Gonzaga Bulldogs: 2021-2022 West Coast Conference thumbnail preview
Possible Top-25
Brigham Young Cougars 11-3
The Cougars could use 7-3 Matt Haarms, last year’s WCC Defensive Player of the Year. He graduated and now plays professionally in Europe. The good news for BYU is that the leading scorer from last season’s 20-win team. Alex Barcello is back. This year, the Cougars will have to depend on their backcourt stars Barcello, Te’Jon Lucas, and Spencer Johnson because they don’t have much size.
2021-22 Team Leaders
Scoring: Barcello – 17.9 PPG
Rebounds – Fousseyni Traore – 7.5 RPG
Assists – Lucas – 5.2 APG
Alex Barcello can’t miss in practice. The point guard shot 47.7% from three last season pic.twitter.com/vHF1IuGUXO
— Daily Universe Sports (@DailyUnivSports) October 21, 2021
Contenders for March Madness
St. Mary’s Gaels 11-3
The Gaels bring back every important player from last season’s 14-7 squad. What makes St. Mary’s such a tough team to play against is because they are experienced, and head coach Randy Bennett is a defensive mastermind. SMU gives up 58 points per game, the 13th fewest in college basketball. Expect low-scoring games from the Gaels.
2021-22 Team Leaders
Scoring: Matthias Tass – 12.7 PPG
Rebounds – Kyle Bowen – 6.5 RPG
Assists – Tommy Kuhse – 3.4 APG
San Francisco Dons 12-1
USF is a very talented team. Their top three players, Jamaree Bouyea, Yauhen Massalski, and Seattle native Khalil Shabazz are all double-digit scorers and, more importantly, seniors. San Francisco’s experienced core will give opponents fits this season.
2021-22 Team Leaders
Scoring: Bouyea – 17.8 PPG
Rebounds – Massalski – 7.8 RPG
Assists – Bouyea – 3.7 APG
NIT Possibilities
Santa Clara Broncos 10-5
Santa Clara started the season hot with five straight wins, including an 88-72 win over Stanford. Then they fell into a 2-5 slump. Like many other WCC teams, the Broncos lack size. SC has two stars who made the All-WCC Preseason Team (tied with Gonzaga), Josip Vrankic and Jalen Williams.
2021-22 Team Leaders
Scoring: Williams – 18.8 PPG
Rebounds – Keshawn Justice – 8.0 RPG
Assists – Vrankic – 4.1 APG
Loyola Marymount Lions 7-5
The Lions are off to a shaky start in 2021. They have five losses, and only one is from a power conference. The loss of center 7-3 center Mattias Markusson hurt LMU because they have a huge size deficit on most nights. Only two players in their rotation are 6-7 or taller. Loyola’s two top players are seniors Eli Scott and Joe Quintana, who averaged a combined 30.7 points per game.
2021-22 Team Leaders
Scoring: Scott – 15.6 PPG
Rebounds – Scott – 6.7 RPG
Assists – Scott – 3.8 APG
Eli Scott (@0toEli) got the pull up 2 point jumper with 13 seconds left for Loyola Marymount to put them ahead and following a late traveling call on Santa Clara they look very good to win this game on the road pic.twitter.com/YEFdgpFGOe
— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners (@NCAABuzzerBters) February 17, 2021