WCC Weekly Wrap: Gonzaga Finding Identity, Saint Mary's and Portland Pounded

It was not a very good week for the conference at large. Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and Portland all played high-profile games and failed to come through.

There are now only three weeks left until the West Coast Conference schedule begins, and some teams have yet to find their stride.

Here's a quick look at who and what to watch this week.

Player to Watch: Elias Harris, F, Gonzaga

Harris has battled injuries throughout the first half of the season but had his best game against Illinois after missing the Zags' previous game. The rest might have been just what Harris needed.

This week will test that as the Bulldogs play Washington State and Notre Dame on the road.

Games to Watch

Tonight: Gonzaga at Washington State

Tonight: San Francisco at Louisville

Dec. 10: Santa Clara at San Jose State

Dec. 11: Gonzaga at No. 23 Notre Dame

Saint Mary's (6-2, 0-1 this week)

In their only game this week, the Gaels were manhandled by San Diego State. It reaffirmed one thing known about Saint Mary's: They cannot handle more athletic teams.

Senior point guard Mickey McConnell was held to six points on 1-of-6 shooting and four turnovers.

The two biggest disappointments to this point in the season have to be Clint Steindl and Kenton Walker. Walker was supposed help fill the defensive and rebounding gap left by Omar Samhan and Ben Allen but has not showed it yet.

Walker has quickly gotten into foul trouble and been completely ineffective on the floor. He is averaging only 15 minutes per game, and his six points and 3.9 rebounds show that his production, if he could stay on the floor, could be better.

Many believed this was going to be Steindl's breakout year, and it started out that way with back-to-back 20-point games. Since then, he has failed to score more than nine in any game.

The Gaels knew it was going to be a transition year but still have time to turn it around before the conference schedule begins.

Portland (7-3, 1-1)

Portland's biggest test was its roadie to Washington to play the Huskies. It did not end well.

The Pilots trailed by 15 at the half. But this is not to say they got nothing out of the game.

Luke Sikma continues to show he will be a force to be reckoned with come conference play. He scored 14 points and grabbed 16 rebounds over the much more athletic Washington team.

The biggest surprise was the emergence of freshman point guard Tim Douglas. He had been fighting for minutes all season and got the minutes he needed and proved why he deserved them.

Douglas scored 12 points and dished out three assists in only 16 minutes for Portland.

The Pilots still need to find rebounding help for Sikma. He leads the WCC in rebounding, but no other player is grabbing anymore than four per game.

Gonzaga (4-3, 0-1)

Another ranked team, another loss. In seasons past, Gonzaga has fared well against the bigger name teams from larger conferences. That has not been the case so far this season.

The Bulldogs shot 40 percent from the field against Illinois on Saturday.

Steven Gray, the team's leading scorer, has struggled against teams with strong guard play. In the games against Kansas State and Illinois, Gray is a combined 9-of-27 (33 percent) for 25 points, seven assists and eight turnovers.

In their three games against ranked opponents, Gonzaga is a combined 68-of-168 (40 percent) from the field.

The one bright spot in all of this has been Elias Harris. After missing a game due to a sore Achilles, Harris came back with his best game of the season. He scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds against Illinois.

He has been nursing a couple of injuries so far, but the extra rest may have helped both injuries.

Loyola Marymount (5-5, 2-1)

Who would have thought the Lions would be without leading scorer Drew Viney and would win two in a row for the first time all season? I didn't.

Loyola Marymount had struggles mightily on the offensive side of the ball, and without Viney things looked grim. But the rest of the team has stepped up in a big way.

Freshmen Godwin Okonji and Anthony Ireland picked up the slack.

Okonji in two games has scored 19 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked 10 shots. Ireland scored 14 points against Cal Poly and had seven rebounds and six assists against Sacramento State.

The Lions have also been taking better care of the ball. They have only committed 17 turnovers in the past two games.

Their shooting and turnover ratio are getting better, which is good news in Los Angeles.

Santa Clara (4-4, 0-1)Kevin Foster had another strong performance against UC Santa Barbara. He scored 25 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and two steals.

The frontcourt play for the Broncos has not been nearly that impressive. Ben Dowdell, Marc Trasolini and Troy Payne combined for six points and 10 rebounds on 2-of-9 from the field.

Trasolini was held scoreless for the first time this season, and Dowdell fouled out in 20 minutes.

The production here has to improve for the Broncos to have a chance to win. But there might be an alternative on the bench. Freshman John McArthur scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in 14 minutes against the Gauchos.

In any case, Santa Clara has to figure it out quickly, as they play San Jose State and Adrian Oliver this week.

San Francisco (3-4, 1-1)

The Dons have yet to find consistency offensively or defensively. CS Bakersfield shot 50 percent against San Francisco while dishing out 20 assists.

Michael Williams and Angelo Caloiaro have been the only consistent sources of offense, and there are nights when Caloiaro vanishes completely.

The Dons started strong but have tapered off in the past couple of weeks. At one point, the Dons had five players averaging double figures. They are down to three.

Pepperdine (3-7, 1-2)

In their two losses to UT-San Antonio and Utah, the Waves had little if any contribution from Mychel Thompson, who was their second leading scorer.

These two games were very winnable too. The losses were by a combined 12 points.

Keion Bell continues to do his part. He had 31 points against UTSA and 17 against Utah.

San Diego (1-7, 0-3)

The Toreros have yet to beat a NCAA Division I team. They are on a seven-game losing streak. They rank 335th in the NCAA in rebounds per game.

However, in the most recent loss, the Toreros had six players with at least eight points. It seems the San Diego offense is trying to find something that will work because nothing has to this point.