LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sash Gavalyugov scored 23 points including a back-breaking 3-pointer to lead Santa Clara to a 76-71 victory over No. 21 Saint Mary's in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament on Monday night to take a big step toward making the Big Dance.

The Broncos (26-7) will play No. 12 Gonzaga (29-3) in the championship game on Tuesday night. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

While the Bulldogs are safely in the tournament, Santa Clara was considered on the bubble. The Broncos entered this game No. 42 in the NCAA's NET rankings and No. 37 in Kenpom.

Saint Mary's (27-5) could take a hit in the tournament seeding, but the Gaels figure to get into the field of 68. They were No. 20 in the NET and No. 22 in KenPom.

This is the first time since 2021 that the WCC final hasn't been between Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.

Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek claimed his 600th career victory, a somewhat mild upset over the Gaels, who were favored by 5 1/2 points at BetMGM Sportsbook.

Elijah Mahi added 19 points for the Broncos and Allen Graves finished with 10.

Paulius Murauskas scored 26 points to lead Saint Mary's, Mikey Lewis had 23 and Andrew McKeever totaled 11 points and 11 rebounds.

There were 14 lead changes and six ties, and the largest advantage by either team was seven points.

The Broncos were clinging to a two-point lead in the closing seconds, and Gavalyugov drained a 3-pointer with 12.1 seconds left to beat the shot clock. A shot that put Santa Clara in its first WCC final since 2007.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Graham Ike had 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 12 Gonzaga to a 65-56 victory over Oregon State on Monday night and put the Bulldogs in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship game for the 29th straight time.

Gonzaga (29-3) will play No. 21 Saint Mary's or Santa Clara in the title game. Those teams met later Monday night. It will be the Zags' last WCC championship before heading to the Pac-12 Conference next season.

Oregon State, in fired coach Wayne Tinkle's last game after 12 seasons, ends at 17-16.

Ike, the WCC player of the year, made 10 of 17 shots for his 14th double-double this season and 45th of his career. He was the only Gonzaga player to score in double figures.

Jorge Diaz Graham led the Beavers with 15 points and Noah Amenhauser scored 11.

Gonzaga, which never trailed, entered the game as the national leader in scoring points in the lane at 45.2 per game and outscored the Beavers 38-24 inside. The Zags' defense also was critical to outscoring Oregon State 16-0 on the fast break.

That defense made its presence felt early, forcing 10-second and shot clock violations during a 15-2 first-half run that put Gonzaga up 21-6. Oregon State missed its first nine shots and shot just 28.6% in the opening half.

The Beavers managed to be somewhat competitive in the second half, though there was little doubt in the outcome.

Oregon State lost for just the second time in 11 games this season when holding their opponent to fewer than 70 points.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Vasily Podkolzin, Leon Draisaitl and Kasperi Kapanen scored in the third period and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Sunday night to tighten the Pacific Division race.

The Golden Knights, with 72 points, missed a chance to go back in front of Anaheim, which remained at 73 after the Ducks lost 4-0 at home to St. Louis. Third-place Edmonton has 70.

Vegas has lost five of six games, and the Oilers had dropped six of eight going into this meeting.

Trent Frederic also scored for the Oilers, and Connor Ingram made 24 saves. Connor McDavid had two assists and Evan Bouchard had one to extended their points streak to seven games.

Noah Hanifin and Jack Eichel scored for Golden Knights. Mitch Marner had two assists and Adin Hill stopped 15 shots.

Vegas winger Brett Howden played for the first time in two months. He had been out with a lower-body injury.

The teams traded goals in the second period, but a goal from Golden Knights winger Keegan Kolesar was successfully challenged by the Oilers.

Then in the third, Podkolzin scored an unassisted goal on a breakaway off a faceoff to put the Oilers ahead 2-1 just 2:34 into period. Draisaitl's goal with 8:07 remaining came after Eichel failed to clear the puck out of his zone because teammate Rasmus Andersson's broken stick was in the way.

