Every year, the Gonzaga-Saint Mary’s matchups are some of the best in college basketball — as long as you can stay up for them. They’re two of the most consistent programs, which is no surprise considering they have two of the best head coaches in the country.

Despite losing two key players to the transfer portal (Joshua Jefferson and Aidan Mahaney), the Gaels (19-3, 9-0 WCC) may be even better than last season. They’re a top-30 team in Kempom on both ends of the court, coming off a dominant performance on the road at Santa Clara, during which they uncorked a 30-0 run and held the Broncos scoreless for a 13-minute span.

Saint Mary’s has flown under the radar because of how bottom-heavy the first half of its league schedule was, when it beat the likes of Pacific, Pepperdine and San Diego. But the Gaels’ last three wins were against San Francisco and at Wazzu and Santa Clara. That shows they are no fluke.

And now comes Gonzaga (16-6, 7-2), a team that has experienced more trials and tribulations than usual in WCC play, including back-to-back losses to Oregon State (in overtime) and Santa Clara (at home). That was the first time they lost consecutive games in league play since 2014. The Bulldogs gave up 200 points combined in those losses, which forced coach Mark Few to make some lineup changes.

Senior guard Khalif Battle, who is second on the team with 12.7 points per game, went scoreless in the Santa Clara loss and was benched in favor of Tarleton State transfer Emmanuel Innocenti, a 6-foot-5 sophomore gaurd. Battle went scoreless the next game against Portland, after which he struck a defiant pose on Twitter: 

The good news for the Bulldogs is his next game, scoring 23 points off the bench (12 of 13 from the foul line) in the team’s 98-60 revenge win over Oregon State Tuesday night. Innocenti, who made the All-WAC Defensive Team as a freshman last year, went scoreless himself in 17 minutes as a starter. So it’ll be interesting to see if Coach Mark Few decides to keep the lineups the same.

Gonzaga will need its defense to be on point on Saturday in Moraga. Augustus Marciulionis, a 6-foot-4 senior point guard, was the WCC Player of the Year last season. He’s putting up an even better stat line this season, producing 13.6 points and 5.7 assists per game. Arizona transfer and 6-foot-8 forward Paulius Murauskas (13.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game) and returning center Mitchell Saxen present an elite two-way starting frontcourt, while underclassmen guards Jordan Ross and Mikey Lewis have been effective scoring guards alongside Marciulionis.

Even while the Bulldogs have shown some flaws, they’re still second in the country in scoring with 89.6 points per game, with six players averaging 11 or more points. But the Gaels have yet to allow more than 75 points in a single game, as they rely on their pace of play and stifling defense tends to wear out opponents. 

In the most recent Hoops HQ Bubble Watch by Brad Watchel, both Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are projected to be No. 9 seeds. That said, while the loser of this game won’t be in any immediate danger of missing the NCAA Tournament, this game will be one of the few Quad 1 opportunities left in the WCC for the remainder of the season. 

Just as important, this is an opportunity for both teams to make a late-night national statement. This would be easily the best win of the season for Saint Mary’s and based on how Baylor, Indiana and Arizona State have looked in the past month, this might be Gonzaga’s best victory if they can win on the road this weekend.