2016–17 West Coast Conference men's basketball season

2016–17 West Coast Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportMen's basketball
Number of teams10
Regular season
Season championsGonzaga
  Runners-upSaint Mary's
Season MVPNigel Williams-Goss
Tournament
ChampionsGonzaga
  Runners-upSaint Mary's
Basketball seasons
2016–17 West Coast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 2 Gonzaga 17 1   .944 37 2   .949
No. 22 Saint Mary's 16 2   .889 29 5   .853
BYU 12 6   .667 22 12   .647
San Francisco 10 8   .556 20 13   .606
Santa Clara 10 8   .556 17 16   .515
Loyola Marymount 8 10   .444 15 15   .500
San Diego 6 12   .333 13 18   .419
Pepperdine 5 13   .278 9 22   .290
Pacific 4 14   .222 11 22   .333
Portland 2 16   .111 11 22   .333
Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2016–17 West Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices on September 30, 2016 and ended with the 2017 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament March 2–7, 2017.[1] The regular season began on November 11, 2016, with the conference schedule starting December 29, 2016.[2][3] This was the 66th season for WCC men's basketball, and the 28th under its current name of "West Coast Conference". The conference was founded in 1952 as the California Basketball Association, became the West Coast Athletic Conference in 1956, and dropped the word "Athletic" in 1989.

On February 18, 2017, Gonzaga clinched a share of the regular season title with win over Pacific. The title was Gonzaga's 16th title in the prior 17 years.[4] Gonzaga clinched the outright regular season conference title on February 24 by beating San Diego.[5]

For the ninth consecutive year, the West Coast Conference tournament was held at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada from March 3 through March 7, 2017. Gonzaga, appearing in the conference final for the 20th consecutive year,[6] defeated Saint Mary's to win the conference championship.[7] As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Gonzaga's Nigel Williams-Goss was awarded Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year by the conference.[8] Gonzaga's Mark Few was named coach of the year for the 11th time.[8]

Two WCC schools received bids to the NCAA tournament: Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. Gonzaga received the No. 1 seed in the West region.[9] Gonzaga advanced to the National Championship for the first time in school history, losing to North Carolina.[10] The conference's record in the Tournament was 6–2. BYU also received a postseason bid to the National Invitation Tournament while San Francisco received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational tournament.

Head coaches

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Coaching changes

[edit]

Coaches

[edit]
Team Head coach Previous job Years
at school
Overall
record
WCC
record
WCC
Tournament
record
NCAA
Tournaments
Sweet
Sixteens
BYU Dave Rose Dixie State 12 283–99 (.741) 61–25 (.709) 6–5 (.545) 8 1
Gonzaga Mark Few Gonzaga
(asst.)
18 466–111 (.808) 226–28 (.890) 36–4 (.900) 17 6
Loyola Marymount Mike Dunlap Charlotte Bobcats 3 22–40 (.355) 10–26 (.278) 1–2 (.333) 0 0
Pacific Damon Stoudamire Memphis Grizzlies (asst.) 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0
Pepperdine Marty Wilson Pepperdine
(assoc.)
7 76–91 (.455) 39–61 (.390) 3–6 (.333) 0 0
Portland Terry Porter N/A 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0
Saint Mary's Randy Bennett Saint Louis
(asst.)
16 333–131 (.718) 154–68 (.694) 17–13 (.567) 5 1
San Diego Lamont Smith New Mexico
(asst.)
2 9–21 (.300) 4–14 (.222) 0–1 (.000) 0 0
San Francisco Kyle Smith Columbia 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0
Santa Clara Herb Sendek Arizona State 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 8 1

Notes:

  • Year at school includes 2016–17 season.
  • Overall and WCC records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the 2016–17 season.

