Gonzaga pulls away in 2nd half, wins WCC men’s tournament
Four new starters.
Same reliable coach.
Same familiar result.
Top-seeded Gonzaga rolled to an 84-66 victory over No. 3 Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference basketball tournament championship game Tuesday night at Orleans Arena, avenging its loss to the Gaels in last year’s title game. The Bulldogs have won seven of the last eight tournament titles and 17 in coach Mark Few’s tenure that began 1999.
Not to mention 19 regular-season championships.
“I’m as pleasantly surprised as I’ve ever been doing this,” Few said after his team pulled away in the second half following a close 20 minutes. “These guys have come as far as or further than any club I’ve ever coached.”
The Bulldogs lost to the Gaels last year despite boasting a more talented roster that included forwards Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke, both first-round picks in the NBA draft.
But Gonzaga (31-2) doesn’t rebuild. It reloads. And Few retooled his roster around senior forward Killian Tillie, junior forward Corey Kispert and sophomore forward Filip Petrusev, returning players with rotational experience.
Inexperienced players such as sophomore guard Joel Ayayi and freshman forward Drew Timme gained experience during a regular season in which the Bulldogs won their eighth consecutive regular-season WCC title. Senior transfers Ryan Woolridge and Admon Gilder rounded out the rotation.
With the NCAA Tournament approaching, Gonzaga looked like, well, Gonzaga — cohesive and efficient, with more size and skill than a Saint Mary’s squad probably headed to the tournament, too.
“The beauty of our team is our balance,” Few said. “That’s been the greatest asset we’ve had all year.”
The Bulldogs beat San Francisco in the semifinals and unveiled their balance against Saint Mary’s, with five players scoring in double figures. Ayayi probed the paint and attacked the basket for 17 points, and Timme used his 6-foot-10-inch frame for 17 points. Gilder scored 15, Petrusev had 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Kispert scored 12.
The Gaels (26-8) relied again on senior guard Jordan Ford, who scored a game-high 27 points. But the Bulldogs double-teamed and trapped him in the second half, daring somebody else to score.
“I was trying to move it on and just let somebody else make a play,” said Ford, who scored 42 on Saturday in a double-overtime victory over Pepperdine and made the game-winning jumper Monday against Brigham Young. “It got a little frustrating for me, but I’m trying to stick with and trust my teammates with the ball.”
Those teammates didn’t help much, and Gonzaga led by as many as 24 points in the second half after leading 42-41 at halftime. The Bulldogs are bound for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament — their 22nd consecutive appearance.
“There’s a lot of good teams in this conference, and we had a really good tournament this year,” said Petrusev, the conference’s player of the year. “We’ve just got to get ready for the NCAA Tournament.”
Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.