Men’s Basketball Closes 2026 Campaign
By: Unsplash
Pacific’s Best Squad in Years Splits WCC Tournament Games
The road to a West Coast Conference (WCC) title became more difficult for Pacific men’s basketball after their home loss to the University of San Francisco (USF). The last in a four-game slide to end the season, the Tigers found themselves on the wrong end of a 29-point performance from USF’s David Fuchs in just their third loss at home. The night was still historic, however, as Jayden Clayton and Elias Ralph both surpassed 1,000 career points, with Clayton’s 10 assists on the day making him the all-time single-season assist leader in a Tigers uniform.
With this defeat, Pacific fell from the fourth to the sixth seed in the WCC postseason tournament, forcing the Tigers to win four games instead of three to claim the title. This also moved them to the other side of the bracket, where, on March 7th at 8:30 p.m., they tipped off against second round winners Seattle University. The 7-seed Redhawks had just edged out a narrow victory over the University of San Diego (USD), who had advanced out of the first round with a narrow win of their own over Loyola Marymount University (LMU).
Pacific suffered close early-season losses against both LMU and USD, but defeated both convincingly in their rematches after finding their stride in January. Seattle U squared off with the Tigers just once prior to their final matchup, on January 24th, with the Tigers outlasting the Redhawks by just two in a defensive slugfest. Seattle entered the postseason on a three-game winning streak, albeit against the WCC’s bottom three teams, and carried significant momentum into their matchup.
That momentum was not enough to stop the Tigers from picking up where they left off last time the teams faced off. Pacific, who had just one player put up double-digit points, relied heavily on their defence to stifle Seattle U’s system, holding the Redhawks’ seven-foot center to just a single point en route to one of their lowest point totals of the season. Senior guard Justin Rochelin was decisive for the Tigers, grabbing 10 rebounds and knocking down a pair of big three-pointers.
The boys in orange then set their sights on the horizon, as awaiting them in the fourth round was Santa Clara University (SC), which put a bow on its best season in recent years with a 21-point win at Oregon State. With just three conference losses, the Broncos were touted as a potential First Four team that could contend for an 11 seed in the NCAA tournament. A Tiger win over SC would have put the college basketball world on notice and given Pacific the confidence it needed for their rematch with regular-season co-champions Saint Mary’s College in the WCC semi-final.
That win would not be in the cards for the Tigers, however, as a hungry Santa Clara team took care of business, taking the lead early and never giving an inch. The Broncos would take the eight-point victory despite a stellar offensive performance from senior forward Elias Ralph, and would go on to upset regular-season conference champions Saint Mary’s in the very next game, securing their spot in March Madness.
Pacific repeatedly demonstrated their grittiness on the biggest of stages, pushing No. 9 Gonzaga until the final buzzer and winning by 31 at home against four-seed Oregon State. However, the Tigers’ struggles from beyond the arc will need to be addressed in the offseason, as shooting inconsistencies left them vulnerable to big scoring runs from good teams. They have what it takes to match up with any team in the WCC, but they have yet to prove themselves on the big stage. After climbing the national ranks from 353 to 116 in just two seasons, Pacific men’s basketball is trending in the right direction. With a good offseason, the Tiger’s first run into late March since 2013 is looking more likely than ever.