KHQ Right Now - News and Weather for Spokane and North Idaho | Motivated Zags Face Tough Saint Mary's Team on Thursday

Gonzaga dropped out of the AP Top 25 after last week's loss to BYU. As if they needed any more motivation to play Saint Mary's this week in Spokane.

The Zags welcome the No. 16 Gales to town on Thursday. Saint Mary's is currently on a 12-game win streak, and they have only lost two games all season long. They are also in the drivers seat to claim the WCC title this year.

Needless to say, it's a big week.

"What do I need to say, we're playing Saint Mary's," quipped center Sam Dower. "They're a good team and they're coming in to our home court to play us. It should be a pretty good game."

Gary Bell Jr. was a tad more thoughtful.

"This is very big, this is going to determine who wins the WCC, pretty much – these last two games," said Bell.

"There are two good teams coming in here," said center Rob Sacre, referring both to Saint Mary's and Loyola Marymount, who comes to town on Saturday. "I think we just need to play our style of basketball and just have fun, get ready for these two teams."

Thursday's game will be on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. Saturday's game can be seen on KHQ/SWX (ROOT outside the Spokane area) beginning at 5 p.m.

*Gonzaga Trivia: Monday on SWX Tonight we asked who was the last team other than Gonzaga or Saint Mary's to win the WCC title? The answer is highlighted in bold:

• Loyola Marymount
• San Diego
• Pepperdine (2000, Co-Champions with Gonzaga in 2002)