Preseason

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Zach Collins at the 2016 McDonald's All-American Game

Preseason poll

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Source[20]

Rank Team
1. Gonzaga (7)
2. Saint Mary's (3)
3. BYU
4. Pepperdine
5. Santa Clara
6. Loyola Marymount
7. Pacific
8. Portland
9. San Francisco
10. San Diego
(first place votes)

All-WCC Preseason Men's Basketball team

[edit]
Recipient School
Jared Brownridge Santa Clara
Nick Emery BYU
Przemek Karnowski Gonzaga
Eric Mika BYU
Lamond Murray Jr. Pepperdine
Emmett Naar Saint Mary’s
Josh Perkins Gonzaga
Dane Pineau Saint Mary’s
Joe Rahon Saint Mary’s
Alec Wintering Portland

Source[20]

Rankings

[edit]
Legend
    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
(Italics) Number of first place votes
  Pre/
Wk 1
Wk
2
Wk
3
Wk
4
Wk
5
Wk
6
Wk
7
Wk
8
Wk
9
Wk
10
Wk
11
Wk
12
Wk
13
Wk
14
Wk
15
Wk
16
Wk
17
Wk
18
Wk
19
Post
BYU AP
C
Gonzaga AP 14 14 11 8 8 8 7 7 5 5 4 3 1 (46) 1 (59) 1 (60) 1 (60) 4 (2) 4 (1) 2 (6)
C 13 14 11 8 8 8 7 6 4 5 4 (3) 3 (3) 1 (24) 1 (28) 1 (29) 1 (29) 4 (1) 4 (1) 2 (1) 2
Loyola
Marymount
AP
C
Pacific AP
C
Pepperdine AP
C
Portland AP
C
Saint
Mary's
AP 17 17 15 12 12 20 19 19 19 21 23 21 18 20 22 20 20 19 22
C 19 17 15 13 11 20 19 19 19 21 23 21 19 20 21 18 18 19 21 NR
San
Diego
AP
C
San
Francisco
AP
C
Santa
Clara
AP
C

WCC regular season

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Conference matrix

[edit]

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

  BYU Gonzaga LMU Pacific Pepperdine Portland Saint Mary's San Diego San Francisco Santa Clara
vs. Brigham Young 1–1 0–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1
vs. Gonzaga 1–1 0–0 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2
vs. Loyola Marymount 2–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1
vs. Pacific 2–0 2–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 2–0 2–0
vs. Pepperdine 1–1 2–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0
vs. Portland 2–0 2–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. Saint Mary's 0–2 2–0 0–0 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2
vs. San Diego 1–1 2–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–2 2–0 2–0 1–1
vs. San Francisco 2–0 2–0 0–0 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1
vs. Santa Clara 1–1 2–0 0–0 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1
Total 12–6 17–1 8–10 4–14 5–13 2–16 16–2 6–12 10–8 10–8

All-WCC awards and teams

[edit]

On February 28, the conference announced conference awards.[21][22]

Honor Recipient
Player of the Year Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga
Coach of the Year Mark Few, Gonzaga
Newcomer of the Year Joe Rahon, Saint Mary’s
Defensive Player of the Year Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga
All-WCC First Team Jared Brownridge, Santa Clara
T. J. Haws, BYU
Calvin Hermanson, Saint Mary's
Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga
Jock Landale, Saint Mary's
Eric Mika, BYU
Lamond Murray Jr., Pepperdine
Joe Rahon, Saint Mary's
Johnathan Williams, Gonzaga
Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga
All-WCC Second Team Brett Bailey, San Diego
Ronnie Boyce III, San Francisco
Brandon Brown, Loyola Marymount
Zach Collins, Gonzaga
K. J. Feagin, Santa Clara
All-WCC Freshman Team Yoeli Childs, BYU
Zach Collins, Gonzaga
T. J. Haws, BYU
Charles Minlend, San Francisco
Jordan Ratinho, San Francisco
All-WCC Honorable Mention Olin Carter III, San Diego
Jazz Johnson, Portland
Nate Kratch, Santa Clara
Jordan Mathews, Gonzaga
Emmett Naar, Saint Mary’s
Josh Perkins, Gonzaga
Chris Reyes, Pepperdine
Buay Tuach, Loyola Marymount
T. J. Wallace, Pacific
Alec Wintering, Portland

Postseason

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West Coast Conference tournament

