San Francisco confident about NCAA bid despite loss to Gonzaga
San Francisco basketball coach Todd Golden showed his hand before his team’s West Coast Conference tournament semifinal game against top-ranked Gonzaga tipped off Monday at Orleans Arena.
The third-year coach sat starting forward Yauhen Massalski, who could have potentially played through a bruised knee.
Golden wanted to rest his leading rebounder and shot blocker for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
It’s not a position the program has been in recently, but the Dons fully expect to hear their name called for the first time since 1998 when the field is revealed Sunday despite an 81-71 loss to the top-ranked Bulldogs.
“I don’t have any concerns,” Golden said about his team’s potential inclusion in the field.
The former Saint Mary’s guard thinks his team secured a bid with a 75-63 win over Brigham Young in the quarterfinals.
“Saturday was the big game for us,” Golden said. “Our resume, I thought, was already good enough, but if we would have lost on Saturday, it would have been a tough week for us just sitting around waiting, rooting for teams like Davidson, Murray State and Loyola-Chicago to win their league where there could be a bid-stealer.”
The numbers tend to support the claim. San Francisco entered Monday’s game 21st in KenPom and 24th in the NET rating, metrics of a team on the right side of the bubble.
Despite lacking a marquee win and finishing fourth in the WCC, the Dons have three Quad 1 victories. And Monday’s loss actually could help them with the computers.
San Francisco trailed by 24 points with 8:45 left, but senior Khalil Shabazz, who scored 27, led the Dons back to within eight with about a minute to play. San Francisco had two possessions to make it closer but couldn’t convert.
Drew Timme scored 22 points, and Andrew Nembhard had 17 points and nine assists as Gonzaga limited the Dons to 38 percent shooting to claim its third double-digit victory over the Dons.
“I think we were a 14-point underdog, and we only lost by 10, so our predictive numbers will go up,” Golden said. “I don’t think you can have a loss against the No. 1 team in the country held over your head.
“If you ask any bracketologist around, we’re 100 percent locked. Now it’s a little more of a question about our seeding.”
The sight of San Francisco being revealed in the bracket will be validation for the hard work Shabazz, who was born the same year the Dons last made the field, has done since arriving on campus in 2018 after a season at Central Washington.
“It’s the best feeling, not only for me but for the whole program and everything we’ve been through to get to this point,” he said.
San Francisco has its sights set on more than a participation trophy. Golden thinks his team can be dangerous in the tournament.
The Dons should have Massalski back in the lineup by then. Golden indicated he would have played if the game was more meaningful.
“The pressure is now off,” Golden said. “We’re playing with house money for the rest of the season, so we’re going to approach it that way.”
Gonzaga will play in its 25th consecutive WCC title game Tuesday. The Bulldogs will meet second-seeded Saint Mary’s, which held off No. 3 Santa Clara 75-72.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.