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2021 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament

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2021 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2020–21
Teams10
SiteOrleans Arena
Paradise, Nevada
ChampionsGonzaga (19th title)
Winning coachMark Few (17th title)
MVPJalen Suggs (Gonzaga)
TelevisionESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, Stadium
← 2020
2022 →
2020–21 West Coast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Gonzaga † 15 – 0   1.000 31 – 1   .969
No. 23 BYU 10 – 3   .769 20 – 7   .741
Loyola Marymount 7 – 5   .583 13 – 9   .591
Pepperdine 7 – 6   .538 15 – 12   .556
Pacific 6 – 7   .462 9 – 9   .500
Santa Clara 4 – 5   .444 12 – 8   .600
Saint Mary's 4 – 6   .400 14 – 10   .583
San Francisco 4 – 9   .308 11 – 14   .440
San Diego 2 – 7   .222 3 – 11   .214
Portland 0 – 11   .000 6 – 15   .286
† 2021 WCC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2021 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the West Coast Conference during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.[1] The tournament was held from March 4 through March 9, 2021 at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada. Gonzaga won the tournament, giving it the conference's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA tournament, in the process becoming the 16th team to enter the Division I tournament unbeaten.[2][3] For the third consecutive year, the Los Angeles-based University Credit Union was the title sponsor of the tournament.[4]

Venue

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For the thirteenth consecutive year, the 2021 WCC Tournament was held in the Orleans Arena. When the Orleans Arena is set up for basketball games, the seating capacity is 7,471.[5] The tournament is scheduled to be held at the Orleans Arena at least until 2022.[6] The Orleans Arena is located at the 1,886 room Orleans Hotel and Casino about 1 mile west of the Las Vegas Strip.[7] The tickets for the WCC Tournament typically sell out quickly.[8] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no fans were permitted to attend this tournament.[9]

Seeds

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All 10 WCC schools were eligible to participate in the tournament. Teams are typically seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records.[10] However, due to numerous regular-season game cancellations, the WCC announced on February 16 that the seeding for the 2021 edition would be determined using an adjusted conference winning percentage. Developed in partnership with Ken Pomeroy, the adjusted conference winning percentage takes into account the strength of the opponent and the location where each game was played. The final report was released on February 28.[11]

Ken Pomeroy Adjusted Conference Winning Percentage
February 16[12] February 19 February 21 February 23 February 26 February 28
1 Gonzaga (0.978) Gonzaga (0.979) Gonzaga (0.960) Gonzaga (0.960) Gonzaga (0.960) Gonzaga (0.962)
2 BYU (0.789) BYU (0.811) BYU (0.801) BYU (0.798) BYU (0.796) BYU (0.810)
3 Pepperdine (0.786) Pepperdine (0.800) Pepperdine (0.697) Pepperdine (0.638) Saint Mary's (0.590) Pepperdine (0.590)
4 Saint Mary's (0.517) Saint Mary's (0.490) LMU (0.493) Saint Mary's (0.562) Pepperdine (0.575) Saint Mary's (0.580)
5 Santa Clara (0.498) LMU (0.485) Saint Mary's (0.486) Pacific (0.508) LMU (0.559) LMU (0.557)
6 Pacific (0.481) Pacific (0.482) Pacific (0.485) LMU (0.502) Pacific (0.479) Pacific (0.504)
7 LMU (0.423) Santa Clara (0.370) Santa Clara (0.451) Santa Clara (0.446) Santa Clara (0.457) Santa Clara (0.453)
8 San Francisco (0.384) San Francisco (0.289) San Francisco (0.332) San Francisco (0.330) San Francisco (0.328) San Francisco (0.306)
9 San Diego (0.137) San Diego (0.288) San Diego (0.281) San Diego (0.242) San Diego (0.244) San Diego (0.228)
10 Portland (0.008) Portland (0.006) Portland (0.008) Portland (0.008) Portland (0.008) Portland (0.008)
Orleans Arena, location of the 2021 WCC Tournament, near Las Vegas, Nevada

The tournament followed a format similar to that used from 2003 to 2011. 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 "quarterfinals". The top two seeds received byes into the semifinals.[13]

Schedule

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Session Game Time* Matchup# Score Television Attendance
First round – Thursday, March 4, 2021
1 1 6:00 pm No. 8 San Francisco vs. No. 9 San Diego 67–51 Stadium 0
2 9:00 pm No. 7 Santa Clara vs. No. 10 Portland 95–86
Second round – Friday, March 5, 2021
2 3 6:00 pm No. 5 Loyola Marymount vs. No. 8 San Francisco 70–66 Stadium 0
4 9:00 pm No. 6 Pacific vs. No. 7 Santa Clara 76–81
Third round – Saturday, March 6, 2021
3 5 6:00 pm No. 4 Saint Mary's vs. No. 5 Loyola Marymount 52–47 ESPNU 0
6 9:00 pm No. 3 Pepperdine vs. No. 7 Santa Clara 78–70 ESPN2
Semifinals – Monday, March 8, 2021
4 7 6:00 pm No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 4 Saint Mary's 78–55 ESPN 0
8 9:00 pm No. 2 BYU vs. No. 3 Pepperdine 82–77OT ESPN2
Championship – Tuesday, March 9, 2021[14]
5 9 6:00 pm No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 2 BYU 88–78 ESPN 0
*Game times in PT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

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First round
Thursday, March 4
Stadium 		Second round
Friday, March 5
Stadium 		Third round
Saturday, March 6
ESPNU & ESPN2 		Semifinals
Monday, March 8
ESPN & ESPN2 		Championship
Tuesday, March 9
ESPN
8 San Francisco 67
9 San Diego 51 5 Loyola Marymount 70 
8 San Francisco 66
4 Saint Mary's 52
5 Loyola Marymount 47
1 Gonzaga 78
4 Saint Mary's 55
1 Gonzaga 88
2 BYU 78
2 BYU 82*
3 Pepperdine 77
3 Pepperdine 78
7 Santa Clara 70
6 Pacific 76
7 Santa Clara 95 7 Santa Clara 81
10 Portland 86

* denotes overtime period

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2021 UCU WCC Basketball Tournament Central - West Coast Conference". wccsports.com. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  2. ^ "No. 1 Gonzaga rallies to beat BYU 88-78 in WCC title game". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  3. ^ "What is March Madness: The NCAA tournament explained | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  4. ^ "West Coast Conference". www.ucu.org. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  5. ^ "Location Spotlight: Orleans Arena | Nevada Film Office". nevadafilm.com. January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  6. ^ "West Coast Conference agrees to three-year extension to hold tournaments at Orleans Arena | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "UCU WCC Basketball Tournament Sold Out". wccsports.com. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  9. ^ "Gonzaga fans bummed, but understand WCC not allowing fans at tournament in Las Vegas | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  10. ^ "Explaining Tiebreakers for the West Coast Conference standings". CougarSportsInsider.com. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  11. ^ Herald, The Daily. "WCC partners with Ken Pomeroy to seed conference tournament". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  12. ^ "2021 UCU WCC KenPom Tournament Seeding (PDF) - West Coast Conference" (PDF). wccsports.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  13. ^ "WCC approves significant changes to scheduling, tournament format | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  14. ^ 2021 secular calendar
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