Saint Mary’s looks to slow Gonzaga’s historic run in WCC tourney

It doesn’t take a deep dive in the history books to find an example of Saint Mary’s shocking a top-ranked Gonzaga team at the West Coast Conference basketball tournament in Las Vegas.

The Gaels pulled it off in the championship game of the 2019 tournament as heavy underdogs.

That Saint Mary’s team was more accomplished than this year’s version, and this Bulldogs squad is 24-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country.

Still, Gaels junior guard Logan Johnson relishes the opportunity when the teams meet at 6 p.m. Monday in the semifinals at Orleans Arena. ESPN will televise the game.

“This is what you live for,” said Johnson, the younger brother of New Jersey Nets guard Tyler Johnson. “It’s what you play for. It’s why you work all those hours in the offseason and in-season to get to these moments.”

The task is monumental. The Bulldogs are in the midst of one of the most impressive seasons in college basketball history, becoming the fourth team in the past 20 years to finish the regular season undefeated.

None of the games has been particularly close, either, as Gonzaga has won 21 straight by double-digits. Three of the 15 nominees for the Wooden Award are on the roster in Corey Kispert, Jalen Suggs and Drew Timme.

The offense leads the nation in scoring offense (92.9), field goal percentage (55.3), two-point percentage (64.4), scoring margin (23.5) and points in the paint (51.2).

The Bulldogs are 17-point favorites Monday after defeating the Gaels (14-8) 73-59 and 87-65 in the regular season.

“I know they’re really good,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. “They’ve been really good a lot of times when we’ve played them. … We just have to focus on doing the things we need to do to give ourselves the best chance to win.”

That will largely involve trying to control pace and avoid turnovers that lead to easy buckets.

“It’s always the same,” said Bennett, whose team has lost five straight to the Bulldogs since the 2019 upset. “You have to keep them out of transition. If you don’t, just get your bags packed. You’re not going to beat them if they’re getting that.”

Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s have met in 11 of the past 13 WCC tournaments. The Bulldogs won the championship game 84-66 over the Gaels last season and have captured their semifinal matchup 23 straight seasons.

Brigham Young (19-5) and Pepperdine (12-11) will meet in the other semifinal, at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.