WCC Weekly Wrap: Saint Mary's Tested, Gonzaga Schedule Taxing

Another week has passed and the West Coast Conference is starting to shape out a bit more. Teams weaknesses are becoming more glaring and their strengths become greater.

But here are the key games and names this week.

Games to Watch this week

12/1: Saint Mary's at No. 19 San Diego State

12/4: No. 21 Illinois vs. Gonzaga at Key Arena

12/6: Portland at No. 22 Washington

12/7: Pepperdine at Utah

Player to Watch this week: Rob Jones, Saint Mary's

He will be the difference-maker if Saint Mary's is to beat San Diego State. The Aztecs are a physical team and will beat a opponents up inside. Jones' strength should play a key role for the Gaels.

Teams like San Diego are struggling to find an identity and teams like Gonzaga may have bit off more than they can chew.

Some teams just needed to be tested. That is where will will start this week.

Saint Mary's (6-1 overall, 2-1 last week)

The Gaels finally played against real opponents. As part of the South Padre Island Invitational, they played Texas Tech and BYU.

They creamed Texas Tech 89-69 but then lost in the last 10 seconds to BYU.

What has this showed about Saint Mary's? Their team oriented offense does work and passing is not a lost art. They are fourth in the NCAA in assists per game and have five players averaging double-figure points.

Furthermore, not a single player is averaging over 15 points per game.

Saint Mary's actually went up in AP votes this week despite a loss. This shows the growing respect for Randy Bennett's program.

Portland (6-2, 2-1)

The Pilots are proving that not all is lost without Nik Raivio and TJ Campbell. Seniors Luke Sikma and Jared Stohl have carried the mantle quite well.

Sikma is averaging 12 points and 12 rebounds per game for Portland. That is good enough for sixth in the nation in rebounds.

Outside of Sikma, not much is done in the rebounding department. The next leading rebounder is Kramer Knutson with 4.5.

Stohl has been lights out from about everywhere. He is shooting 50 percent from the field, 96 percent from the line and 51 percent from three. His 16 points per game is fifth in the WCC.

He doesn't do much in the other categories, though.

Gonzaga (4-2, 2-1)

So far this season, the Bulldogs have played two ranked teams and have lost to both. They dropped out of the AP's top 25 and have a loaded schedule still ahead of them.

They will still play No. 21 Illinois and No. 10 Baylor before entering conference play.

Guard Steven Gray has been the only consistent player for Mark Few's team. His 21 points per game are near double the next leading scorer for Gonzaga.

That player being Robert Sacre with 11.

Elias Harris, still nursing a bad shoulder, is not to form and only averaging 9.2 points and 4.2 rebounds.

None of this is to say Gonzaga is finished. Far from it.

The Bulldogs have dealt with some injury problems and a lack of rhythm to their offense. Keep in mind they still have nine more games before the conference schedule begins.

Santa Clara (4-3, 1-2)

Efficiency has been the problem for Santa Clara.

Guard Kevin Foster returned in a big way but his shot has not yet become consistent. He is shooting 37 percent from the field and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.1.

The team's assist-to-turnover ratio is 0.85.

The other problem for the Broncos is their ability to secure rebounds. They are one of the worst rebounding teams in the nation. Marc Trasolini and Ben Dowdell are the leading rebounders for Santa Clara at 6.7 and 4.6 respectively.

Their two losses last week were to Arizona and 2010 NCAA Tournament team Ohio.

San Francisco (2-3, 0-2)

After a promising start, the Dons have been running into some problems.

They lost last week at Montana State and a one-point heartbreaker to Loyola (IL). Turnovers have doomed San Francisco.

In the loss to Loyola, the Dons held the Ramblers to 31 percent shooting but committed 21 turnovers. Perris Blackwell and Rashad Green had 11 of the 21.

The continuous bright spot has been Michael Williams. His 15.6 points per game and 48 percent three-point percentage lead the team.

He also has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.33. The rest of the team carry a 0.79 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Loyola Marymount (3-4, 1-1)

Rebounding is not the problem with this team. The Lions have a problem with putting the ball in the basket.

Vernon Teel has been a disappointment. Even though he is second on the team in scoring, he is shooting only 37 percent from the field. Worse yet, he is committing 4.2 turnovers per game.

As a team, LMU commits 17.7 turnovers per game. This is the worst in the WCC.

The Lions have become a one-dimensional offensive team as well. They shoot 21 percent from three-point range, posing no threat to any team.

Pepperdine (2-5, 1-2)

Keion Bell and Mychel Thompson continue to do their jobs very well. Score, score and score some more.

Bell is averaging 24 points per game, whereas Thompson is averaging 16 per contest.

But that's the problem. That's all they do.

The Waves are one of the worst rebounding teams in the nation. Their leading rebounder is Taylor Darby with five per game.

San Diego (1-4, 0-1)

At least they only lost once this week?

The Toreros are a mess. There is no rebounding, no scoring and no sign of that changing this season. Their leading scorer is Ken Rancifer with 11.6 a game.

They are also in the bottom half of the NCAA in points per game, rebounds, assists and field goal percentage.