The 2020 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the West Coast Conference during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, held March 5–10 at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada.[1]
| 2020 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2019–20 |
| Teams | 10 |
| Site | Orleans Arena Paradise, Nevada |
| Champions | Gonzaga (18th title) |
| Winning coach | Mark Few (16th title) |
| MVP | Joël Ayayi (Gonzaga) |
| Television | ESPN, ESPN2, BYUtv |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Gonzaga † | 15 | – | 1 | .938 | 31 | – | 2 | .939 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 14 BYU | 13 | – | 3 | .813 | 24 | – | 8 | .750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saint Mary's | 11 | – | 5 | .688 | 26 | – | 8 | .765 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pacific | 11 | – | 5 | .688 | 23 | – | 10 | .697 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Francisco | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | 22 | – | 12 | .647 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pepperdine | 8 | – | 8 | .500 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 6 | – | 10 | .375 | 20 | – | 13 | .606 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loyola Marymount | 4 | – | 12 | .250 | 11 | – | 21 | .344 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Diego | 2 | – | 14 | .125 | 9 | – | 23 | .281 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portland | 1 | – | 15 | .063 | 9 | – | 23 | .281 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2020 WCC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Second-ranked Gonzaga won the tournament and received the conference's automatic bid to the 68-team NCAA tournament,[2] which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the second consecutive year, the Los Angeles-based University Credit Union was the title sponsor of the tournament.[3]
Venue
editFor the twelfth consecutive year, the WCC tournament was held in the Orleans Arena, with a seating capacity of 7,471 for basketball.[4] The tournament is scheduled to be held at the Orleans Arena at least until 2022.[5] The venue is located at the 1,886-room Orleans Hotel and Casino, about a mile (1.6 km) west of the Las Vegas Strip.[6]
Tickets sold out for the 2020 WCC Tournament less than an hour after being made available to the public,[7] marking the eleventh consecutive year that tickets sold out for the tournament.[7]
Seeds
editAll ten WCC teams participated in the tournament, seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system for identical conference records.[8] The tournament returned to a format similar to that used from 2003 to 2011, with slight changes to the terminology used for the rounds prior to the semifinals. The 7 through 10 seeds played in the "first round", the 5 and 6 seeds started play in the "second round", and the 3 and 4 seeds started in the "third round". The top two seeds received byes into the semifinals.[9]
| Seed | School | Record | Tiebreaker 1 | Tiebreaker 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonzaga | 15–1 | ||
| 2 | BYU | 13–3 | ||
| 3 | Saint Mary's | 11–5 | 1–1 vs. Pacific | 2–0 vs. USF[10] |
| 4 | Pacific | 11–5 | 1–1 vs. St. Mary's | 1–1 vs. USF |
| 5 | San Francisco | 9–7 | ||
| 6 | Pepperdine | 8–8 | ||
| 7 | Santa Clara | 6–10 | ||
| 8 | Loyola Marymount | 4–12 | ||
| 9 | San Diego | 2–14 | ||
| 10 | Portland | 1–15 |
Schedule
edit| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Thursday March 5, 2020 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 6:00 pm | No. 8 Loyola Marymount vs. No. 9 San Diego | 75–61 | BYUtv Spectrum SportsNet AT&T Sportsnet Rocky Mountain Root Sports |
1,983 |
| 2 | 8:00 pm | No. 7 Santa Clara vs. No. 10 Portland | 76–62 | |||
| Second round – Friday March 6, 2020 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 6:00 pm | No. 5 San Francisco vs. No. 8 Loyola Marymount | 82–53 | BYUtv AT&T Sportsnet Rocky Mountain Root Sports |
3,850 |
| 4 | 8:00 pm | No. 6 Pepperdine vs. No. 7 Santa Clara | 84–73 | |||
| Third round – Saturday, March 7, 2020 | ||||||
| 3 | 5 | 7:00 pm | No. 4 Pacific vs. No. 5 San Francisco | 54–72 | ESPN2 | 4,350 |
| 6 | 9:00 pm | No. 3 Saint Mary's vs. No. 6 Pepperdine | 89–82 | |||
| Semifinals – Monday, March 9, 2020 | ||||||
| 4 | 7 | 6:00 pm | No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 5 San Francisco | 81–77 | ESPN | 7,471 |
| 8 | 8:30 pm | No. 2 BYU vs. No. 3 Saint Mary's | 50–51 | ESPN2 | ||
| Championship – Tuesday, March 10, 2020 | ||||||
| 5 | 9 | 6:00 pm | No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 3 Saint Mary's | 84–66 | ESPN | 7,210 |
| *Game times in PT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. | ||||||
Bracket
edit| First round Thursday, March 5 BYUtv | Second round Friday, March 6 BYUtv | Third round Saturday, March 7 ESPN2 | Semifinals Monday, March 9 ESPN & ESPN2 | Championship Tuesday, March 10 ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Loyola Marymount | 75 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | San Diego | 61 | 8 | Loyola Marymount | 53 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | San Francisco | 82 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | San Francisco | 72 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Pacific | 54 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | San Francisco | 77 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Gonzaga | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Gonzaga | 84 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Saint Mary's | 66 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | BYU | 50 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Saint Mary's | 51 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Saint Mary's | 89** | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Pepperdine | 82 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Pepperdine | 84 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Santa Clara | 76 | 7 | Santa Clara | 73 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Portland | 62 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ "West Coast Conference Official Athletic Site". wccsports.com. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
- ^ "Exploring the absurd odds of a perfect bracket | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
- ^ "West Coast Conference Partners with University Credit Union as Title Sponsor of Basketball Championships". wccsports.com. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ "Orleans Arena, Las Vegas Event Production | OrleansArena.com". January 22, 2008. Archived from the original on January 22, 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ "West Coast Conference agrees to three-year extension to hold tournaments at Orleans Arena | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
- ^ Hawks, John; Higgins, Tom (February 3, 2009). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Las Vegas: The Savvy Vacationer's Guide to All Things Las Vegas. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-4406-8515-6.
- ^ a b "UCU WCC Basketball Tournament Sold Out". wccsports.com. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ "Explaining Tiebreakers for the West Coast Conference standings". CougarSportsInsider.com. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
- ^ "WCC approves significant changes to scheduling, tournament format | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
- ^ "Brackets, Game Times Announced for 2020 WCC Basketball Tournament". wccsports.com. Retrieved April 7, 2020.