MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's will look to defend their West Coast Conference tournament title this weekend in Las Vegas beginning with their quarterfinals game Saturday night. 

The Gaels are currently listed as the No. 3 seed and will play the winner of Pepperdine and Santa Clara/Portland on Saturday at 9 p.m. If SMC advances, they would then play 2-seed BYU at 8:30 p.m. and if they were to win again, they'd move to the championship game on Tuesday at 6 p.m. 

GAME INFORMATION
WCC Quarterfinals vs Pepperdine/Santa Clara/Portland
Date/Time: Saturday, Mar. 7 at 9:00 p.m. PT
Location: Orleans Arena
TV: ESPN2 (Dave Flemming, Sean Farnham)
Radio: Tune In (Brian Brownfield)
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS 

WCC Semifinals vs BYU*
Date/Time: Monday, Mar. 9 at 8:30 p.m. PT
Location: Orleans Arena
TV: ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen, Sean Farnham)
Radio: Tune In (Brian Brownfield)
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS 

WCC Finals vs TBD*
Date/Time: Tuesday, Mar. 10 at 6:00 p.m. PT
Location: Orleans Arena
TV: ESPN (Bob Wischusen, Dick Vitale)
Radio: Tune In (Brian Brownfield)
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS 

LAST YEAR IN LAS VEGAS
Saint Mary's claimed their fourth-ever WCC Tournament championship last season as they upset No. 1 Gonzaga 60-47 to claim a spot in the NCAA Tournament and the program's first ever win over a top-ranked team. Jordan Ford scored 17 points in the win, Tanner Krebs added 13, and former Gael Jordan Hunter was named Most Outstanding Player after recording a 12-point, 15-rebound game. 

Prior to defeating the Zags, the No. 2 seed Gaels had to battle past a gritty San Diego team who had already won two games in Las Vegas as the 7-seed. Once again, Ford led the team with 21 points while playing all 40 minutes and Malik Fitts posted a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. 

SAINT MARY'S HISTORY IN THE TOURNAMENT
The Gaels have advanced to at least the semifinals in 10 of the past 11 seasons and have made the finals in three of the past four. SMC has won the tournament four times: 1997, 2010, 2012, and 2019. 

Overall, Saint Mary's has a 32-29 record at the tournament and are 4-5 as the No. 3 seed. The team has played the most amount of games as the No. 2 seed and carry a 15-9 record in that position. SMC is also 15-9 in the quarterfinal round and are 16-7 when playing in Las Vegas. 

A total of 23 Gaels have been named to the All-Tournament team including last year's crop of Jordan Hunter and Jordan Ford. If Ford were to make the team again this year, he would become just the fourth Gael to earn that distinction alongside former greats Matthew Dellavedova, Jock Landale, and current assistant coach Mickey McConnell. 

FORD CLOSING IN ON SCORING RECORD
Jordan Ford has 1,842 career points heading into the tournament which puts his fourth all-time in program history. The senior trails third-place Omar Samhan by only six points (1,848), second-place Daniel Kickert by 32 points (1,874), and the leader Matthew Dellavedova by 91 points (1,933). 

If Saint Mary's advances to the finals of the WCC Tournament and plays at minimum one postseason game, Ford will need to average 23 points to set the all-time record. His 656 points already this season are fourth all-time in a season; his 716-point season last year ranks third in school history. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels gave No. 3 Gonzaga a tough challenge Saturday night in the McCarthey Athletic Center but came up just short in a 10-point loss to close out the season. Saint Mary's finishes the regular season 24-7 and 11-5 in conference play. 

Jordan Ford led Saint Mary's efforts with 28 points while converting 12 of his 21 tries. The senior also had team-highs in steals and assists with three each. Malik Fitts scored 15 with 11 of those coming in the second half. Tanner Krebs added 10 and Dan Fotu posted eight before fouling out in the final minute. 

After being tied up at the half, Gonzaga was the first team to separate as Corey Kispert hit a three to put the Bulldogs up by 10 with 13 minutes to play. Saint Mary's pulled within five late with a 7-0 run spearheaded by Ford and Fitts but Gonzaga responded by hitting a three and getting a putback layup to jump back up by 10 with 67 seconds remaining. 

Saint Mary's was tied with Gonzaga going into the half at 34-all. Although SMC didn't score for nearly the final four minutes of the period, the defense managed to keep GU off the board for the last 106 seconds. 

TWO GAELS NAMED ALL-WCC
The West Coast Conference announced their all-conference teams this week and two Gaels were selected to the First Team: Jordan Ford and Malik Fitts. 

Ford is at the forefront of scoring in the conference for the second straight season and is currently averaging 21.2 points per game. The senior is shooting a sterling .489/.412/.821 while dishing out 2.4 assists and grabbing 3.0 rebounds to boot. Ford has scored double-digit points in all but one game this season and has eclipsed 30 points five times as well. It was the second straight year the Folsom, Calif. native has received a First Team honor. 

Fitts jumped up to the First Team this year after being selected to the Second Team in 2019. The forward leads the team in rebounding with 7.1 boards per game and is fourth in the WCC in points per game at 16.9. Fitts' shooting percentages are almost exactly in line with his teammate at .484/.411/.815 and he's scored 10 or more points 28 times this year. 

KUHSE SELECTED AS ALL-ACADEMIC
The West Coast Conference announced their All-Academic Team for men's basketball on Feb. 26 and selected to the team was Gaels' redshirt junior guard Tommy Kuhse.
 
Kuhse owns a 4.0 GPA while studying kinesiology in the graduate program. On the court, the 6'2" Mesa, Ariz. native leads the team with 109 assists which is good for seventh in the conference and is also second in the WCC is assist-to-turnover ratio. He has started in 15 contests for the Gaels this season while recording a career-high 20 points in Saint Mary's win over Long Beach State.

To be considered for the All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average, while also being a significant contributor to his team.