't really tell the full story, considering the Gaels went on a 30-0 scoring run during a 13-minute stretch in the second half. The Broncos strung together a handful of scores down the stretch to trim into their deficit, though it wasn't enough as Saint Mary's won its 14th straight road game, the longest active such streak in the country.

The Gaels, now the favorites to win the WCC regular season title according to KenPom.com's projections, are also in contention for a fourth-straight appearance in the Big Dance under Bennett, who's guided the men's basketball program to a postseason appearance (NIT or NCAA Tournament) in each of the past 16 seasons. Saint Mary's checked in on the 9-seed line in the latest ESPN Bracketology update from Joe Lunardi, while Gonzaga actually moved down a peg to the 8-seed line.

"I think people are figuring out [Bennett's] one of the best coaches in college basketball," Few said. "He's built a heck of a program down there."

The respect the Zags and Gaels have for one another is mutual, even though every battle between the two often leaves players tending to multiple bumps and bruises afterward.

"We know it's gonna be a physical matchup," senior forward Graham Ike said of Saturday's game. "We know they're gonna ride under us on our shots. Just got to continue to stay strong, have a good base and power through that."

Ike played a key role in Gonzaga's road win at Saint Mary's last season, when he dropped 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 70-57 victory to cap off the regular season. The 6-foot-9 forward is on a similar trend heading into Saturday, as Ike has scored 20 or more points in four of his last five contests after a 22-point performance against the Beavers. Ike is No. 4 in the WCC at 19.0 points per game in league play, while also pacing the conference in field goal percentage at 60.3%.

"It's fun, man, every single time we get to play a physical matchup, especially against those guys because we know what it means to us in the culture here at Gonzaga," Ike said. "Just another matchup we look forward to."

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