SMC’s Landale, Stanford’s VanDerveer honored
Saint Mary’s senior center Jock Landale on Tuesday was selected the West Coast Conference Player of the Year.
Landale helped the Gaels (27-4, 16-2 WCC) finish a game behind regular-season champion Gonzaga, scoring 21.5 points per game along with 10.2 rebounds. He shot 64.2 percent from the field.
The 6-foot-11 Australian is the first Saint Mary’s player to win the top WCC honor since fellow countryman Matthew Dellavedova won it in 2011-12.
Pacific center Namdi Okonwko won the Defensive Player of the Year award, giving the Tigers their first major WCC award since 1971 when John Gianelli took home player of the year honors.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few was named WCC Coach of the Year award for the 12th time. Few, who last year led the Bulldogs to the NCAA championship game, helped Gonzaga top 25 wins for the 12th consecutive season.
Landale and Gonzaga’s Johnathan Williams were the only repeat honorees on the 10-man AllWCC first team. Three others from local schools made the first team: Saint Mary’s guard Emmett Naar, USF guard Frankie Ferrari and Santa Clara guard KJ Feagin.
Gonzaga’s Zach Norvell Jr. won the Newcomer of the Year award, making him the first true freshman to win it since Santa Clara’s Jared Brownridge in 2013-14.
Men
MIAMI 91, NORTH CAROLINA 88 >> Ja’Quan Newton hit a running 30-footer at the horn to help the Hurricanes upset the No. 9 Tar Heels in a wild finish. Newton’s heave came immediately after UNC’s Joel Berry hit a 3 of his own to tie the score with 4.1 seconds left.
It capped a game that saw Miami (21-8, 10-7 ACC) squander a 16-point second-half lead and Berry match his career high with 31 points for North Carolina (22-8, 11-6).
SAINT JOSEPH’S 78, RHODE ISLAND 48 >> James Demery scored 21 points and Taylor Funk added 17 in the Hawks’ upset of the No. 17 Rams. Shavar Newkirk added 14 points for the Hawks (14-15, 9-8 Atlantic 10), who won for the fourth time in five games.
Jared Terrell scored 19 points for Rhode Island (23-5, 15-2), which shot just 28.1 percent from the field.
Women
OREGON’S IONESCU IS PAC12’S TOP PLAYER >> Oregon sophomore guard Sabrina Ionescu has been named the Pac-12 Player of the Year. This season she broke the NCAA career record for most triple-doubles, with eight. She currently leads the league with an average of 19.2 points and 7.8 assists per game.
Stanford’s Tara Van Derveer was named the Coach of the Year and Brittany McPhee Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Cal junior Kristine Anigwe earned All-Pac-12 honors for the third consecutive season while point guard Kianna Smith was named to the all-freshman team. McPhee and Alanna Smith earned all-Pac-12 honors, while Kiana Williams was named to the all-freshman team.
UTAH STATE 86, SAN JOSE STATE 78 >> Myzhanique Ladd led the Spartans (721, 4-13 Mountain West) with 21 points, and Megan Anderson added 18 in the road loss to the Aggies (7-21, 5-12). San Jose State closes the regular season Friday at home against Air Force.