LAS VEGAS — Hoping to boost the Pac-12 tournament’s appeal, conference commissioner Larry Scott pushed to move it from Los Angeles to a more exciting destination that would draw from all over the West.
The bright lights of The Strip in Las Vegas should be a good fit.
“We wanted there to be vibrancy and energy to the venue and we felt with Vegas, fans can enjoy going there,” Scott said.
The Pac-12 will open its first tournament in Las Vegas with four games today at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and continue until Saturday’s championship game with an automatic NCAA tournament berth on the line.
The Pac-12 tournament had been held at the Staples Center for 11 years and one of the big complaints was all the empty seats that could be seen on TV, particularly if UCLA got knocked out.
The Grand Garden has primarily been used for boxing events, but did have a test run of sorts when Oregon State played San Diego there earlier this season.
While the capacity of the Grand Garden is only a few thousand less, it isn’t nearly as cavernous as the Staples Center and has the allure of Vegas as an added attraction for fans.
“Las Vegas is such a destination city and so many people enjoy going there whether there’s a sporting event going on or not,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “You combine that with the fact you have this competitive tournament and it’s the first basketball games ever played at the MGM Grand, and to me, it’s exciting and it’s going to be exciting for years to come.”
Las Vegas has been a destination for conference tournaments.
The West Coast Conference concluded its tournament Monday night at Orleans Arena, where the Western Athletic Conference started its tournament on Tuesday. The Mountain West is also playing this week at the Thomas & Mack Center, UNLV’s home arena.
Now, with the Pac-12 in town, Vegas is even more of a basketball mecca this week.
“I’m thrilled to be moving to somewhat of a basketball haven when you consider all the tournaments that are being played there,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said.
For all the fun available outside in Vegas, it could be just as good on the court the way things have gone in the conference this season.
No. 21 UCLA won the regular-season title, but may not even be the favorite to win the tournament.
No. 18 Arizona has the highest ranking, yet is the fourth seed after struggling late in the season.
Oregon, California and possibly Colorado could be headed to the NCAA tournament, so clearly there’s some talent there.
Even the teams at the bottom half of the bracket pulled off some upsets during the regular season. Three of those came on the final weekend, when Washington State beat UCLA, Utah knocked off Oregon and Oregon State beat Colorado.
Colorado pulled off an upset of sorts by winning last year’s Pac-12 tournament and it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if there’s another this season the way the regular season played out.
“Everybody wants to be able to make the NCAA tournament. It’s so coveted,” Miller said. “There are so many teams that are close.”
For the teams that don’t get there, it would obviously be a disappointment for them and their fans. But, at least for the fans, they’ll be in a place that has plenty of other options to take their mind off it.
“In talking to our fans, they know they can go there for three or four days, and it’s a win-win situation,” Krystkowiak said. “They can enjoy watching basketball, but if their team (goes out), it’s still a fun place to be. It’s not like in Las Vegas you’ve got to figure out what to do with your time.”
• NO. 1 GONZAGA ROLLS OVER SAINT MARY’S 65-51 AT WCC: At Las Vegas, Gonzaga played well enough to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, all season and in the West Coast Conference title game.
Whether the top-ranked Zags get that top spot won’t be decided until the weekend, not that it matters all that much to them.
“We’ve been playing great basketball all year,” Gonzaga forward Elias Harris said after the Zags rolled over Saint Mary’s 65-51 in the WCC final late Monday night. “We believe in ourselves, we believe in our coaches, we believe in our teammates.”
Already headed to the NCAA tournament for the 15th straight season, Gonzaga (31-2) sure had the look of a No. 1 seed against their West Coast rivals, dominating at both ends.
The deep Zags shot 52 percent, controlled the paint and teamed up to hound Gaels leading scorer Matthew Dellavedova everywhere he went. Kelly Olynyk had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Harris added 19 points and Gonzaga had a 42-18 advantage in the paint to win its 14th straight game.
But instead of hopping up and down at their accomplishment, the Zags gave a few high-fives and hugs amid the streamers falling from the ceiling, a subdued celebration for a team that has its eyes on a bigger prize.
“You’ve got to enjoy your successes when they come, but you have to be short-minded in the sense that it’s not the end of the year for us and we still want to come out and make some noise in the tournament,” Olynyk said.
Saint Mary’s (27-6) labored against Gonzaga’s attacking defense and size inside, particularly after point guard Jorden Page injured his right knee midway through the first half.
Dellavedova struggled for the second straight game, scoring two points on 1-of-8 shooting, and the Gaels went 7 for 27 from 3-point range while shooting 35 percent overall.
Stephen Holt led Saint Mary’s, which should have a solid enough resume to earn an at-large NCAA bid.
“I thought we played well offensively, but we didn’t shoot it (well), which is a big part of offense,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said.
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