1989 West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament

1989 West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1988–89
Teams8
SiteWar Memorial Gymnasium
San Francisco, CA
ChampionsLoyola Marymount (2nd title)
Winning coachPaul Westhead (2nd title)
MVPHank Gathers (Loyola Marymount)
West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball tournaments
← 1988
1990 →
1988–89 West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Saint Mary's 12 2   .857 25 5   .833
Pepperdine 10 4   .714 20 13   .606
Loyola Marymount 10 4   .714 20 11   .645
San Francisco 8 6   .571 16 12   .571
Santa Clara 7 7   .500 20 11   .645
Gonzaga 5 9   .357 14 14   .500
San Diego 2 12   .143 8 20   .286
Portland 2 12   .143 2 26   .071
Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 1989 West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 4–6 at War Memorial Gymnasium on the campus of the University of San Francisco in San Francisco, California.[1][2] This was the third edition of the tournament and the last as the WCAC; the conference name was shortened to "West Coast Conference" (WCC) that summer.[3]

The fourth-seed and host Dons lost in the quarterfinals and the top two seeds were defeated in the semifinals.[4] Third-seeded Loyola Marymount defeated #5 seed Santa Clara 75–70 (in overtime) in the title game to repeat as WCAC tournament champions.[5][6]

The Lions earned the automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA tournament and were seeded twelfth in the Midwest regional. Regular-season champion Saint Mary's received an at-large bid and were the eighth seed in the West regional; both WCAC teams lost in the first round.

  1. ^ Blanchette, John (March 4, 1989). "WCAC rivals shooting for St. Mary's". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. B3.
  2. ^ "1988-89 West Coast Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  3. ^ "WCAC shortens its name to West Coast Conference". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). (staff reports). July 14, 1989. p. B5.
  4. ^ Blanchette, John (March 6, 1989). "St. Mary's upset by Santa Clara; Loyola advances". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.
  5. ^ "Lions escape OT scare". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. March 7, 1989. p. 4C.
  6. ^ Blanchette, John (March 7, 1989). "Loyola tops SCU, earns NCAA spot". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.