Eichel scored a short-handed goal from the right circle with 3:16 left to cut the deficit to one. Then, Kapanen ended just about any doubts with an empty-netter with 1:57 remaining.

Up next

Oilers: At Colorado on Tuesday night.

Golden Knights: At Dallas on Tuesday night.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Especially with a young team, even one as talented as the Athletics, last season could have easily gotten away from them.

The A's lost 20 of 21 games at one point, the massive slump finally ending June 5 with a 14-3 romp against Minnesota.

They not only went on to post a winning record the rest of the season, the A's set themselves up for potential playoff talk this year — and they aren't shying away from it.

“We felt we were one of the best teams in baseball at the end of last season,” 2025 unanimous AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz said Saturday.

The A's are in Las Vegas, where they lost 3-0 to the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday. The teams meet again Sunday before the A's return to their spring training camp in Mesa, Arizona.

The players visited their future ballpark under construction on the Las Vegas Strip. Some players watched the Vegas Golden Knights play their NHL game on Friday night and some were planning to attend UFC 326 on Saturday night. Manager Mark Kotsay said he would spend the evening at his Las Vegas-area home.

Whether in Las Vegas or Mesa these days, the A's are preparing for the second of three planned seasons at a Triple-A stadium in West Sacramento, California. They are scheduled to begin playing in Las Vegas in 2028.

Management has signed several players over the past two offseasons with the '28 season in mind in hopes of making a big splash in their new city.

But there is business to be done first, and that includes trying to end a five-year playoff drought.

The A's went 53-46 after ending that big slump last season, tied with Cincinnati for the 11th-best mark in that time. They went 35-29 after the All-Star break, the ninth-best record.

That doesn't guarantee anything this season, but that improved play from the young, potentially dynamic lineup fuels optimism.

“I think last year, for the last 2 1/2 months, we showed that (ability),” Kotsay said. “We've got to continue to maintain that type of performance for six months. That's been our struggle over the last few seasons, has been (the ability) to maintain consistency.”

The A's went into last season with similarly high hopes after going 32-32 after the All-Star break in 2024. That finish was a marked improvement over a 37-61 record the first part of the season as the club took the field with the distraction of playing in front of an angry fanbase in the last of 57 seasons in Oakland.

But then the 1-20 stretch early last season doomed such hopes.

“I think we win half of those, we're right there pushing for a wild card at the end of the year,” All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson said. “I think a lot of guys learned from that on how to get out of that as a team. I think we're going to go into this year kind of knowing how to get out of it early rather than let it drag on for a couple of weeks. I think if we do that, we're going to be in a good spot when the year comes to an end.”

The A's have a number of young players they have signed through at least 2028 for their hopeful big splash in Las Vegas.

Before this season, Wilson signed a $70 million, seven-year contract and left fielder Tyler Soderstrom inked an $86 million, seven-year deal.

Those signings continued a trend for the usually tight-fisted A's that began the previous offseason with deals that included a $60 million, five-year contract for designated hitter/outfielder Brent Rooker and a $65.5 million, seven-year deal for outfielder Lawrence Butler.

Kurtz, who beat out Wilson for the AL's top rookie award, figures to be next in line. There have been reports the A's made him an offer, but no agreement has been announced.

“I leave that to my agents,” Kurtz said. “I'm focused on what's going on today and how I can help the team win some ballgames.”

Kotsay acknowledged the identity of his team is offense, which helps raise the question of whether the A's have the pitching to take the next step. The Athletics' team ERA going into Saturday was 6.14 this spring, sixth-worst in the big leagues. It's tricky reading much into spring training statistics, but pitching was already an uncertainty.

Kotsay wouldn't put that kind of pressure on his staff when asked if the pitching was playoff-worthy, saying it takes the entire team.

It's a team with high hopes, and if there is any time of year to be optimistic, this is it before the real games begin.

“We were just a rough first half away from being in the postseason going into October, so it's pretty exciting to know that we can do it,” Kurtz said. “That's what the second half showed us.”

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