BYU/Gonzaga To Decide Championships Of Both Men’s, Women’s WCC Tournament
Mar 9, 2021, 2:32 AM
BYU/Gonzaga will decide both the Men's and Women's WCC Tournament Championships on Tuesday. (Photos courtesy of BYU Photo/Jaren Wilkey)
(Photos courtesy of BYU Photo/Jaren Wilkey)
PROVO, Utah – Championship Tuesday in the WCC Tournaments for both the men’s and women’s will feature only two schools, BYU and Gonzaga.
The two schools boasted the best men’s and women’s teams, and now they square off for the right to be crowned WCC Tournament Champions and secure automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.
All of the action gets started at 2 p.m. (MT) with the Women’s WCC Championship Game, and then the Men take the floor at The Orleans starting at 7 p.m. (MT).
BYU/Gonzaga: WCC Tournament Championship Previews
Here’s a quick snapshot of what’s on deck from both championship games.
Women’s Championship Game
No. 1 Gonzaga (22-3, 16-1 WCC) vs. No. 2 BYU (18-4, 14-3 WCC)
Date: March 9th, 2021
Location: The Orleans Arena; Las Vegas, Nevada
Tip-Off: 2 p.m. (MT)
TV: ESPNU
Radio: 107.9 FM
What’s At Stake: The stakes are high for BYU in this game. Jeff Judkins’ squad is currently sitting on the bubble of Bracketology projections for the Women’s NCAA Tournament. Judkins believes his team should be in the field of 64 regardless of the outcome against the nationally-ranked Zags on Tuesday. A win would punch their automatic ticket and not leave it up to the committee.
#BYU coach Jeff Judkins was asked if his team deserved to go to the NCAA Tournament, regardless of what happens in Tuesday's Women's Championship against Gonzaga.#BYUHoops @kslsports pic.twitter.com/56U9YWHYBh
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 9, 2021
Gonzaga is considered to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament regardless of the outcome on Tuesday. BYU is seeking its second WCC Tournament Championship in three years. Gonzaga hasn’t won the tournament title since 2018.
2020-21 Season Results: Each team won on their home floor. Gonzaga defeated BYU on February 2nd in The Kennel, 63-56. BYU handed Gonzaga its lone WCC loss on February 18th in the Marriott Center, 61-56.
🔋🔋🔋 pic.twitter.com/shdfywfDYj
— BYU Women's Hoops (@byuwbb) March 9, 2021
Players To Watch: The WCC Women’s Co-Player of the Year’s will be in action for this matchup as BYU’s Shaylee Gonzales looks to lead the Cougars over Gonzaga’s Jenn Wirth. Three other First Team All-WCC selections are in this game in BYU’s Lauren Gustin and Paisley Harding; for Gonzaga, guard Jill Townsend rounds out the star power in this high-profile matchup.
Men’s Championship Game
No. 1 Gonzaga (25-0, 16-0 WCC) vs. No. 2 BYU (20-5, 11-3 WCC)
Date: March 9th, 2021
Location: The Orleans Arena; Las Vegas, Nevada
Tip-Off: 7 p.m. (MT)
TV: ESPN
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM); Pregame begins at 6 p.m. on your legacy home of the BYU Cougars.
One More Cougar Nation ☝️ pic.twitter.com/bKA2t7S68T
— BYU Basketball (@BYUbasketball) March 9, 2021
What’s At Stake: Position and seeding in the NCAA Tournament. The undefeated and No. 1 ranked Zags are looking to maintain the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. With a win over BYU, they would be the first team since 2014-15 Kentucky to go into the NCAA Tournament with an undefeated record.
BYU is looking to improve its seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Currently, the Cougars are projected by many bracketologists as a 7-seed. They are a lock to play in Indianapolis, but with a win over the nation’s best team, does it vault them into consideration for a 5-seed?
BYU hasn’t won a conference tournament title since 2001. This is BYU’s fourth appearance in the WCC Tournament Championship Game since joining the league in 2011.
— Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) March 9, 2021
2020-21 Season Results: Gonzaga won both games by double-digits. In each contest, the Zags jumped on BYU to big leads. Projected top NBA Draft pick Jalen Suggs is averaging 20 points per game against BYU this season. Both of the games between the two schools were moved up due to scheduling adjustments from the WCC due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Players To Watch: Four of Gonzaga’s starting five were First Team All-WCC selections in Jalen Suggs, Drew Timme, Joel Ayayi, and WCC Player of the Year Corey Kispert. For BYU, senior guard Alex Barcello was the lone Cougar to make the First Team. BYU boasts the WCC Defensive Player of the Year in 7-foot-3 big man Matt Haarms. The former Purdue transfer was scoreless and had only one block in BYU’s last meeting against Gonzaga on February 8th.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper and the KSL Sports app.
