Keys to a Gonzaga victory over Saint Mary’s in their final WCC Spokane meeting

SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga versus Saint Mary’s is a hallmark of Western college basketball, and, unfortunately, this rivalry looks to be heading to the graveyard (at least for now). With Gonzaga heading to the Pac-12 next season, these archrivals won’t be conference opponents anymore, so tomorrow’s 7:30 p.m. tip-off in The Kennel could be their last meeting in Spokane, at least currently scheduled. Below are the most important keys to a Zags win.

5. Pace the Tempo

Randy Bennett’s Gaels are known to be an extremely slow-paced team. This is a stark contrast to Mark Few’s Zags’ high pace, although this season is a big slower than usual. Saint Mary’s is the 292nd slowest-paced team in the country, and uses this combined with great rebounding and excellent defense to choke out games. Saint Mary’s is the nation’s best free-throw shooting team, and they excel at getting to the line as much as they are making those shots. Gonzaga needs to set the tone and pace early and avoid falling into the slog that the Gaels forced them into back in last season’s tight, low-scoring WCC title game.

4. Control the Glass

Saint Mary’s leads the WCC in three-point defense, free throw shooting, rebounding margin, and allowing the fewest opponent rebounds. This combines to a deadly team that wears opponents down and doesn’t allow many mistakes to get second chances. Especially with the return of Graham Ike, Gonzaga must control the glass, an aspect they’ve struggled with more than once this year. In every conference game this season where Gonzaga either lost the rebound battle or barely won it, the game was within a single-digit final.

3. Slow down Murauskas

Paulius Murauskas remains Saint Mary’s biggest threat. The star Lithuanian leads the Gaels in scoring with 19.3 points per game and adds almost eight rebounds a contest. He did absolutely nothing in a forgettable 0-7 outing against the Zags in last season’s WCC championship game, and he tends not to have explosive games against the Zags. Mikey Lewis took over for the Gaels to power their upset over Gonzaga last season, and his increased role to a now-starter will need to be watched careful by GU’s defensive guards.

2. Jalen Warley’s versatility

It’s a safe bet no Gael has ever seen a player play like Warley, and that’s because almost no one has seen a player play like Warley. The do-it-all glue guy has held this Zags team together through the absences of the big men, and his defensive aggressiveness and offensive efficiency should make him a huge threat on every facet of the game, minus three-point shooting.

1. Graham Ike’s return

GU fans and players alike happily welcome the return of one-half of Gonzaga’s big man tandem in Graham Ike, an All-American-level forward who’s missed the past few games. Gonzaga still managed a 3-0 record through that stretch, a lot thanks to the man mentioned above, but Ike’s ability to draw in so much paint attention helps space the rest of the offense. The Colorado native scored 24, 19, and 11 in his three games against the Gaels last season.