Monday College Hoops

[Raji]

Saint Mary's at Portland (+13, 134)

After missing a chance to secure the West Coast Conference title outright, Saint Mary's hopes with some help, it can still claim a share of it.

The No. 25 Gaels visit Portland on Monday to wrap up their regular season.

Saint Mary's (24-5, 11-2) has stumbled the last two weeks, dropping two of its last three, including an 88-76 loss at No. 24 Gonzaga on Saturday in the first matchup between two ranked WCC teams in the league's 55-year history

Diamon Simpson scored 25 points and Patrick Mills added 18 of his 20 in the second half, but Saint Mary's allowed Gonzaga to shoot 51.6 percent. The 88 points were most allowed by Saint Mary's this season, well above its 60.3 points per game yielded in West Coast Conference play.

"We got down and we quit defensively," said Gaels coach Randy Bennett, whose team gave up 50 in the second half. "We couldn't get stops when we needed them."

With a win Saturday, the Gaels could have clinched their first conference title since 1997, but now need a win in this game and a loss by Gonzaga to share the title. A win would also clinch the No. 2 seed in the West Coast Conference tournament.

"You can tell there is a lot of pain," Mills said.

Mills, who leads St. Mary's with 14.5 points per game, was 7-of-15 from the field Saturday after scoring a combined seven points in the previous two games.

Saint Mary's will try to sweep the season series with Portland (9-20, 3-10) on Monday after beating the Pilots 86-49 on Feb. 2. The Gaels have won four of five against Portland and 11 of 13 overall. They also have won five of six games on the road against the Pilots.

Pick: Saint Mary's

Texas Tech at Kansas (-19, 145)

The chances of Kansas claiming at least a share of a fourth straight Big 12 title dramatically increased thanks to Texas Tech. Now it's the Red Raiders who are standing in the Jayhawks' way.

The sixth-ranked Jayhawks look to move into sole possession of first place in the Big 12 on Monday when they host Texas Tech, which is looking for its fifth win over a Top 25 team this season.

Kansas (26-3, 11-3) was a game behind first-place Texas heading into Saturday, but beat Kansas State 88-74 at home and got a big assist from the Red Raiders, who stunned the No. 5 Longhorns 83-80.

"Everything was good today,'' Kansas coach Bill Self said. "Texas getting beat didn't hurt our feelings much. Of course it tells us we need to be ready for Texas Tech."

The Jayhawks' 14-point win over the rival Wildcats avenged their first loss of the year, an 84-75 upset in Manhattan that ended Kansas' 24-year winning streak on Kansas State's home court.

"We came out and executed our offense and got the crowd behind us," said Kansas guard Russell Robinson, who had 14 points and five assists Saturday. "This was the best the crowd has been, and the best that we have been."

Brandon Rush led the Jayhawks on Saturday with a season-high 21 points and hit five 3-pointers. He hasn't been as good as he was a season ago from beyond the arc, when he shot 43.1 percent, but the junior guard is still one of the Big 12's biggest 3-point threats at 42.0 percent.

Rush is 8-for-13 on 3s in his last two games.

Kansas should have a major edge inside Monday. The Jayhawks outrebounded Kansas State, the nation's fifth-best rebounding team, 41-34 on Saturday. Kansas averages 38.9 boards per game, third in the Big 12, while Texas Tech is 11th in the conference at 31.0 per game.

Pick: Red Raiders

Santa Clara at Gonzaga (-15, 128)

Winning the West Coast Conference is nothing new to Gonzaga's current roster. Sharing it would be.

The 24th-ranked Bulldogs look to win the WCC crown outright for the sixth straight season as they host Santa Clara in the teams' regular season finale Monday.

Gonzaga has finished with the best record or tied for the best record in the WCC in 11 of the previous 14 seasons, including the last seven. The Bulldogs have claimed sole possession of the top spot nine times in that stretch, and haven't shared the title since the 2001-02 season, when Pepperdine matched their 13-1 conference mark.

Gonzaga (23-6, 12-1) is in position for yet another league championship thanks to its 88-76 win over Saint Mary's on Saturday, the first matchup between two ranked WCC teams in the league's 55-year history. The Bulldogs shot 51.6 percent from the field and went 8-of-15 from 3-point range to break their tie atop the conference with the No. 25 Gaels.

A Gonzaga win or a Saint Mary's loss to Portland on Monday would give the Bulldogs yet another outright WCC crown.

"We don't want to share the WCC title," said sophomore guard Matt Bouldin, who had a team-high 21 points, seven rebounds and four 3-pointers Saturday. "We want to keep this streak going."

Saturday's victory was Gonzaga's 14th in 16 games. The Bulldogs' only losses in that stretch are an 81-73 defeat at then-No. 1 Memphis on Jan. 26 and an 89-85 overtime loss at then-No. 25 Saint Mary's on Feb. 4.

Pick: Over

Raji