[edit]
Session Game Time* Matchup Score Television
First round – Friday, March 3
1 1 6:00 PM No. 8 Pepperdine vs. No. 9 Pacific 84–89 BYUtv
2 8:00 PM No. 7 San Diego vs. No. 10 Portland 55–60 BYUtv
Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 4
2 3 1:00 PM No. 3 BYU vs. No. 6 Loyola Marymount 89–81 BYUtv/RTRM/CSNBA
4 3:00 PM No. 4 Santa Clara vs. No. 5 San Francisco 76–69 BYUtv/RTRM/CSNBA
3 5 7:00 PM No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 9 Pacific 82–50 ESPN2
6 9:00 PM No. 2 Saint Mary's vs. No. 10 Portland 81–58 ESPN2
Semifinals – Monday, March 6
4 7 6:00 PM No. 1 Gonzaga vs No. 4 Santa Clara 77–68 ESPN
8 8:30 PM No. 2 Saint Mary's vs No. 3 BYU 81–50 ESPN2
Championship – Tuesday, March 7
5 9 6:00 PM No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 2 Saint Mary's 74–56 ESPN
*Game times in PT. Rankings denote tournament seeding.

NCAA tournament

[edit]

The winner of the WCC tournament, Gonzaga, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Saint Mary's received an at-large bid to the Tournament.

Seed Region School First Four First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship
1 West Gonzaga N/A defeated (16) South Dakota State 66–46 defeated (8) Northwestern 79–73 defeated (4) West Virginia 61–58 defeated (11) Xavier 83–59 defeated (7 E) South Carolina 77–73 eliminated by (1 S) North Carolina 65–71
7 West Saint Mary's N/A defeated (10) VCU 85–77 eliminated by (2) Arizona 60–69
W–L (%): 0–0 (–) 2–0 (1.000) 1–1 (.500) 1–0 (1.000) 1–0 (1.000) 1–0 (1.000) 0–1 (.000) Total: 6–2 (.750)

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "2016-17 Championship Schedule". Archived from the original on April 8, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  2. ^ "WCC's scheduling experiment will end". January 26, 2016.
  3. ^ "Calendar moves forward for Midnight Madness". May 3, 2013.
  4. ^ "Gonzaga thumps Pacific, earns another WCC title". Spokesman.com. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  5. ^ "No. 1 Gonzaga moves to 29-0, clinches another WCC title". Sporting News. February 24, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  6. ^ "Gonzaga men advance to WCC tournament-title game for 20th straight year". The Seattle Times. March 6, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  7. ^ "No. 4 Gonzaga beats No. 19 Saint Mary's 74-56 in WCC final". chicagotribune.com. Associated Press. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  8. ^ a b "WCC Announces 2016-17 Men's Basketball All-Conference Team | News". | Official Athletics Site. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  9. ^ EndPlay (March 12, 2017). "Gonzaga gets No. 1 seed for West Region". KIRO. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  10. ^ Goldberg, Rob. "Gonzaga Advances to National Championship After South Carolina Rally Falls Short". Bleacher Report. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Suspended coach Verlin no longer at Pacific". Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  12. ^ "Article 404 - Houma Today - Houma, LA". Houma Today. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  13. ^ "Santa Clara Fires Basketball Coach Kerry Keating". Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  14. ^ "Sendek Hired as Men's Basketball Coach". March 29, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "San Francisco fires coach Walters after 8 seasons". Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  16. ^ FEINBERG, DOUG. "Kyle Smith new San Francisco basketball coach". sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  17. ^ "Portland Pilots fire men's basketball coach Eric Reveno". OregonLive.com. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  18. ^ "Kyle Smith Named Head Men's Basketball Coach". April 1, 2016.
  19. ^ "Portland Pilots hire Terry Porter as men's basketball coach". OregonLive.com. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  20. ^ a b "2016-17 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, All-WCC Team Unveiled | News". | Official Athletics Site. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  21. ^ Hines, Travis (March 1, 2017). "WCC Tournament Preview and Postseason Awards: Can anyone knock off Gonzaga?". CollegeBasketballTalk. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  22. ^ "WCC Announces 2015-16 Men's Basketball All-Conference Team | News". | Official Athletics Site. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2017.