For the best experienceDownload the Mobile App
App Store Play Store
No. 9 Gonzaga beats Portland 89-48 to avenge earlier upset and clinch WCC crown
No. 9 Gonzaga beats Portland 89-48 to avenge earlier upset and clinch WCC crown
No. 9 Gonzaga beats Portland 89-48 to avenge earlier upset and clinch WCC crown

Published on: 02/26/2026

This news was posted by Oregon Today News

Go To Business Place

Description

Gonzaga forward Graham Ike, front, shoots while pressured by Portland center Jermaine Ballisager Webb during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Spokane, Wash.

Graham Ike scored 19 points and matched a school record with seven steals as No. 9 Gonzaga routed Portland 89-48 on Wednesday night to clinch its first West Coast Conference regular-season championship in three years.

Braeden Smith added 15 points for the Bulldogs (28-2, 16-1), who avenged their 87-80 loss at Portland on Feb. 4. Mario Saint-Supery and Tyon Grant-Foster each scored 12, and Ike grabbed eight rebounds.

Joel Foxwell led the Pilots (12-18, 5-12) with 12 points. Portland shot 34.7% from the field and committed 22 turnovers.

In their final WCC home game before joining the reconstructed Pac-12 next season, the Bulldogs clinched the top seed in the conference tournament for the first time since 2022. Gonzaga has earned the No. 1 seed 11 times in the 17 seasons the WCC Tournament has been held in Las Vegas since 2009.

Battling through double teams in the post, Ike stepped outside and drilled a pair of early 3-pointers and accounted for 12 of Gonzaga’s first 17 points. His second 3 sparked a 16-0 run that gave the Bulldogs a double-digit lead.

Late in the first half, Saint-Supery tossed a lob to Grant-Foster for a two-handed dunk, which sent Gonzaga into the break with a 36-21 lead.

The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 10-0 run — including 3-pointers from Adam Miller and Emmanuel Innocenti — and led by at least 20 the rest of the way.

With the game out of reach, coach Mark Few pulled Ike with five minutes remaining. That snapped Ike’s 10-game streak of scoring 20 or more points — the longest such run by a Gonzaga player under Few.

The fifth-year forward entered the night leading active Division I players with 2,456 career points. He is the only active Division I player with at least 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Portland head coach Shantay Legans, center, directs his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Gonzaga Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Spokane, Wash.

Up next

Gonzaga visits Saint Mary’s on Saturday looking to secure an outright WCC crown.

Portland hosts San Diego on Saturday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/26/gonzaga-beats-portland-clinch-wcc-crown-avenge-loss-mens-ncaa-basketball/

Other Related News

02/26/2026

The closed-door depositions come after months of tense back-and-forth between the Clintons...

02/26/2026

American businesses and shoppers paid the vast majority of the billions of dollars collect...

02/26/2026

Iran and the United States were holding another round of indirect talks in Geneva on Thurs...

02/26/2026

Subscribe to OPBs First Look to receive Northwest news in your inbox six days a weekGood m...

Kyron Horman’s name surfaces in Epstein files
Kyron Horman’s name surfaces in Epstein files

02/26/2026

Nearly seven years ago an unidentified caller submitted an unsubstantiated tip to the FBI ...

ShoutoutGive Shoutout
500/500