For two weeks, West Coast Conference basketball fans have wondered: Will injured Gonzaga star Graham Ike be ready to play Saturday night when Saint Mary’s visits the nation’s sixth-ranked team?
“Do they have Ike or not? I don’t know,” Gaels coach Randy Bennett pondered on Thursday after practice. “We’re prepared for either team.”
Gonzaga coach Mark Few said he expects the two-time All-WCC forward to play after missing the past three games with an ankle injury. Still out is Ike’s frontcourt mate Braden Huff, likely sidelined another month with a knee issue.
There is no mystery about the status of Gaels’ top player, Paulius Murauskas.
Saint Mary's Paulius Murauskas (23) reacts after scoring a three-point basket against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the first half of their game at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)“I think I took a step from last season,” said the junior forward from Lithuania, who leads the WCC with a 19.3 scoring average and provides 7.5 rebounds. “I took a step as a player and as a leader.”
It all sets up the latest duel in the best rivalry on the West Coast, but their final matchup in Spokane as conference opponents, with the Zags departing next season for the rebuilt Pac-12. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
The Gaels (19-3, 8-1 WCC) and Zags (21-1, 9-0) have split six games over the past two seasons and they’re scheduled to square off in the regular-season finale at Moraga on Feb. 28. Santa Clara (18-5, 9-1) sits between them in second place, creating a logjam at the top.
Young players have emerged for Saint Mary’s, but the key player has been Murauskas, the lone returning starter from last season.
“He’s a tremendous player,” Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek said, even after the Broncos beat the Gaels 62-54 two weeks ago. “He came into this game averaging 20 a game. That’s really hard to do, especially when you’re at the top of the scouting report night after night.”
The two big changes in Murauskas’ game have been a vastly improved ability to draw fouls and greater consistency.
Murauskas leads the WCC in free throws (132) and free throws attempted (157), more than doubling his per-game attempts and improving his accuracy from 74 percent to 84 percent.
“The thing that’s different this year is Murauskas is really, really aggressive,” Few said. “He’s become a really, really good player.”
He been that almost every night, having scored fewer than 12 points in a game just once. “Last year I had games where I had like 25, 30 (points) and then zero or two,” Murauskas said. “That bothered me and I wanted that to change.”
He was motivated after averaging just 6.8 points and shooting 28 percent over the Gaels’ final five games. That included a scoreless effort vs. Gonzaga in the WCC tournament championship game where foul trouble limited him to 14 minutes.
“I was kind of sad because I had a great year and I finished the season bad. That was like a kick in the butt,” said Murauskas, who worked all offseason, spending time in Moraga, back home in Lithuania and in Los Angeles, where he practiced with players who’d been chosen in the NBA draft.
Bennett said, “I think the biggest difference for him is leadership. He’s grown up. He gets it. He’s more professional. I didn’t know he could be what he is this year.”
BAY BUBBLE WATCH
The Bay Area hasn’t sent three men’s teams to the NCAA tournament since 1997, when Cal and Stanford both advanced to the Sweet 16 and Saint Mary’s also landed a bid. The year before, Cal, Stanford, Santa Clara, and San Jose State all made it.
It will take some doing to get multiple entries this season. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently has just one local team in the field: Saint Mary’s, as a No. 9 seed with its sturdy No. 30 NET rankings.
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Santa Clara, winner of five in a row, plays Saturday at LMU (11-12, 2-8).
The Bears (15-6, 3-5 ACC) could give themselves a boost Saturday with a win at Miami (17-4, 6-2), which boasts a No 36 NET ranking. Stanford (14-7, 3-5) visits Florida State (9-12, 2-6), a winner over Cal on Wednesday.
WOMEN’S LANDSCAPE
Charlie Creme, who projects the NCAA women’s field for ESPN, has Stanford (15-7, 4-5) among nine ACC teams in the field. But Cal (13-9, 4-5 ACC) and Santa Clara (17-5, 8-2 WCC) aren’t even mentioned in his first or next four out.
Stanford Cardinal head coach Kate Paye talks to Stanford Cardinal's Mary Ashley Stevenson (22) during their game against the Louisville Cardinals in the fourth quarter at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)The Bears are No. 54 in the NET and can elevate that ranking with a home victory Sunday over seventh-ranked Louisville (20-3, 10-0), the ACC co-leader. The Broncos, under first-year coach Loree Payne, have matched their best start since 2000-01, but with a No. 61 NET ranking, likely will need to win the WCC tournament to earn their first NCAA bid since 2005.
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