Gonzaga, St. Mary’s meet for 1st place in WCC

Two supreme scorers matched against a team that’s supremely balanced.

First place at stake.

Yes, Thursday night’s matchup between Gonzaga and St. Mary’s at McKeon Pavilion carries quite a bit more juice than the typical mid-January game.

The Gaels (15-2, 6-1) don’t have anyone among the conference’s top 12 scorers, but have six players averaging between 8.5 and 13.8 points per game.

The Zags play off their two big frontcourt scorers.

Sabonis, the son of longtime Portland Trail Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis, is a 6-foot-11 sophomore.

Wiltjer is a 6-10 senior who began his college career at Kentucky.

Wiltjer can be effective anywhere from 3 feet to 23 feet from the basket.

Wiltjer had 16 points in the teams’ last meeting, a 70-60 Gonzaga victory in Moraga on Feb. 21.

“One thing we took out of that game is that we came out ready to play,” St. Mary’s forward Calvin Hermanson said.

The Gaels are unbeaten in 13 games at McKeon this season.

Hermanson sensed his fellow students are rather enthused about trying to extend that home streak to 14.

Bennett certainly knows about his team’s rivalry with Gonzaga and understands the significance of Thursday’s game, but he also wants to provide some perspective.

Each of the Gaels’ 15 wins has come by double digits.

After Saturday night’s game against Portland at McKeon, the Gaels will play six of their final nine WCC games on the road, including at Gonzaga on Feb. 20.

Steve Kroner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

After Thursday night’s USF-Santa Clara game at the Leavey Center, the Dons and Broncos will have reached the midpoint of their WCC seasons.

The Dons (9-9, 3-5) and Broncos (7-13, 3-5) sit tied for seventh place in the conference.

The matchup features two of the WCC’s most productive and entertaining guards: USF sophomore Devin Watson is averaging 20.3 points per game, which ranks second in the conference.